Good morning,
Hope everyone's having a great weekend!
It's time for me to talk about the eighty-fourth issue of Marvel's first Star Wars comic book. The cover had Han Solo and Chewbacca in the top left corner box, and Han reaching for an artifact with an unknown character reaching its hands out behind him. The tale was titled "Seoul Searching." The issue had a cover date of June 1984.
The story started on the planet Zhotta 3. Han and Chewie had just finished a diplomatic mission, and Solo was now engaged in a card game. His opponent brought out a clear crystal that he wanted to add to his wager. He also produced a holomap that contained coordinates for the Seoul 5 system before stating that he'd brought the crystal from there.
Han knew that the system had been destroyed long ago. He'd even been to a few of their outposts and found nothing but wrecked ruins. The old man then shared his story. He said that he'd been a scout years ago for the Empire's exploratory division. He had just completed a mission when a meteor knocked his ship out of control as it was about to enter hyperspace. The craft warped back into regular space and headed toward an unknown star system, which turned out to be Seoul's. He set the ship down on the fifth planet for repairs after learning that it was hospitable.
While his droid went to work fixing the damage, he decided to investigate the city. He'd identified the buildings as Seoulian after having been assigned to one of the outposts Han had talked about earlier. He eventually found a trail of glowing crystals that were set into the wall of a passage in one of the buildings. He followed them until he reached a chamber that contained the crystals. He grabbed one of them, planning to return for the rest at some point. That goal had been postponed because of the Galactic Civil War, but now he hoped to fulfill that dream. He wanted to wager his crystal against the Millennium Falcon.
Han wasn't about to take on that type of a wager until the old man sat silently, concentrating until the crystal in his hand began to hum. The power emanating from it was enough to levitate Chewbacca briefly. Han then agreed to play on. He won with a hand that was highly unlikely, causing his opponent to accuse him of cheating.
Chewie knocked the table over, just before their foe's allies started shooting. Han lost his money, but managed to grab the crystal and the map. The two longtime companions decided to check the old man's story out, and plotted a course for the Seoul system.
A short while later, they set the Falcon down near the ruins the man had described. Chewie stayed with the ship while Han set out on foot. Neither of them knew that Imperial remnants were also on the planet, with the same goal in mind. Imperial Captain Drezzel was informed of the Falcon's arrival, and soon summoned his telepathic associate Ssssk!
Han wandered into the city square until he found a statue that was described on the map. He ran his fingers over the hieroglyphics on the statue's base, hoping to find the switch that would open a secret door. He was in the middle of that task when a painful foreign presence invaded his mind. It was Ssssk! and his Imperial companions. Solo fired at them wildly and continued pressing icons on the statue until he found one that opened a trapdoor beneath his feet.
The Correllian fell down an anti-gravity chute until he floated down to the floor. He noticed another chute that presumably led up to the surface before finding the same glowing rods the old man had mentioned. He didn't notice the slight hum from the crystal in the pack slung around his shoulder.
Before long, Solo arrived in the command center that the Imperials had undoubtedly uncovered. When he reached the table that held the other four crystals, the hum intensified in pitch and volume. He stepped away right before the Imperials entered the room.
As he was lurking in the background, Han came across a reptilian scientist named Doctor Xathan and his female assistant, Fem-Nu-Ar. Both of them had been tied up and kept in the side room by the Empire's troops. Fem-Nu-Ar explained that they had discovered the charts that led the Imperials to that planet. The Empire had backed their scientific expedition and provided their "protection."
Things had gone well until they discovered the chamber that housed the crystals. The natives had used the crystals to mentally power everything in their world. The scientists didn't know that Ssssk! was reading their thoughts and informing his superiors about what they'd learned. The Imperials captured them and claimed the crystals for weapons development.
Han was willing to help them. out. He untied their bonds and led them out of their hiding place. He stunned a pair of Stormtroopers before returning to the pedestal. The hum increased once more. Han then pulled out the crystal from his pack, just before more soldiers arrived, blasters firing. Xathan warned Han not to let the Imperials get hold of the crystal Han was holding, noting that it was the one that controlled the other crystals.
Solo shooed his companions toward the exit while he continued to fight back. A potent mind blast from Ssssk! made it difficult for Han to move until he used the crystal to block out the mental assault. The crystal's energy was powerful enough to repel the telepath and even force it into unconsciousness.
Han was nearly exhausted, but still had enough energy to return to the table and reinsert the crystal into its slot in the center. The hum reached a new level of intensity, which blurred Han's eyesight temporarily. When his vision cleared, he saw Dr. Xathan and Fem-Nu-Ar standing before him. They ran into the chute that brought them back to the surface, and ran for the Falcon, knowing that the crystal's energies were continuing to grow.
Chewie saw Han and his new allies approaching and readied the ship for a quick getaway. They managed to lift off and activate the Falcon's rear shields as the air around them was now humming. A trio of TIE fighters was launched to pursue them, but it and a significant portion of the planet was blasted by the crystals' impressive energy. It was a scientific loss, but at least that power would never be controlled by the Empire. Han's passengers thanked him for their assistance, which was one positive from this sojourn.
Although this was basically a filler issue, it kept me entertained throughout. Tom Palmer's inks really shored up the artwork, and the story was convincing enough to keep readers turning the pages. I knew that there had to be Imperial remnants scattered throughout the galaxy, as recent Marvel Star Wars comics have also shown. I would like to see Ssssk! and others of his kind appear eventually in other Star Wars stories.
That's all I have for this article. Next time, I'll cover the eighty-fifth issue of this series. Han, Chewie, and Lando Calrissian embark upon a diplomatic mission for the Alliance of Free Planets and run into a few familiar faces, some of whom we haven't seen since before the events covered in the Return of the Jedi movie adaptation. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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