Retro Comic Recap: Star Wars (1977) #91

Good evening,

This article will concentrate on recapping the ninety-first issue of the first Star Wars comic. The cover showed Han Solo, along with a handcuffed Chewbacca, in front of several handcuffed younger Wookiees with an unknown character reaching out from the foreground. The story was called "Wookiee World." The issue had a cover date of January 1985.

Chewie, Han, and Lando had finally landed on Kashyyyk. Chewbacca was a bit on edge, which Han figured was probably because he hadn't been home and spent time with his family in quite some time. Solo reminded Calrissian of how the planet had once been a source of slave labor for the Empire, a terrible trade that was thankfully no longer in existence there.

The trio moved on until their path was blocked by a pale white humanoid and Chewie's brother-in-law, Vargi. The group decided to move on to Chewbacca's home. On the way, the stranger explained that his name roughly translates to the word "knife" in the Wookiee language. 

No one else was home at the time, but they decided to stay for a spell. At one point, Knife tossed one of his namesake weapons at the wall by Han and Lando, which killed a poisonous flame beetle. A few moments later, Chewie's son Lumpy arrived, only to be taken by a pair of Wookiees who pointed blasters at the heroes. 

Han tried to reason things out, only to learn that Knife was part of the slave trade revival on Kashyyyk. They were led away, and Han and Lando were chained together and placed in another room. While Lando worked to free them, several Wookiees were being loaded into a transport ship. Lando and Han came across the vessel minutes later and concocted a plan.

Han crept behind Chewbacca to release his bonds. The tall Wookiee then pushed his friend aside to save him from Vargi. The two relatives engaged in a fight before Solo intervened. The growing native crowd observed for a while before taking action. Things looked grim for Chewie, as Knife was ready to attack again. This time, his weapon was blasted from his hand by Calrissian.

Lando had stopped to free Chewie's wife, Mala, and the other imprisoned Wookiees before joining the fracas. That was enough to motivate Chewbacca to finally defeat his brother-in-law. While the Wookiees celebrated, Knife slipped away. Lando realized that he'd forgotten to reset the defense systems for his ship, the Cobra, and that their enemy would probably use it to leave the planet. Han was glad that everyone was okay, but wanted a rematch with their new foe as soon as possible. 

This was the first time that Kashyyyk was shown in a Star Wars comic book. Its only other previous appearance was in the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday TV special. The surroundings changed quite a bit from then to its movie debut in the Revenge of the Sith film, but it was good to see more Wookiees, especially Chewie's family. Knife would return in a few more issues before the title ran its course in 1986.

Next time, I'll cover the ninety-second issue of this series. The double-sized story shows key Alliance members engaging in a conflict with more Imperial remnants. A new character will burst onto the scene, and we'll learn that not everything is always what it seems. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.