Happy Tuesday afternoon, everyone!
Today's topic is the second part of Marvel's four-issue adaptation of the Return of the Jedi movie. The cover, drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz, showed a red-robed Imperial guard, Darth Vader, and an Imperial officer. The title of this chapter was "The Emperor Commands!" The issue had a cover date of November 1983.
After the introduction/splash page, the story resumed at the Pit of Carkoon on the planet Tatooine. C-3PO was offering Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker a chance to beg for mercy before being dropped into the maw of the Sarlaac. No pleas would ever be forthcoming, but those on the desert skiff and Jabba's sail barge paid rapt attention to the proceedings.
R2-D2 moved to the balcony of the barge and waited for the signal from his master, which was made moments later. A portion of his dome opened, jettisoning a small item which we soon learned was the hilt of the new lightsaber that Luke had constructed. The Jedi waited patiently for the weapon to fall into his waiting hand, and a battle began aboard the skiff.
A few of Jabba's guards on the skiff fell overboard and into the waiting clutches of the hungry Sarlaac. The bounty hunter Boba Fett activated his jetpack and flew to the skiff to engage the rebels. Meanwhile, Princess Leia Organa took advantage of the distraction to grab hold of the chains that connected her to the vile gangster and wrapped them around his throat, pulling on them vigorously until the Hutt had finally breathed his last breath.
Now all Leia had to do was cut herself free of the chains. She saw a blaster nearby, but it was still out of reach. While Luke was defending his friends, he was unaware that Lando Calrissian (in his Skiff guard disguise) had fallen overboard and was clinging to a fraying cable. Luke then jumped over to another skiff to continue the conflict.
By then, Fett had landed on the initial skiff and was preparing to fire at the young Jedi Knight. Solo had been trying to rescue Calrissian, but when he heard Chewie announce Boba's arrival, he swung around, inadvertently striking him with the staff he'd been carrying, which ignited the jetpack and sent the bounty hunter flying off uncontrollably. He crashed into the barge before dropping into the Sarlaac pit.
As Han's eyesight (which had been weakened due to being encased in carbonite) continued to improve, Artoo arrived to cut Leia's chains. By that time, Luke had made it to the deck of the sail barge. He fought Jabba's crew valiantly and only suffered a minor injury when a blaster struck his mechanical hand.
Artoo rescued Threepio from torment at the hands of Jabba's associate, Salacious Crumb, while Lando continued to crawl desperately up the sandy pit. Leia and Luke continued to confront Jabba's hired guns on the sail barge deck, just before an explosion rocked the vessel and sent Luke's droids tumbling from the craft.
Chewbacca gave Han a pistol, and Jabba's former employer shot a tentacle that would have dragged Calrissian into the pit. He then pulled his friend up, just as Leia and Luke were pointing the sail barge's main cannon at the deck. Luke kicked the firing pedal right before they swung over to the skiff to rejoin their friends.
The heroes retrieved Threepio and Artoo and sailed off to safety as the sail barge was going up in flames. A short while later, the Millennium Falcon and Luke's X-Wing exited Tatooine's orbit. Luke promised to join his colleagues soon, after he fulfilled a promise with an old friend.
Meanwhile, a welcoming party on the new Death Star was preparing for the Emperor's shuttle to arrive. The wizened leader descended the landing ramp and affirmed that the son of Skywalker would soon join their cause. He was confident that everything would proceed as he had foreseen. Emperor Palpatine ordered the fleet to be sent to the far side of Endor, the jungle planet that provided the power for the station's force field. When Vader asked about reports of the Rebel fleet amassing near Sullust, his superior expressed no concern, adding that the Rebellion would soon be crushed and that Skywalker would be one of them. He then dispatched Vader to the command ship to await further instructions.
On Dagobah, Luke explained to Yoda that he'd returned to finish his Jedi training. The legendary Jedi master told him that he required no further training, because he already knew all that was necessary. Luke asked Yoda if Vader was indeed his father. Yoda reluctantly replied in the affirmative, adding that it was unfortunate that he rushed to face him, and that he wasn't ready to face that burden at the time. He reminded his young student that he must not underestimate the Emperor, and that when Yoda was gone, Luke would be the last of the Jedi.
Shortly after exiting Yoda's hut, Luke had a conversation with Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force spirit. His first Jedit tutor explained that what he'd told Luke about his father initially was true, from a certain point of view. Kenobi took it upon himself to teach Anakin Skywalker in the ways of the Force after being amazed by how strong the Force was with Anakin, but his pupil eventually became corrupted by the Dark Side. When that happened, the good man that he once knew had ceased to exist.
Obi-Wan thought he could teach Anakin just as well as Yoda. His mistake had great consequences for the galaxy. He knew now that Vader was more machine than man, twisted and corrupted by the Dark Side of the Force. Luke was their only hope, except for another. It didn't take the former Tatooine farmboy very long to realize that Leia was his twin sister. Kenobi had kept them separated shortly after their birth because he knew how much of a threat they could pose to the Emperor. Kenobi advised Luke to bury his feelings for his sister, because although they did him credit, they could be used to serve the Empire. He and Luke both knew that another confrontation with the Sith Lord was inevitable.
The rest of the issue's content was pin-up pages, featuring Boba Fett, a pair of Imperial Royal Guards, the Falcon leaving Tatooine, and a portrait of Obi-Wan and Yoda on Dagobah. In place of a letters page was a house ad for the monthly Star Wars comic that used the cover illustration from its seventieth issue.
The only real plot points that were missing from this particular issue were Yoda's death and the fact that Yoda had told Luke that there was another shortly before his demise. I don't blame the Marvel staff for changing this too much, because the other was explained at the end of this story. I also wish that the people who created the additional pages of art in issues 2 through 4 of this limited series that were exclusive to this adaptation (and not the single-volume Marvel Super Special) were credited accordingly in the title page. I picked up on the differences from Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon's work right away, and while they were nice, they were still very noticeably different.
I can't say enough good things about this adaptation. It wasn't perfect, but it was ideal for the eleven-year-old me. I first picked this up at the local Woolworths store. While my female cousins from out of state were in town looking for Jellies shoes, I was more interested in the further adventures of the protagonists from my favorite science fiction series. I didn't want to believe that Vader was Luke's father until this movie and its adaptation made me realize that was actually true. At first, I thought it was just a lie told to try to sway Luke's favor. It was an interesting twist that significantly impacted the franchise moving forward.
Well, that's all I have for today. Next time, I'll discuss the third issue of this limited series. We'll see what the Rebellion is planning and what lies in store for them on the planet Endor. We'll also find out how much the Emperor knew about the Rebel efforts, and watch as Luke takes the final step toward his final meeting with his father. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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