Good afternoon,
It's time for me to discuss the fifty-fifth issue of the first Star Wars comic book. The cover, drawn by penciler Walt Simonson, showed Chewbacca and four other Rebels facing off against a large green winged creature in a cavern that had a bright and tall crystalline structure. The tale was titled "Plif!" The issue had a cover date of January 1982.
The story started on the planet Arbra, where Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and other members of the Rebellion were part of a scouting mission. On the surface, the world seemed like the perfect place for a new base. The native hoojibs were relatively unknown to their guests, but were apparently harmless. The group made camp for the night, and Leia made her radio report to Luke Skywalker, who was on monitor duty aboard one of the larger ships that was orbiting the planet.
Leia stated that all was well, and that it was probably time to take the rest of the fleet on the eliptic that they'd talked about before. Luke understood, but was still a bit skeptical about the plan, since it could potentially leave their ships in jeopardizing situations if they came across Imperials. After the conversation ended, Luke got down from his monitor post in time to wish Lando Calrissian well. He was about to depart on the Millennium Falcon for a return trip to Cloud City.
Luke and Artoo had checked the ship out, and everything was good. As the ship took off, Luke couldn't help but wished that he was going along with his friend. However, he'd been chosen to file reports on their recent missions to the Tarkin and the planet Shiva (as chronicled in issues # 51 through 54). Artoo remained with him as a sympathetic aide.
Later that night, Threepio was woken from his inactive state by the fact that a hoojib was busy trying to consume his energy. Moments later, the camp alarms went off before being quickly depowered. It turned out that all of their machinery, including their blasters, had lost power.
Chewbacca grabbed one of the hoojibs who swarmed past them, and was surprised to hear the creature speaking to him telepathically. The hoojib in question was named Plif, and he explained that they were forced to consume their power supplies. There was a cave deep in the planet that provided crystals that were usually more than enough for its natives. Unfortunately, the hoojibs were forced from that cave by a being called the Slivilith.
Leia, Chewbacca, and company soon learned just what that creature was, as it flew headlong toward them. Chewie was able to free one of his comrades from its tentacles, moments before Leia used a guard's charged blaster to scare it off. Plif told Leia what they knew of the intruder. It apparently had been drifting alone in space for some time until it was caught in Arbra's gravitational pull, The monster sought warmth, and the warmest part of the planet was the very cave that the hoojibs had called their home.
The rebels understood and agreed to help the hoojibs rid themselves of the menace. A plan was formulated before the combined forces congregated outside the cave entrance. The shrill cries of the hoojibs got the Slivilith's attention, and he came roaring out, only to be attacked by long poles thrown by the Rebels.
Leia and another officer grabbed their weapons to recharge them inside the cave. She used her blaster to free Plif from the creature's tentacle before entering the cave. What was waiting inside was truly magnificent to behold. The crystal structures were in many colors and extended from the ground for many meters.
The Rebels had little time to marvel at their surroundings before the creature returned. They fired their active blasters at it before leaping away from its grasp. Chewbacca was waiting for the beast and grabbed hold of several of its tentacles so that he could slam it violently into the cavern's floor. That was presumably the end of the Slivilith.
The hoojibs were very thankful for their new friends' assistance. The Rebels knew that they'd found a treasure trove, but were prepared to leave their hosts in peace and resume their search elsewhere. They were about to depart when Plif suggested that they would be willing to serve as their hosts indefinitely. That put a smile on the faces of Leia and the many other weary Alliance members.
A few days later, the Rebel fleet amassed near Arbra and began preparations for establishing their new base of operations. Elsewhere, Lando had finally arrived back at Bespin. He landed the Falcon and took a look around. He was wondering how much had changed since the Imperial invasion (as chronicled during The Empire Strikes Back adaptation), not knowing that someone was waiting for him just around the corner.
This was one of my favorite issues growing up. I remember finagling my initial copy from a polybag set at a ShopKo store (a retail chain in the Upper Midwest that was similar to Kmart or Target) just because I didn't want the other issue in that pack. The Slivilith was an interesting concept. I'm surprised that we haven't seen others of his kind so far in any other Star Wars comics. Plif and his fellow hoojibs would remain loyal allies of the Rebellion and were shown sporadically all the way through the series' end in 1986.
Well, that's all I've got for today. Next time, I'll recap the fifty-sixth issue of the series. It's the first of a two-part story by this issue's creative team of writer David Michelinie and artists Walt Simonson and Tom Palmer. It concentrates on Lando's return to Cloud City. We'll learn what happened after he left the planet, and whether or not Imperial influence still remained there. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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