Retro Marvel: The Search for Han Solo (12 Days of Bounty Hunter Covers)

In The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo was captured by Boba Fett and Marvel needed to address his absence in the Star Wars title.  In Star Wars #46, we learn that Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca are aboard the Millennium Falcon and searching for Han Solo.  In both Star Wars #50 and 51, Lando and Chewbacca are asked to end the search and return to the Rebellion fleet due to events that require their help.  Our heroes do not take up the search for Han again until issue #67.  Early in that issue, Princess Leia is briefing a Rebel assembly:

Princess Leia: And so, to summarize: we've learned that one of the other bounty hunters involved in the trapping of Han Solo was in league with Boba Fett, but was cut out of the reward when Fett took Captain Solo from Cloud City.  It seems reasonable, then, to assume that this hunter could be somewhat bitter about the situation, and might be willing-- for a price-- to tell us where Fett is hiding until his redezvous with Jabba the Hutt.  We've narrowed our quarry list down to three-- --The cyborg called Dengar-- -- The pursuit droid designated as IG-88-- -- and Bossk, reptilian monarch of the Qotile System.

The remainder of issue #67 does not address the issue and the search for Han Solo begins in earnest in Star Wars #68.  Return of the Jedi was released to theaters May 1983 and Marvel probably began working on the Return of the Jedi adaptation in late 1982.  By the time Star Wars #68 was written, Marvel must have known at least the outline for the new movie, including how the capture of Han was going to be dealt with.  It makes sense then for Marvel to return to the search they began in issue #46.

Star Wars #68 titled The Search Begins is the first of a two-part story that has Princess Leia pursuing one of the bounty hunters, Dengar, on the planet Mandalore.  In the story Leia encounters slavers who are being protected by Imperial Stormtroopers and ends up helping and befriending a Mandalorian named Fenn Shysa, who she original thinks is Boba Fett.  It turns out Fenn is an old associate of Fett's.  Leia asks about Dengar who it turns out Fenn has captured.  Leia sends C-3PO to free Dengar while she seduces and incapacitates Fenn.  While Leia, C-3PO, and Dengar are escaping Fenn's camp they run into Stormtroopers that Dengar signaled for.  In Star Wars #69, Death in the City of Bone!, Leia and C-3PO is taken prisoner and transported to a slave sanctuary made out of the skeleton of some large creature.  There she meets Suprema, Emperor Palpatine's chosen ruler of the Mandalorian slave colony.  After her brief meeting with Suprema, Leia is escorted to a detention cell, but one of the Stormtroopers is Shysa who frees her.  He asks for her help in freeing his friend Tobbi Dala in exchange for Dengar and Leia agrees.  After retrieving Tobbi, they capture Dengar, but their escape is blocked.  They go to The Suprema's office where Tobbi is wounded and Suprema is knocked out.  Tobbi decides to stay behind to allow the others to escape.  They do escape, but the slave sanctuary is destroyed in the process, killing Tobbi.  Dengar is interrogated, only to find he was not the bounty hunter betrayed by Fett.  The story ends with Lando and Chewbacca on The Wheel getting information about Bossk's whereabouts.

Star Wars #68a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (February 1983)

Star Wars #69a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (March 1983)

Star Wars #70, The Stenax Shuffle, shows Lando, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker aboard the Millennium Falcon on their way to the planet Stenos, the last known location of Bossk.  They recap their mission to find Han and then Luke tells a story about the first time he was on Stenos with Han, Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2.  It is a nice flashback tale that also has the first appearance of Rik Duel, Dani, and Chihdo.

Star Wars #70a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (April 1983)

Return to Stenos in Star Wars #71 begins the two-part story of Luke and Lando's pursuit of Bossk and IG-88 on Stenos.  Luke and Lando leave Chewbacca and R2-D2 aboard the Falcon while they visit the nearest bar in Stenos' capital city.  Lando is recognized by a patron named Drebble who offers a reward for his capture.  A firefight breaks out and Luke spots Bossk leaving the bar.  Under fire, Luke and Lando escape the bar and we learn IG-88 is also in the establishment.  Still being pursued, Luke and Lando are separated.  Luke ducks into a doorway and finds Rik and Dani.  Rik asks for Luke's help in finding Chihdo.  As Luke follows Rik, Lando, hiding, gets Luke's attention and declares he found Han.  He leads Luke to two men carrying a metal storage block that looks like the one Han was stored in after he was frozen.  Luke contacts the Falcon to tell them they found Han and they chase after the pair with the storage block.  When they finally catch up, they learn the storage block holds Chihdo, not Han, and Bossk and IG-88's men have them surrounded.  The next issue, Fool's Bounty, starts with Rik and Dani attacking the bounty hunters' men, but IG-88 summons reinforcements, forcing Rik and Luke escape.  In the meantime, Chewbacca and R2-D2 have left the Falcon.  Lando and Dani are taken to Drebble and manage to escape.  Unfortunately, they escape into the clutches of Bossk and IG-88 who plan to test a carbonite freezing chamber on them.  Rik is also captured.  Luke saves them and a firefight breaks out.  Chewbacca enters the fray, backed up by Stenaxes and they defeat the bounty hunters and their men.  Luke, Lando, and Chewbacca leave Stenos on the Falcon, disappointed they did not find Han.

Star Wars #71a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (May 1983)

Star Wars #72a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (June 1983)

With issue #72 our heroes search for Han Solo ends.  Presumably, none of the bounty hunters were in league with Boba Fett.  It is mentioned several times in subsequent issues that the Rebellion is continuing the search for Han while our heroes spend their remaining time until Han's return in issue #81 looking for the Rebel Tay Vanis.