Hello there,
Hope all's well with everyone. Today's focus is on the first part of Marvel's Return of the Jedi adaptation. It was released as a four-part monthly miniseries, and the full adaptation was chronicled in Marvel Super Special #27. The first issue in the limited series had an Al Williamson drawing (taken from his adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back) in the top left corner box, and Lando Calrissian (in Skiff Guard disguise), Luke Skywalker, and Leia Organa (in her slave girl costume), all drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz. This issue had a cover date of October 1983.
After the title/splash page (which had another illustration by Sienkiewicz that was unique to this limited series), the story began with the movie's title crawl and the arrival of Vader's shuttle at the new Imperial base. Vader met with Moff Jerjerrod and communicated the Emperor's displeasure at the commander's apparent lack of progress. The commander assured the Sith Lord that the new Death Star would be operational as planned, but that he needed more men. Vader replied that he could address that concern with the Emperor personally when he arrived, noting that his master would not accept further delay.
Chapter one, entitled "In the Hands of Jabba the Hutt!" started on Tatooine, as C-3PO and R2-D2 neared the vile gangster's hideout. Threepio expressed doubt, noting that Lando Calrissian had yet to return from the compound. After a hasty introduction, the front gate opened, and the two droids entered. They were soon met by Jabba's aide, Bib Fortuna. The Twi'lek was unable to ascertain the reason for their visit, except for Artoo's insistence that their message could only be delivered to Jabba himself.
A few moments later, Luke's faithful companions had their audience with the repulsive slug. Artoo then showed a hologram of Luke, who now referred to himself as a Jedi Knight. He asked for an audience with Jabba to bargain for Han Solo's life. He offered the droids to him as a token of his appreciation. This was obviously news to Threepio, who was certain that his counterpart had played the wrong message.
Jabba accepted the gift and ordered them away. He had no intention of giving up his favorite decoration, which was Solo on the opposite wall, still frozen in carbonite. The droids then met with EV-9D9, who assigned Threepio to serve as Jabba's translator and sent Artoo to serve on his master's sail barge after fitting each of them with a restraining bolt.
The usual revelry continued shortly thereafter. At one point, Jabba's dancing girl refused the Hutt's commands. A trap door opened under her feet, and the female Twi'lek was soon heard screaming, much to the delight of the crowd. A short while later, the amusement was broken up by the arrival of Chewbacca, who was being led to the Hutt by a masked bounty hunter.
The bounty hunter known as Boushh demanded a reward of fifty thousand credits for the Wookiee. When asked why, the mercenary pulled a thermal detonator from a pocket. Jabba laughed at the bounty hunter's inventiveness and offered a sum that was more practical. Boushh agreed, much to Threepio's relief. Chewie was led away by a pair of Gamorrean Guards, and we then saw Lando in his Skiff Guard disguise.
Later that evening, while all was quiet, Boushh quietly made his way to the man encased in carbonite. A few buttons were pushed on the side of the slab, and the block began to melt. Solo fell to the floor. Unable to see, he asked who his savior was. It was soon revealed that Boushh was actually his love, Princess Leia. However, before they could take another step, they heard the Hutt's laugh. They turned and found Jabba and his crew amused at the escape attempt.
Han offered triple the reward that had been on his head, but Jabba wasn't interested in anything that his former employee had to say. He had Solo taken away and preferred to keep Leia close by his side, against her wishes. Han was then reunited with Chewie, who filled him in on what he'd missed. He was skeptical of the plan and that Luke was now a Jedi.
A short while later, Luke arrived. He used a Jedi mind trick to convince Fortuna to grant him an audience with his leader. Luke tried the same tactic on Jabba before being informed that such an effort would be useless against the Hutt. He was still determined to bring his friends back with him. Before Threepio could warn his master, the trap door began to open once more. Luke used the Force to bring a blaster from a nearby guard to his hand, but all he could muster was a wasted shot at the ceiling before falling through with a Gamorrean Guard.
Skywalker was now inside a dusty pit and found himself facing a Rancor towering over him. He evaded the monster's grasp a few times before making a break for the gate. He tossed a skull at the control panel just as the creature was underneath. The gate came slamming down on top of the Rancor, killing the mighty beast.
Jabba was incensed by this action, and soon recalled Luke, Han, and Chewie to his chamber. Leia had taken the role of dancing girl now. Threepio translated the Hutt's words and informed his colleagues that they were about to be taken to the Dune Sea and thrown into the Pit of Carkoon, where they would be slowly digested by the powerful Sarlaac over the next thousand years. Luke warned the crimelord that he'd regret this, but it was a threat that Jabba ignored.
The entourage traveled in Jabba's sail barge to the Sarlaac pit, where a skiff bearing the Rebel heroes was waiting to drop the prisoners. Jabba promised Leia that he'd grow to appreciate his company before giving his next order. Threepio ran into Artoo, who had been serving drinks on the barge at the time. Han wondered what was next. Despite the danger, Luke advised him to just stay put. The former Tatooine farmboy seemed assured that everything would work out to their advantage, although it certainly didn't look like it at the time.
Following this part of the story were pin-ups of Fortuna, Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo band, the Kowakian lizard monkey called Salacious Crumb, and an Imperial shuttle. In the place of a letter column was a house ad for the Star Wars monthly comic, featuring the same image of Vader that had been used for the cover of the third Star Wars annual.
Writer Archie Goodwin teamed up with Williamson and Carlos Garzon on this adaptation. The trio worked so well together on The Empire Strikes Back adaptation, and this time around was pretty much at the same standards of excellence. Goodwin and Williamson had been working on the Star Wars newspaper strip for several years at this point, so they weren't about to let the storytelling standards slip. There were a few deviations and omissions, which are understandable given the task of condensing a two-plus-hour movie into a four-issue limited series, but they covered all of the key aspects and paced each issue well. The limited series had splash pages, pin-ups, and additional art pages that were not included in the single-volume versions of the ROTJ adaptation.
That's it for this issue. Next time, I'll recap the second issue of this limited series. We'll find out what happened at the Pit of Carkoon. We'll also see the Emperor's arrival and Luke's return to honor his promise with an old friend and the stunning truth that he discovers. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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