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Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: March 12, 2014
Publishing a comic book adaptation of George Lucas' original story The Star Wars uses many of the same character names and some characters to tell roughly the same story: The Empire is after Princess Leia and she's on the run with Jedi General Luke Skywalker, his apprentice Annikin Starkiller, a character named Han Solo and a couple of familiar droids.
In this story section, the ship carrying our heroes is under attack. Annikin and Captain Whitsun are doing their best to stop them but they're just outnumbered. Skywalker (looking a great deal here like a beefy George Lucas) orders them into the nearby asteroid field which saves them but forces them to abandon ship and land on the planet of Yavin. Whitsun has to sacrifice himself to save the princess while Annikin is caught outside in space and is saved by the understandable Artwo.
Separated on the planet's jungle surface, Annikin sees where the princess' pod landed and goes to rescue her. But he's soon beset by bounty hunters and the wookies they've captured. He fights back but is knocked out before the wookies overcome their captors and take him back with them to their camp. For some reason, when he comes to, he ends up fighting the biggest one of them and then everything is suddenly fine…
Meanwhile, Skywalker and Solo (who looks a great deal like the Swamp Thing), Threepyo (who looks a great deal like a Cyberman) and Leia's two younger brothers regroup and try to locate Annikin and Leia. Instead, though, they find another being living - Owen Lars - and working at a nearby wookie village who gives them the lowdown on where they're at and what's available.
It's an interesting walk through some pure Star Wars nerd-core territory but I'd say it mostly works. Jonathan Rizler's story is swift-moving, engaging and entertaining. Mike Mayhew's artwork is pretty stellar, too, so all in all it's an interesting and fun take on the old story.
