Good afternoon,
Today's topic is the seventy-fifth issue of Marvel's first Star Wars series. The cover showed Princess Leia Organa's face. An unknown character was visible in her visor. The tale was titled "Tidal." The issue had a cover date of September 1983.
The story began as waves of water rushed into the main pavilion on the planet Iskalon. A missile dispatched from the nearby world Gamandar (as shown in the last issue) had detonated shortly before, and its effects were now being felt by Leia, Luke Skywalker, and their friend Kendle. The waves soon forced all inhabitants out into the open waters.
Luke fought against the conditions to stay with Leia. He soon found one of the air tanks they'd been given when Primor took them on a tour of their new surroundings, and gave it to Leia, knowing she'd need it more than he would. They swam together until they found Kendle again. However, their friend retreated when they came across another Iskalonian brandishing a sword. Leia and Luke were confused and unsure of what to do next.
On the planet Gamandar, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Mone had just been given permission to land in the Millennium Falcon. Mone had been to this planet before, but it had changed significantly since his last visit. The quintet resumed their search for missing Rebel pilot Tay Vanis and his K3PX droid.
Artoo's disappearance went unnoticed by the rest of the group, who had entered a nearby cul-de-sac long enough for Lando to assume his "Captain Drebble" disguise. He was less confrontational than Han Solo and preferred more subtle measures like secrecy and subterfuge. Threepio explained those concepts to Mone in terms that the Iskalonian could better understand. He described secrecy as a dark cave that one had never entered before, and subterfuge as a lithe creature that seemed harmless until its quarry approached it.
By the time Lando noticed Artoo was gone, the free-spirited astrodroid had already plugged into an Imperial computer terminal and was on his way to a shipping facility. He was allowed to proceed unheeded. It was quite obvious that Imperial Admiral Tower was less than impressed by this Captain Drebble character. Lando, in character, claimed to be a person who dealt in many things and was looking for Vanis.
Drebble pressed a button on his console and brought up a hologram of Darth Vader. The image was instantly repulsive to Mone. Tower explained that the Sith Lord was responsible for the planet's fortress and the subjugation of the solar system. Drebble and his associates left soon thereafter and were out of earshot when the spy (who we last saw in the previous issue) confirmed to the Imperial leader that his new guests were some of the people he'd personally observed on Iskalon.
Artoo was working hard, not far from his comrades. One of the Imperial officers that Lando approached informed him that there was a 3P unit just a few meters away. Calrissian, Chewie, Mone, and the droids caught up with K3PX and accidentally revealed to it that Skywalker was one of the Rebels on Iskalon.
Meanwhile, Luke and Leia were still facing the unknown Iskalonian, who swiped at the cord of Leia's air tanks before swimming away. Luke put his hand over his friend's mouth and guided her slowly to the surface, knowing that their lungs could burst if they ascended too quickly. The pair finally surfaced and took in great gasps of air before surveying the destruction around them.
The reasons for the damage weren't quite clear just yet. Luke wondered how the Empire knew they were even on the water world, since it was a sort of last-minute directive. A short time later, they found their companion Primor's body. The elderly native had been up against the pavilion when the bomb's impact was first felt.
Kendle resurfaced moments later and mourned the loss of her father-in-law. There was little time for lament, because the mystery assailant then stood behind them, wearing a breather tank on his head. Kendle ran inside the wreckage for safety, and Luke prevented the being known as Kiro from following after her.
Kiro was surprised by this, stating that he would have killed Kendle earlier. They had fought earlier, and their water tanks had been broken in the scuffle. She disappeared after he went to retrieve more water so that he wouldn't suffocate. He went on to say that she was the one who'd contacted Gamandar's leader and informed him of the Rebels' presence there, which was presumably the reason for the missile strike. Kiro confirmed that he'd heard Kendle send the message.
This was bad news, because the Falcon's crew would have arrived on Gamandar by then. We then saw TIE fighters orbit the opposite world. The view then narrowed to a prison cell, where Threepio, Mone, Chewbacca, and Lando were resting.
Personally, I found the Captain Drebble disguise about as appealing as Drebble himself. It was used as a plot point for several issues until things changed for the better. I was very doubtful that the disguise was effective, because I could see right through it when I first read this issue at the ripe old age of ten. Kiro proved to be an intriguing character and would return after this storyline several times following the Return of the Jedi movie adaptation. K3PX reminded me a bit of the Death Star droid action figure that I had as a child, and his condescending demeanor was rather fitting for a droid who now served the Empire.
Well, that's it for this article. Next time, I'll recap the seventy-sixth issue of this title. We'll find out the fate of Lando and company, and how Artoo fits into all of this. We'll also see how the Iskalonians reacted to the devastation and Vader's actions after learning that Luke was on the water planet when the bomb detonated. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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