Published: March 29, 2023
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Alessandro Miracolo
Colourist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist: Ryan Brown
The synopsis;
THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF RETURN OF THE JEDI BEGINS HERE!
WHO IS PLOTTING TO OVERTHROW JABBA THE HUTT?
Jabba’s palace is one of many places to find the vilest of scum and villainy relaxing, wet their whistles and indulge their vices…who would ever want that to end? Well, SOMEONE has Jabba in their sights! Beginning a series of One-Shots spotlighting the RETURN OF THE JEDI era, Marc Guggenheim (HAN SOLO & CHEWBACCA) and Alessandro Miracolo (OBI-WAN) bring you a tale of Jabba’s Palace you won’t soon forget!
The review;
Oh, one shot’s, how I have missed thee! It feels like a long time since we’ve had one shot’s. In the old Expanded Universe, it was always an occasion when these were released, something special. Not tied to any other story, a chance for authors (and artists) to use their creativity to show something that was unique and a little bit different. Fresh on the heels of Han Solo and Chewbacca, Marc Guggenheim treats us with a story from the crime lord, Jabba the Hutt. The art is brought to us by Alessandro Miracolo, who most notably (for me anyway), was his work on the Obi-Wan mini-series in issue three. I’m not too sure what to expect from this but I have to say that I’m excited to find out. The fact that Marvel has created this one shot to celebrate forty years of Return of the Jedi, makes this like those special events from decades before.
This story opens with a scene known to us all from Return of the Jedi, showing us what is known before moving backwards to what we don’t. We are introduced (or reintroduced) to droid Eightyem, the translator droid who was disintegrated. Guggenheim is very clear right from the beginning that we know the fate of this droid, the ending is guaranteed, but the journey taken to get there is not. It’s these sorts of stories that I love, that fill in the missing gaps of story that could never be answered in the main movies. Eightyem is a fascinating droid. He has such a sense of wanting more; he knows how good he is as a droid and feels like Jabba is completely under utilising him. The same job, the same day all the time. I can imagine there are a few people who can relate to this droid, that you can’t help but feel sorry for. He wants more but it is beyond him because of him being a droid and the fact he has a restraining bolt. He desires what all people want: freedom.
As we travel through this story, we are introduced to a new character, Silvan Kaan, who is able to manipulate and use the droid for his own ends. The droid has to take the Twi’lek at his word because he has no other choices. Again, it is easy to make comparisons with our world, with people feeling like robots, going to their job day after day but having no means to escape. Although we don’t have a real restraining bolt, there are forces placed on us. When there seems no escape, there are those who promise us freedom but end us in more trouble. It’s this human representation of Eightyem that I really like. Droids are always underestimated by the people within the galaxy far, far away but in Star Wars they are used as our guides, of showing the very human parts of ourselves. Guggenheim threads this throughout this tale. You can’t help but feel the pain of Eightyem, his struggle. Even when he is looking at the twin suns, like Luke did, you have that very human element shine through.
Every panel and page has some character from Return of the Jedi. If you’re a fan of the denizens of the palace there is plenty here. In my life BC (before children, not before Christ), I used to have a focus vintage collection on Ree-Yees and it was fantastic to see Guggenheim bring in this ‘common’ vintage figure to life. All these little snippets of these different characters are almost important to the story, they are to help tell the tale of Eightyem, yet each could have their own comic explaining in even more detail what is going on. Guggenheim has so many threads throughout this story.
And helping to enhance that is Miracolo, who’s artwork suits the entire atmosphere of Jabba’s Palace. The style, the tone, it all fits beautifully. What I really liked was the use of repetition across the panels. There were beautiful suitable differences from panel to panel and yet you could feel the monotony of Eightyems life. Each panel within the palace is filled with creatures and aliens that befits the place, and you could spend so much time just retying to identify each and every one!
No limitations of a series, of having to build foundations to stories, but a severe limitation of containing a story to one comic. I can’t help but be reminded of the Tales from Jabba’s Palace in the nineties, there is that definite feel to this. It expands on a character that we know but not necessarily can name, something that we have always seen but not really seen. Guggenheim’s choice of main character is excellent and adds a well told back story. The humanising of this character is what really makes this feel so special, although while rewatching Return of the Jedi, I think it will also pull at the heartstrings even more than it did. Add in the very well-placed drawings of Miracolo and you have a story that I can see fans returning to again and again. It’s not galaxy changing, and it never claimed to be, but it is a story that you can read in a single sitting and have a sense of a very definitive start, middle and end. It sets a very high standard for this series of one shot’s, one that I hope future writers and artists can meet.
Availability;
Star Wars: Jabba’s Palace is a one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $4.99 and is available via The Marvel App, ComiXology and from all good comic book stores.
