Published: June 1, 1978
Writer/Editor: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Carmine Infantino, Terry Austin
Colourist: Janice Cohen
Letterer: John Costanza
Consulting Editor: Jim Shooter
The synopsis;
Luke is stranded on the water world Drexel and finds himself caught between two opposing forces each looking to possess his ship.
The review;
At the end of issue 11, we saw Luke, See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo stranded in an escape pod after they crash landed on the water world of Drexel. At the time of release, we had never seen any masses of water on any planet, so where do you put a desert dwelling youngster for a new adventure? Great idea!
While watching the beasts battle it out from a distance, we get the introduction of some new players to the melee. Several skimmers of unknown origins are now involved and despite losing some craft, the beasts disperse. Luke was never going to go unnoticed, was he? No, chance!
The escape pod is spotted by the skimmer crew’s and hauled aboard, but the greeting he gets is very aggressive. This is results in Luke pushing back in a very un-Jedi way. Revealing his lightsaber almost immediately to protect the droids and himself is a brave move. It reflects of the writer’s lack of knowledge of the Jedi, but also shows that Luke is still quite immature and is not a Jedi, yet. Interestingly the lightsaber doesn’t diffuse the situation and a combination of Artoo squirting oil on the floor and Luke taking a flying leap to disable the skimmer pilot an impasse is called.
The floating citadel they are taken to is made up galleon style sail ships, that seem to be permanently moored together. Confronted by the leader of the skimmer crew’s, Luke stands up to him and persuades him he has information worth them discussing. This is where Luke’s inferiority complex starts to kick in. While he can be hot headed, he himself feels he needs some of Solo’s self confidence to make this work for him. A nice touch from the writers.
Solo is aboard Crimson Jack’s cruiser plotting to use it to rescue Luke, but also steal it from Jack to give to the Rebellion. Jack recites the tail of how he and his crew seized the cruiser from Imperial hands some while back.
A few words from Princess Leia in issue 11 to Jolli has worked. She has been inappropriately suggested to by one of the crew and they are now cowering behind upturned tables a she tries to blast them. This is a really interesting part of the story for me. We’ve had the proper damsel in distress with the shaman’s granddaughter on Aduba-3, but here we now have had 3 very strong female characters influencing the story line; Princess Leia, Amaiza and now Jolli. This bucks the trend for some stereotypes that are thrown at comics of this era. Yes, the clothes are borderline on being sexist, but the characters within the costume are good strong characters.
Jack diffuses the situation and Solo even gets cuffed by Jolli for his troubles, but that’s the last of his troubles. They have dropped out of hyperspace and Jack has realised that Drexel is a water planet and certainy can’t hold what he has promised. Has Solo’s plot been rumbled?
Along with some really nice artwork and colours the plot has moved on well in this issue. Luke still has that edge to his personality and shows loyalty to his friends, then Han is still the smoothy with a plan, although he’s making it up as he goes along! The reaction of Jolli I have already noted, and I do think this is a very positive thing to have in this issue. Getting reacquainted with this issue was another enjoyable trip down memory lane.
Well, that’s it for issue 12. I off to read issue 13 which entitled “Day of the Dragon Lords!”
Availability;
The original Marvel Star Wars series ran from 1977 to 1986, encompassing 107 issues. Star Wars (1977) #12 is currently available in digital format from the Marvel Online Comic Store, via the Marvel App, comiXology or by subscribing to Marvel Unlimited. A physical copy can be found in one of the many trade paperback releases from Marvel. Please check with Amazon UK and US or your local comic bookstore for availability.
