Good morning,
Hope everyone's having a great Saturday!
It's time for me to discuss the third Marvel Star Wars annual. All of the covers for their 1983 annuals had the traditional cover box in the top left-hand corner, and a drawing in the middle, with a black background around the artwork. The image for this cover was of Darth Vader, drawn by the issue's artist and colorist, Klaus Janson. The story was called "Apprentice."
On board Vader's Star Destroyer, the Dark Lord of the Sith was speaking with several Imperial officers. He wanted to stress the importance of their mission and his orders that were directly from the Emperor. The fleet was in orbit around the planet Belderone because the work that went on there was important to the Empire's goals of crushing the Rebel Alliance and the conquest of other planets and systems. Failure was simply not an option here.
The Emperor had sensed growing unrest among the people of Kulthis, the third planet in this solar system. As soon as work was complete on Belderone, Imperial forces would travel to Kulthis to squash the Rebellion forces there. General Andrid expressed his doubts about belief in the Force, which Vader quickly dispelled. He stated that important elements would soon come into play and that they must be ready for them.
In the city streets of Belderone, an excited native boy named Flint was rushing to find his friend Barney. Flint had just seen something incredible that he wanted his buddy to see. Barney woke slowly and followed Flint down the street. At one point, Flint's mother warned her son that he would be late for his work shift. Flint replied that he would be back in time. His mother watched the boys run off, knowing that her son only wanted what was best for all of them.
The friends were part of the growing crowd that had gathered to witness the Millennium Falcon. Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Princess Leia Organa, and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO emerged from Han Solo's ship, surprised to see so many people around them. Flint noticed the lightsaber hilt at Luke's belt. He knew that the stranger must be a Jedi, just like Flint's father had been.
Conversations began shortly thereafter. Lando said that he and his associates represented a trading fleet. One of the residents replied that they had a trade agreement with the Empire for items they produced on Belderone. Flint asked Luke where he got his saber from. Luke admitted that it had been given to him by a friend of his father's and repeated the familiar line that his father had been a navigator on a spice freighter.
Lando added that Kulthis was one of the places they had been from recently, which elicited an intriguing reaction. Flint and Barney made their introductions with the Rebels and invited them to a local tavern. Artoo and Threepio stayed behind with the Falcon while the others moved on. Luke talked with Leia about the reactions to the word Kulthis and that he could feel Vader's presence nearby via the Force.
Flint introduced his mother to their new acquaintances, who entered the tavern right before the young lad took off on his speeder to make his work shift. Their arrival was noticed from a safe distance by an Imperial commander, who didn't think that the Dark Lord needed to be involved just yet. Inside the tavern, the Rebels noticed how reluctant the locals were to talk much about what their work actually entailed. Lando was confident that Kulthis had enough Rebel fighters to combat any Imperial threat.
As the evening wore on, Barney and Flint continued to admire the guests from afar. Luke sensed danger right before several shots were fired at the patrons. A firefight began, and two of the assailants were taken out swiftly. Luke corralled the third gunman, who took his own life instead of surrendering.
While Flint was admiring Luke's Jedi abilities, a call was placed from one Imperial agent to Andrid. Vader was soon made aware of that transmission and questioned why Andrid did not inform him of the Rebels' presence on Belderone. Andrid replied that he had to act fast because Skywalker was among them. Vader already knew that and used the Force to end the commander's life. He then proposed a toast to the late general before ordering his personal craft to be prepared so that he could personally supervise their mobilization on Belderone.
Luke and Chewbacca took the Falcon to Kulthis to bring reinforcements. Leia and Lando stayed behind and talked with Barney and Flint. The youths wanted to help and showed their friends the location of their workforce. As fighters were making the journey to Belderon, Calrissian and Organa soon discovered that the natives had been working on Imperial Walkers, as a trio of the large vehicles moved out.
Barney and Flint jumped into a speeder to warn Flint's mother, just as the Rebel X-wings arrived on the scene. Luke knew from the Battle of Hoth how to defeat the war machines. Tow cables tied up the legs of one walker and brought it crashing down to the ground.
Flint and Barney's speeder crashed, and the impact knocked out the boys temporarily, just before one of the walkers came stampeding through the city streets. Luke was surprised to learn that Leia and Lando had taken control of one of the walkers, and he quickly commandeered another. The battle didn't last long, but that's not to say that it didn't come without costs.
Flint awoke and saw that Barney was still unconscious. He then ran to his mother's tavern. Flint found her on the floor, unresponsive. He'd been too late to save her. As he lamented her loss, Flint vowed to eventually rise to power and have retribution. Someone behind him said that he could give him the opportunity to help fulfill that dream.
Afterward, Leia expressed remorse over the city's destruction. Lando acknowledged that residents hadn't had much of a life anyway since the Empire set up production there. Luke hoped things could return to normal now that their operations had ceased. Barney told his new friends not to feel bad because what happened wasn't their fault.
Barney was convinced now more than ever that he wanted to join the Rebellion. He wanted to fight for good, now that there was nothing left for him on Belderone anymore. Barney realized that Flint was after power and was chasing a source that could further that goal. As the Rebels boarded the Falcon, Flint took his place among the new Stormtroopers who were about to depart from a different location to pursue a different mission.
This wasn't the last that we'd see of Barney and Flint. The two would return in a double-sized issue of the monthly title more than a year after the Return of the Jedi film adaptation. I liked how two childhood friends' experiences with the Galactic war showed them which side they aligned with. My one complaint was the artwork. Klaus Janson is a fine inker, but his pencil work was rather sloppy in spots, especially toward the end of the story. It was also hard to tell at times where certain characters were, and the drawings of the walkers and X-wings were very basic at best.
Well, that's it for this article. Next time, I'll discuss the seventy-eight issue of this series. This is a fill-in issue that answers the question of what happened to a popular supporting character after the Battle of Hoth. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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