Trapped on a world that law forgot, our intrepid smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, having been robbed of their Rebel loot by the galactic pirate Crimson Jack, are now caught up in a strange new conflict on Aduba-3.
With the continuing plethora of new books, games, animation and graphic novels, no one born in the noughties has ever had a drought of STAR WARS adventures. But back when I was growing up in the UK in early 1978, before the eventual arrival of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK in 1980, STAR WARS fans didn't have much to savour past our imaginations, action figures, one novel, and seeing the original movie another enjoyable time at our local cinemas. The incoming MARVEL comics (both the UK STAR WARS WEEKLY and, when you could get them, the full-colour US monthlies), going beyond the original six-issue movie adaptation to provide all-new adventures, soon proved a joy- treading a satisfying line between George Lucas created characters and realms fused with the kind of energy, colour and excitement provided by Stan Lee's MARVEL empire. This first adventure from writer/editor Roy Thomas was particularly quirky and a fitting tribute to Akira Kurosawa's THE SEVEN SAMURAI, in much the same way that Lucas's STAR WARS had been to that Japanese film-maker's other influential classic, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS.
Next year, as MARVEL take back the STAR WARS comics publishing mantle from DARK HORSE (who did such a great job creatively and successfully with the franchise since the early 90's), it's going to be interesting to see which directions and writers/artists they select to continue our beloved Star Warriors epic journeys. Will they be bringing us the kind of lead-in adventures to EPISODE VII that IDW did with J.J. Abrams TREK films? Will they be focused on timeframes in and out of the Classic Trilogy history? Or set before and after the new films arrival?
Whatever happens, lets hope that the new series goes beyond issue 107 this time out!
Star Wars (Marvel) - You Think You Know Comics? - YouTube
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