5 stories are told in Star Wars Tales #11 and the first story, Prey, was clearly never meant to be considered part of continuity. In the story, Governor Tarkin sends Boba Fett to kill an Imperial deserter, Han Solo. Darth Vader argues with Tarkin that Solo should be handled by Imperials, not bounty hunters and Tarkin agrees to ask the Emperor on Vader's behalf to allow Vader to pursue Solo. At a mining colony in the Hoth System, Fett learns a TIE Fighter crashed on the planet and the pilot was nursed back to health and left for the Tatooine system. A few hours later, Vader kills the same informant Fett met after receiving the same information. Fett enters a cantina on Tatooine and observes Han Solo fraternizing with a couple of ladies. Vader enters the cantina prompting Fett and Vader to start fighting over who will bring in Solo. Han flees and a several page fight between Vader and Fett ensues. Vader force pushes Fett out of the way and continues pursuing Solo. Shortly afterwards, Vader is aboard a Star Destroyer and asks the Captain for a report on Solo's escape. We then see Solo in an A-Wing fighter attached to the Destroyer waiting for it to dump it's garbage before it enters hyperspace. There are many problems with this story including Governor Tarkin hiring the bounty hunter instead of Darth Vader, Boba Fett using a lightsaber in his battle with Darth Vader, and Han Solo using an A-Wing to escape. With a little more care, this story could have been a decent addition to the mythos.
The next story, In the Beginning..., is a quick tale that shows Lando Calrissian losing the Millennium Falcon to Han Solo in a game of cards.
The longer The Princess Leia Diaries, is a first person narrative recounting journal entries from Princess Leia Organa's diary over several years. In the story, Leia is raised by Bail Organa, her aunts, and the nanny Madame Vesta and she remembers her mother, Padme Amidala. Leia is a precocious and rebellious child and one of the more important elements of the story is her meeting Governor Tarkin at a young age and purposely dousing him with water from a plant dropped from a balcony. Several years go by as Leia matures and learns about her father's involvement in the Rebellion. The story ends with another meeting of Tarkin and Leia again dousing him with water.
Tall Tales is another short story which takes place in a cantina. Han Solo is sitting in the establishment, cloaked and hidden, and he listens as the patrons of the bar exaggerate tales about heroes of the Rebellion.
The final story, Ghost, has a young Han Solo being saved from bounty hunters by the Quinlan Vos during the dark times era. Quinlan explains to Han the bounty hunters are after him because they suspect he is a Jedi. This story is on the shorter side, but it does show a Sarlacc and in the end, the bounty hunters are defeated and Han and Quinlan part ways.
Since the bulk of the stories feature Han Solo, it only makes sense the covers also showcase Han Solo.
Star Wars Tales #11a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 2002)Star Wars Tales #11b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 2002) photo variant
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