Star Wars #73

Return of the Jedi was released on May 25, 1983 to U.S. theaters.  Marvel made an interesting choice with the Star Wars title however, and with issue #73, they started a pre-Return of the Jedi arc that completed in Star Wars #80 with a cover date of February 1984.  It was not until the end of 1983 or the beginning of 1984 before Marvel published their first post-Return of the Jedi issue.

The arc that ran through most of these issues shows our heroes giving up the search for Han Solo and instead are sent on a mission to find two missing Rebel spies, Yom Argo and Tay Vanis.  They discover the fate of Yom Argo on the opening page of Star Wars #73; he crashed and died on the planet Lahsbane which is also the title of this issue.  Tay Vanis would not be found until issue #80 in this arc.

For some reason, the story starts with Luke Skywalker, not Princess Leia, holding diplomatic negotiations with the primitive Lahsbees to retrieve tapes made by Yom Argo's droid of his mission.  Leia is there, but she is preoccupied with thoughts of Han Solo.  Also present are C-3PO who is translating and Dani, a female Zeltron from Rik Duel's gang, who is fawning over Luke.  The Lahsbees have the tapes, but want to keep them as a memorial to another Lahsbee who died in the crash.  The tapes are kept in a city on the other side of a canyon they landed near.  Conveniently, the Millennium Falcon is undergoing repairs by Lando, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 and Imperials show up on the planet also looking for Yom Argo's crashed ship.  Leia and Dani bicker, but decide to travel to the city.  Under the cover of darkness, Leia and Dani sneak out to use the Lahsbees' balloons to travel over the canyon to the city, but an Imperial attachment, accompanied by Lahsbees wander by.  Dani distracts the Imperials by dancing while Leia inadvertently is carried away by one of the balloons.  For some reason the Imperials gawk but walk past Dani who jumps off a cliff to land on the top of the balloon Leia is holding onto.  They make it to the seemingly deserted city.  Meanwhile, Luke and Lando discover the pair are gone and Luke decides to go after them using a Lahsbee glider.  In the city, Dani, a thief, is able to pick the lock to a room that contains the tapes (which resemble VHS tapes) and other treasure.  Back at the Falcon, Luke departs as Lando is attacked by a large creature C-3PO says is a Huhk.  Chewbacca attacks the larger Huhk as C-3PO explains the Huhk is a Lahsbee that has reached maturity.  Back at the city, Leia and Dani run into a group of Huhks.  The Huhk is overpowering Chewbacca when Lando stuns it with his blaster.  R2-D2 appears to tell Lando and Chewbacca the repairs on the Falcon are complete.  Just as the group of Huhks have Leia and Dani cornered, Luke shows up and stuns them.  Reunited back at the Falcon, C-3PO tells Luke the Lahsbees are not upset about the stolen tapes due to them being associated with machinery which they dislike.  The heroes see the Imperial ship fly overhead, piloted by Dani who has taken treasure from the city.

Star Wars #73a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (July 1983)
Newsstand

Overall, it is not a bad story, but it definitely could have been refined into a better story.  The Imperials are never a credible threat and seemingly are there only for the brief humorous interaction with Dani and for Dani to have a ship to leave the planet in.  This could have been accomplished without introducing the Imperials but by having our heroes travel to Lahsbee in separate ships.  In fact, it would make more sense if Luke is holding the negotiations because he and Lando arrive at the planet first, followed by Leia in a Y-Wing or other ship.  The contrived reason the Falcon is broken, it's intake valves are filled with pollen and need to be flushed, could also be used for Leia's ship.  Dani could have stolen Leia's ship to leave the planet instead.  Additionally, there is a focus on the Falcon undergoing repairs, but after it is fixed, it is never used.  It would have made more sense if it is the Falcon that travels to the city to rescue Leia and Dani instead of Luke arriving on a glider.  The scene of their rescue could have played out the same with Luke rescuing the pair.

Star Wars #73b - Marvel Comics, U.S. (July 1983)
Direct

The generally lighthearted mood of this initial chapter in the arc is an interesting choice, as some of the darkest issues of the Star Wars title unfold in the next few issues.  Star Wars #74 - 76 are very dark, followed by another humorous tale in issue #77 which betrays the seriousness of the mission.  Issue #79 tells a story ancillary to the search and the entire arc culminates in a horrific finale for our heroes in Star Wars #80.  Issue #78 is a filler issue, not related to the mission.