Hello there,
It's time for me to recap the ninety-fourth issue of Marvel's first Star Wars title. Bear in mind, this issue is where I felt the series jumped the shark, but if you've followed along this far, I hope you'll see me through to the series' end. The cover for this issue showed Wicket W. Warrick standing, holding a spear in his left hand and resting his left foot atop an Imperial Stormtrooper helmet. The story was called "Small Wars." The issue had a cover date of April 1985.
The tale began on Endor, with C-3PO lamenting what he believed would be the end of the Alliance of Free Planets. He was busy describing the breakdown to his trusty counterpart, R2-D2. Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were resting against a tall tree, talking things over. Leia arrived moments later, followed by Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Admiral Ackbar, and the admiral's new aide, Hirog.
They had no good news to report. It seemed that discussions between the two parties had broken down, and despite the Alliance members' best efforts, nothing could be done to salvage the situation. Ackbar and Hirog left shortly thereafter to start preparing for the inevitable, which was that the Ewoks had just declared war on the Lahsbees.
It is rather humorous that the peaceful Lahsbees would have offended the proud Ewok warriors, but apparently, something happened to bring them to that point. Luke tried to quell the tensions by inviting both groups to assist in his lightsaber practice. The Ewoks declined as they were gearing up for battle, while the fun-loving young Lahsbees jumped right in.
A short while later, Hirog sat behind a tree, using his communicator to speak with others of his kind. He was the one who'd masterminded the tensions in the first place. He observed Luke's practice session from a safe distance away, not knowing what Lahsbees were like in their adult forms.
The session began with some unexpected obstacles. Ewoks tossed stones at their mortal enemies, which Luke destroyed with his saber and deflected. One stone hit Hirog, who was a bit battered, but still faithful to his populace. The droids came across him at one point, but they didn't learn anything discriminatory.
Afterward, the battle began. Both sides took their positions, while Hirog readied a bomb in the bushes. Han bent down to talk to one of the Lahsbees, who took the blaster pistol from his hand. The little creature pulled the trigger, and its shot hit the weapon that now had a broken timing system but was still ticking away.
Meanwhile, the conflict continued. The Lahsbee who had taken Solo's gun became frightened by the oncoming Ewok assemblage and quickly matured into a large Huhk. He presented a challenge that both sides fought against. Eventually Hirog ran from his hiding place into the chaos. Upon seeing the Huhk, he fled. The beast then hurled a boulder, which happened to land right on the bomb, disarming it.
Upon the cessation of Hirog's reports, his fellow Hiromi in a nearby ship assumed the worst. They'd heard his cries of terror and thought that he'd been lost for the cause. The vessel then flew off, as if Hirog had never existed. The skirmish was over, and things were calm for the moment. The Ewoks and Lahsbees had made peace with each other, and the only concern then was Hirog's, as he continued running away from the Huhk.
I remember first reading this issue when I was twelve and realizing what a silly premise this story had. I was very unimpressed by the artwork. Except for the drawings of the droids, most of the pencil work was very sloppy. Not even Tom Palmer's incredible inks could save this issue. Martin would be the regular penciler for the rest of the title's run, and readers and subscribers just had to bear with it. I remember losing interest after reading this issue, although I would still go on and pick up the remaining issues years later.
That's it for this article. Next time, I'll talk about the ninety-fifth issue of this series. Luke, Kiro, and Dani embark on a mission where they encounter a familiar foe. Han and Luke are dispatched on a diplomatic mission, where they're assisted by some new characters that the Princess is less than pleased with. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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