The first question you’ll probably have is “why start at issue 7?”. There is a simple reason for this, over the years we have all become more than familiar with the storyline of A New Hope and I would imagine that most people out there have read the comics, but beyond that is where the fun begins.
In a time before Betamax, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K, we only had the cinema to view Star Wars as it was then known. No episode number or subtitle officially attached to it; it was just Star Wars. Unless you could make repeat visits to the cinema, you couldn’t watch it anywhere else. As a 5-year-old repeat visits were impossible without a parent or guardian which meant I only got to see Star Wars once in the cinema, but that one time changed my life!
The launch of Marvel’s Star Wars comics was my lifeblood. I could now relive the magic of the cinema through the first 6 issues and then the story we all love was over, I sat and wondered “what happens next?”.
What happened next was about to take me and my heroes on journeys to new worlds, new adventures, meeting new species and helping the denizens of the galaxy fight the evil Empire. Accompanied by my own imagination, a growing collection of comics and Star Wars toys, the possibilities became endless.
For the next 9 years, spanning 106 issues, Star Wars comics adorned the shelves of comic bookstores and newsstands around the world and continued to take us on that journey. These stories are now classed as ‘Legends’ in literature terms. We have seen a recent reintroduction of characters, planets and events that relate to these sometimes-forgotten gems as the modern era writers draw upon their own Star Wars memories to take us on new journey’s in a galaxy far, far away.
As many of us are looking at ways of filling time during these unprecedented times. If you get chance during your prolonged stay at home, take time to sit back and relax with a copy of a long-forgotten comic and join us on our journey through our ‘Lockdown Legends’ from a bookshelf not so far, far away.
May the force be with you!
Published: January 1, 1978
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas
Artist/Co-plotter: Howard Chaykin
Colourist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin
The synopsis;
Han and Chewie head out to pay their debt to Jabba, when they’re attacked by pirates!
The review;
The dust has settled, the Death Star is no more, and the Empire have been dealt a severe blow by the Rebel Alliance. Where will the journey take our heroes?
As a child Han Solo was never my go to character, I always wanted to be Luke Skywalker. That was possibly because I also had long blonde hair at the time, although hard to imagine that these days! But I remember this comic started to change that for me, Han Solo was gaining ground fast. I have reread this issue a few times in recent years and each time it brought back so many fond memories.
The goodbye between our heroes is poignant as the door is left open for Han Solo and Chewbacca to return to the fold. But they now have the resources to clear their debt to Jabba the Hutt. Surely that mission would be a slam dunk for Han Solo?
So, it would seem until they get attacked by Space Pirates led by the fearsome red bearded Crimson Jack. Reading this again as an adult, I truly believe that this character would have been played on screen by Brian Blessed of Boss Nass fame. But I will say that his outfit is a bit dubious. A leotard like suit with tights and knee length boots, quite a look, eh? But take a pause and think why he might look like this.
The team allocated to work on this were drawing off their own imaginations and these would have been fuelled by the same Saturday morning cinema serials that inspired George Lucas to create Star Wars in the first place. I used to watch these serials with my dad growing up as a child. By watching these, he was reliving his own childhood and sharing these memories with me. Flash Gordon was a regular in our household and my favourite of the time.
Our heroes stripped bare of their loot, are now in desperate need to find work and start again. They head for the planet Aduba-3 and soon after landing find themselves protecting a priest known as Pera, trying to take a ‘borg’ for burial meeting local unrest. Han and Chewie do the right thing and step in to help break this up. For me, a good choice for their characters. Helping others when they themselves are out of luck.
Han’s claim to have missed so much Sunday School is a real eye opener. Up until this day, we have never heard a day named in such a way. So much real-world influence used in a way that back then probably seemed normal, but today seems slightly odd.
Of course, things go south when Han and Chewie are requested to help complete the burial. Then a local takes thing’s too far and attacks Han with an axe and blasters get drawn and it results in a mass of blaster fire. Like Chirrut Îmwe, our priest can defend himself with his staff. A peaceful man of the cloth being given no other choice but to defend in such a way is not too unfamiliar.
Realising they are well and truly beaten their attackers retreat with haste, leaving Han, Chewie and Pera to finally lay the ‘borg’ to rest. Han and Chewie are paid the man’s inheritance as they are the ones who lay him to rest.
Where do you think Han wants to go now? Yep, the local cantina for a drink and to mix with the people he’s been brawling and blasting. Then for some reason, starts to blow his newfound credits on buying drinks for everyone while talking to the various species of females who frequent the cantina. This part made me really smile; it feels like a situation that you’d find in a spaghetti western of the time. He’s handed them a whipping, but they hold no grudges and are willing to share his hospitality. Even Chewie is getting familiar with the local ladies!
On his way out of the cantina with a new female friend, Han is stopped by some more dubiously dressed humans, offering a proposition that will unfold in issue 8.
One thing that you will find different about the comics, is that there are more commentary boxes telling the story than there are in modern comics. I also love the call outs and editor notes when certain comments are made that refer to events in previous issues. It’s so rare we see these today, but they were essential back then.
The artwork isn’t the best and I do not mean that in a disrespectful way to any of the artist involved. We are so used to the more clinical and accurate artwork we are now treated to. Drawing and printing techniques have advance so much in the past 40 plus years. To demonstrate this, you can clearly see the difference in the pages chosen to accompany this review. I have used high quality scanned pictures of the pages and put them side by side with digital copies from recent times.
The Millennium Falcon changes design on numerous occasions throughout, but I can live with that. This is because the teams working on them probably had so little material to work with. At a time before the Lucasfilm story group, the teams working on these comics were free reign and this was all being drawn up from their own imaginations.
Issue 7 was a great start to the all-new Star Wars adventures in a galaxy far, far away. Let’s see what issue 8 entitled ‘Trouble in Paradise’ brings us next week!
Stay Safe!
Availability;
The original Marvel Star Wars series ran from 1977 to 1986, encompassing 106 issues. Star Wars (1977) #7 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.
