Happy Friday, everyone,
The topic of today's blog post is the seventy-seventh issue of the first Star Wars comic book. The cover showed Luke Skywalker with his lightsaber in one hand, facing a giant Huhk. The tale was titled "Chanteuse of the Stars..." The issue had a cover date of November 1983.
The story started on Arbra, where C-3PO was being swarmed by native Hoojibs. The protocol droid was unprepared for their warm welcome after he and his colleagues had been away from the Rebels' base planet for quite some time. The group was also greeted by General Rieekan and other fellow Alliance members. They had some news to share after everyone assembled in the conference room.
Rieekan restated that Luke, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and Threepio had been searching for missing Rebels Yom Argo and Tay Vanis, who had purloined Imperial information about their opponents' newest weapon. Argo perished on the planet Lahsbane after his ship crashlanded there, and Vanis had last been seen in the area of twin planets Gamandar and Iskalon. He went on to say that they'd recently intercepted an Imperial communique that had been sent from one of the city computers on Gamandar to their fleet. It turned out that another Rebel had learned the same information that Vanis and Argo did. Rieekan then turned on the holographic projector to display an image of that Rebel, who was none other than their missing companion, Han Solo.
The general proposed dividing their forces. Lando and Chewie would resume the search for Solo, while Luke and Leia would keep looking for Vanis. Rieekan sent Organa and Skywalker to the planet Kabray. The duo departed in the Millennium Falcon, with Plif and several other Hoojibs at their side. They arrived for a diplomatic conference. After landing, Luke was surprised to see a Zeltron who looked very similar to Dani (who was part of Rik Duel's crew that was first introduced in issue #70). Leia reminded him that it wasn't the same girl, moments before she bumped into a male Zeltron.
The heroes entered the conference after a timely intervention by Plif. Luke and Plif decided to search the back rooms, while Leia stayed in her natural atmosphere, mingling with other delegates. As Luke ran into more female Zeltrons who were obviously attracted to him, Leia ventured into the backstage area, passing by a singer who was less than pleased with her manager.
Luke and Plif ran for safety and hid out in an unoccupied room as Leia made her way into the kitchen. She hid in a cabinet just as someone slipped some poison into one of the soup pots above her. Luke detached a scanner from his wrist and soon located Vanis' message in the room. He also overheard a plot to kill the governor. Skywalker was about to pursue the conspirators he'd just heard when a trio of female Zeltrons surrounded him.
Just as Imperial Stormtroopers walked by, Luke was able to convince his female companions to join him in the ballroom before the next act went onstage. Meanwhile, Leia took cover backstage and put on a wig, which apparently was enough to make the manager think that she was her singing starlet. Plif and his fellow Hoojibs were communicating telepathically to Luke about the assassination attempt, while the Zeltrons were trying to gain the farmboy's attention.
Before further plans could be made, the emcee announced the next act, the chanteuse of the stars. As the curtains opened, Luke was stunned to see Leia standing there in disguise. She stood there for a moment before finally starting to sing. Her songs stimulated one of the young Lahsbees in the crowd, who finally turned into a mature Huhk.
The transformation served as a distraction for Luke to run into the porter carrying the poisoned soup. He took advantage of the crowd's panic to seek shelter behind the Stormtroopers. He briefly forgot that he'd asked the Hoojibs to drain the soldiers' blasters beforehand. This was problematic because delegates weren't allowed to carry any weapons.
Plif suggested that Leia continue singing. She did so, and her melodies resonated with the giant creature. He dropped the Stormtrooper that he'd been holding and moved to the front of the stage, where he could adore her close up. Luke was relieved, but hoped that she knew a few more tunes, now that he had several female Zeltrons to entertain after the performance.
I remember buying this issue when I was 11. I brought it home with the Squid Head action figure that I'd also purchased that day and enjoyed them both thoroughly. This was a more comedic, lighter-paced issue than the previous ones, and I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw Leia standing on stage like a deer in headlights. I could visualize her poor singing, which really saved the day in this issue.
We would see more Zeltrons and Huhks in future issues. This concludes my recap of this issue. Next time, I'll cover the 1983 Star Wars annual. The Alliance and the Empire have their sights set on the planet Belderone. We'll learn what happens to that planet, and the sides that a couple of its residents who grew up together take. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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