Happy Friday, everyone,
It's time for me to cover the sixty-second issue of the first Star Wars comic series. The cover showed a portrait of Luke Skywalker in blood red. Even the traditional cover box illustration of R2-D2 and C-3PO was in a shade of pink. The tale was titled "Pariah!" The issue had a cover date of August 1982.
The story started in the Rebel conference room on the planet Aphra, where Skywalker was shaken by the revelation (last issue) that he appeared to have killed his friend and fellow Alliance pilot Shira Brie during their battle with the Imperial armada. Luke recounted what he remembered to Leia Organa. He talked about the TIE fighters they used to infiltrate the Imperial fleet. The TIE fighter he'd fired upon was between him and his target. Since the transceivers installed on their ships to determine friends from foes had gone out, he'd relied on the Force to determine the side that the blockading pilot was on. The Force told him it was an enemy, and he reacted accordingly.
Leia believed her friend. At the same time, she couldn't support him because of what had happened. Luke silently replied that he understood. He knew that siding with him then would possibly throw their entire movement into chaos, and that their cause was more important than any one individual. He later left the room in a huff after being stripped of his rank.
A little while later, when Luke entered the busy cafeteria, the room went silent once his presence was observed. He tried to get something to eat, but he soon got the impression that he wasn't wanted there. Another Rebel named Milo accused Skywalker of having ulterior motives for wanting Shira gone, which led to a brief altercation before Luke retreated to his quarters.
While he was trying to make sense of things, Luke kicked a small chest that contained the medal he'd been given for his bravery during the assault on the Death Star. He bent down to examine it, and thought about what he'd been taught by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. His reverie was interrupted momentarily by the arrival of Artoo and Threepio. The protocol droid had news to share about possible leads as to the whereabouts of Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who had been granted possession of Han Solo's carbonite-encased body back on Cloud City. Skywalker was too busy searching for answers to his current predicament to be too concerned about that information just then.
A little while later, in the planet's spaceship hangar, Luke approached Lando Calrissian about borrowing the Millennium Falcon. Luke wasn't able to obtain a ship of his own without his commission. Lando wasn't concerned about that, and wasn't likely to let him borrow the ship, after what had happened to Shira. He had specific instructions not to let Luke anywhere near the Falcon, but soon left to pick up his spare cape at the laundry. Luke was then approached by a guard and asked to leave, before Chewbacca intervened. He made short work of the guard's blaster, causing him to flee in terror. The Wookiee then grabbed his friend and took off.
The Falcon made the trip to Shalyvane, which Shira had claimed was her homeworld. Chewie and Luke set the ship down before heading out on foot. They walked quietly down a city alleyway, not knowing they were being watched from above. Nets were thrown over each of them before a band of nomads rushed to attack. Luke used his lightsaber to free himself before cutting Chewbacca loose.
Skywalker knew from experience (having battled other nomads in issue #60) how aggressive the natives were, and led his companion to safety by going back to where they first entered. They found refuge in an older building, one that wasn't entirely deserted. An older nomad named G'hinji sat in a corner and begged for peace. Luke wanted to know about the humans who once lived there. G'hinji replied that humans had never lived in the city of Chinshassa.
He went on to say that the city had been built up and populated by his own people for many years, until it was destroyed and turned into rubble by Imperial bombers. Luke was incredulous upon hearing this. He wondered if what Shira had told him and his fellow wingmates earlier had been a lie. He wanted to seek out the Circle of Kavaan, which G'hinji agreed to if the stranger could pass a simple test.
The old man put a stone under one of the three cups on the ground. If Luke could find the cup that the stone was hidden under, he would take him to the circle. Luke reached out with the Force to lift all three cups to identify the correct hiding place. G'hinji let out a brief laugh before accepting Luke's victory. He then snapped his fingers, alerting the heroes to the fact that they'd been surrounded by nomads.
Everyone then walked together toward the shrine. Once they were close, G'hinji pointed out something reflecting from the broken altar. Luke took a closer look and saw that it was some sort of transmitter, which made him wonder who Shira had been trying to reach. He then remembered what Shira had done the first time.
Luke asked to borrow Chewbacca's knife and carefully made a thin cut on his palm, allowing the blood that dropped to land on the altar. The trio then waited patiently for a few minutes, but nothing happened. They were about to leave when a familiar voice spoke from behind them. Luke turned and was stunned to see Darth Vader standing there, saying he'd come for him.
This was another of my favorite issues from this series when I was a child. Much like I found it hard to believe that Vader was Luke's father, I also found it very doubtful that Luke would willingly kill an ally like Shira. It was interesting how quickly his friends turned on him, but I was glad that there were still a few characters like Chewie and the droids who still had faith. I was even confident that Han would have let him borrow his ship if he hadn't been frozen in carbonite. This issue started to slowly unravel some of the mystery and plot points that had been left dangling for a while.
That's all for now. Next time, I'll recap the sixty-third issue of this title. We'll find out what Vader's plans for Luke were, and what happened to Skywalker and Chewbacca next. We'll also see how his actions impacted those left behind on Arbra. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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