Good morning and Happy Easter, everyone!
It's time for me to discuss the seventy-first issue of Marvel's first Star Wars series. The cover showed Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker embroiled in a battle, while standing before a figure encased in carbonite. The tale was titled "Return to Stenos." The issue had a cover date of May 1983.
The story started on board the Millennium Falcon, where Luke and Lando were staring at holograms of the bounty hunters IG-88 and Bossk. The Rebels had been pursuing those bounty hunters because they'd been informed that they were possibly involved in Han Solo's capture, until Boba Fett cut them out of the deal and took the rewards for himself. R2-D2 then turned off the holoprojection, and the two heroes inspected their weapons before heading out to investigate Stenos.
Artoo and Chewbacca remained behind, because they would be less inconspicuous that way, and Chewie wasn't particularly fond of Stenaxes anyway (after their first visit, which was chronicled last issue). Lando guided his friend to the nearest bar, not knowing that a man named Drebble was inside. Drebble loudly exclaimed that Calrissian had cheated him as soon as he saw the pair reach the bar. He also put a ten-thousand-credit reward up for his capture, which naturally attracted most of the patrons' attention.
Lando and Luke ducked for cover right before the firefight began. During the conflict, the Rebels watched Bossk leave the cantina with a Jawa. Luke swooped up and used his lightsaber to take out some of their enemies before the pair jumped from the fifth floor. Afterward, one of the combatants punched Drebble in the mouth for basically being obnoxious. That act of violence was witnessed by IG-88, who had been sitting in a booth behind him.
The heroes landed safely outside and continued their search for Bossk. At first, it seemed like they had caught up with him. However, the person they'd been tracking was a female who looked similar but was definitely not the bounty hunter they were looking for. By that time, Luke and Lando had circled back to the bar and found Drebble standing in front of the entrance shouting loudly.
The duo fled and soon split up. Luke turned around to see Rik Duel staring back at him in a dark alley. Skywalker thought that Duel and his crew had been killed by Stenaxes (during the story recounted in issue #70), but Rik explained that he'd explained that the natives' rage should have been directed at the Imperial governor who was holding the statue of their god Vol at the time.
Rik's overly amorous associate Dani snuck behind Luke and engaged him in an embrace. Luke asked where Chihdo, the third member of Rik's group, was. Duel had a bad feeling about his friend's disappearance, and the trio set out to investigate. Along the way, Luke caught up with Lando.
Calrissian was excited to share what he saw. He showed Luke a pair of men who were accompanying a person encased in a block of carbonite. They both assumed that it was Han in that block and relayed the news via comlink to Chewbacca and Artoo on the Falcon, who were overjoyed at the news.
Some clever thinking by Lando allowed Luke to distract one of the guards so they could enter the complex where the carbonite block had been transported. They soon made their way inside and were in the same room where the block had been placed. However, they soon learned that it was Chihdo inside the block of carbonite, and that Bossk and IG-88 were right behind them.
This was a clever little yarn. I enjoyed the return of Rik and his motley crew. It proved the age-old lesson of not counting your chickens before they hatch, and it was interesting seeing two of the minor characters from The Empire Strikes Back playing larger roles in this storyline.
Well, that's all I have for now. Later today, I'll recap the seventy-second issue of this title. This issue will conclude the storyline. We'll find out what happened to Luke and Lando after being captured by the bounty hunters, and what Chewie and Artoo do after learning about Han's discovery. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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