For deecades, licensed original Star Wars novels and comic books generated story development work that came fan-tested and fan-approved. Yet, Lucas Films ignored it all. The Mandalorian and Grogu will probably successfully apply a torniquet to the bleeding franchise, but it is ironic how scrupulously the Lucas licensing team maintained quality control and character consistency, only to have Lucas Films blow it all up with a parade of disappointing streaming series. Here is a prediction: the market for out-of-print tie-in novels and comics is going to explode, because fans can trust them not to “reinvent” their beloved franchises. The Star Wars newspaper comic strip is a perfect case in point. If you read them before the Mandalorian movie opens, they will take you back to the era of peak Star Wars fandom.
Indeed, this is the Luke Skywalker you grew up with. It is not the bitter Skywalker of the sequel trilogy. It is not even the Skywalker of Empire Strikes Back. This Luke still has a crush on Princess Leia Organa. Yes, the second film revealed they were siblings, but until it released, everyone assumed there could be romance between them, because of the kiss “for luck” on the Death Star and the wink during the honors ceremony. The newspaper strip takes us back to that more innocent time.
Even after Empire released, the strip remained in the same in-between timeframe. In fact, roughly the final year of storylines chronicled the Rebellion forging an alliance with Mon Calamari (they sound like French squid, but they are the aliens represented by Admiral Akbar), its search for a safer base, and the hasty evacuation of Yavin’s moon, the perilous journy to icy planet Hoth.
Although the main characters remain entirely untouched (just as fans want them to be), the storylines had considerable implications for minor characters. In “Princess Leia, Imperial Servant,” Organa is forced to work incognito as a handmaid on the prison planet administered by the Grand Moff Tarkin’s widow. Since Tarkin was played by Peter Cushing, it is quite appropriate that his wife somewhat resembles Elsa Lanchester’s Bride in Bride of Frankenstein.
Also quite notable is the appearance of Gen. Dodonna (who gave the Death Star briefing when Skywalker says: “that’s not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home”). Unfortunately, Luke discovers Dodonna’s son Vrad is a coward, who might take a treasonous turn to save himself.
Originally, the licensing team approved a separate Sunday storyline, but they requested it feature different characters, so readers wouldn’t be confused. At that point, many consumers might have been unfamiliar with this longstanding convention of continuity strips, so it was not a bad idea. Consequently, several Sundays depict C-3PO (not so reluctantly) supplying oral histories of Skywalker’s exploits to Mistress Mnemos, a giant, multi-story Rebel super-computer. Unfortunately, the Sundays evolved into a weekly recap, which makes them repetitive when read chronologically with the dailies, even though some of the color art is incredibly cool (especially in IDW’s restored collections).
Sadly, fans no longer trust the studios to do their franchises justice with reboots and legacy sequels. After their licensing teams scrupulously maintained consistency, they allow a director who had a mildly well received Sundance film to put “their stamp” on the property. This strip’s primary writers, Russ Manning and Archie Goodwin didn’t want to put their stamp on Star Wars. They wanted to write more Star Wars. Consequently, these strips are terrific. Highly recommended (if you can find the various collections), Star Wars the newspaper strip will rekindle your enthusiasm for the franchise ahead of The Mandalorian and Grogu.
