The Star Wars #7 (Dark Horse)

writer: J. W. Rinzler

artist: Mike Mayhew

via Dark Horse

"Apparently, he and his friends are rescuing us.  The Skywalker is teaching them how to fly like birds, and the Starkiller god is attacking a moon -- to rescue a princess!"

That's a quote from Threepio (always a storyteller!).  It's funny, and tells you pretty much everything you need to know about this penultimate issue of the mini-series based on George Lucas's original rough draft of his famous saga.

You may be familiar with the anecdote about how the Ewoks came to Return of the Jedi, and why the Wookiees ended up fighting in Revenge of the Sith.  It was always the intention for the Wookiees to feature in a climactic battle, but as things ended up developing, it wasn't practical, and then it was modified, and then delayed, basically.  So this issue in particular is a window into one of the most famous, if not the most famous, elements of the rough draft.

In that way, we have a pretty amusing version of how Swamp Thing Han Solo met Chewbacca.  The funniest thing about it is that it sort of resembles how we meet Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace.  Ain't that great to know???  As the issue picks up our heroes have already saved the Wookiees.  One of them sticks around, won't go away, but no one can understand him, so they have no idea why.  Just a local pest.  (Chewbacca!  A local pest!)  But as it turns out, Han understands him perfectly (which nearly explains why in the movies he's still the only one who understands what Chewie says), and explains that he and the rest of the Wookiees have mistaken Annikin Starkiller for a god.

(Please remember that in this version, Annikin is basically Luke.)

The other notable scene in the issue is Darth Vader (also, Annikin is not basically Darth Vader) being a gentlemanly...sadistic a-hole, gleefully torturing Princess Leia (that much doesn't change).  You can bet this Vader doesn't have James Earl Jones's voice.

Once again, a fun issue to twist all your precious memories!