Saturday, February 7, 2015

Classic Cover Comparison

Star Wars #28 and Titans #34

Han Solo and Chewbacca confront Jabba the Hut (yes, just one 't') in a story titled What Ever Happened to Jabba the Hut? in Marvel Comics Star Wars #28.  In the story, Han Solo and Chewbacca are forced to make emergency repairs on the Millennium Falcon at one of their hideaways on a planet called Orleon.  This mud soaked planet proves uninviting however, as a visit by Jabba the Hut and his henchmen and an infestation of stone mites in the cave Han and Chewbacca hide the Millennium Falcon in are more than the pair bargain for.  The cover shows the partners in peril fighting off a swarm of stone mites.  In the background, the Millennium Falcon is covered by stone mites pouring from the ceiling of the cave.

Star Wars #28a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (October 1979)
The cover for the French Titans #34 shows a different scene from the story.  On this cover, Han Solo and Chewbacca show their dismay at the arrival of the Voidraker, Jabba the Hut's personal freighter.  The freighter is covered in mud, not stone mites.

Titans #34a - Editions Lug, France (September 1981)
Star Wars #28
Inside the story are a few interesting tidbits.  One tidbit is Jabba the Hut is a bipedal humanoid alien, not the slug creature we see in Return of the Jedi.  The designs for Jabba are based on a background character called Mosep in Mos Eisley from the first movie.  This design is also used when Marvel readers are first introduced to Jabba in Marvel Comics Star Wars #2.  The second tidbit is a reference to the Clone Wars.  Han Solo explains to Chewbacca that the stone mites are a biological weapon from the Clone Wars, capable of eating through anything, including the Millennium Falcon.  The final tidbit occurs at the end of the story when it is implied Jabba will cancel the debt Han owes him in exchange for a timely rescue.  Not to worry though, in the Marvel Star Wars series right before the Empire Strikes Back adaptation, that debt will be reinstated.

Both of the covers do a good job of capturing the smuggling duo's reactions to events on the planet Orleon.

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