Star Wars #99 was the second filler issue during Cynthia Martin's disasterous run on the original Marvel Star Wars title. Ron Frenz's previous artwork was in issue #82 and he illustrates a complex but decent tale featuring Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian. The story is full of characters introduced in the title from the prior few years in addition to well known characters from the movies. The opening page shows Luke mourning the death of Kiro and in rapid succession we see cameos by: Ewoks, since the Rebellion is still operating on Endor; the trio of Dani, Rick Duel, and Chihdo; Leia's Zeltron entourage; the Mandolorean Fenn Shysa with Princess Leia Organa; Han's half-Nagai friend Bey; and Admiral Ackbar. All of these characters appear in just the first five pages! As the story progresses, we have a brief cameos by C-3PO and R2-D2 as well as Lemo and Sanda. Finally, our heroes visit Stenos where they have a more substantial encounter with Drebble. All of these appearances occur while our heroes are searching for the Minstrel statue introduced back in Star Wars #79. To finish off the cameos, we also get single panel appearances by Wedge Antilles and Nien Numb. Phew!
The story is reminiscent of clip shows from television. Occassionally, long running television series will feature an episode which contains excerpts from previous episodes.&nbps; These clip episodes are usually framed by a story which necessitates the inclusion of the clips. Star Wars #99 is not a clip show obviously, but the sheer number of previous characters appearing is clearly intentional. A reader new to the title would no doubt be intrigued and want to seek out previous issues to understand just who all these characters are.
The cover shows an unconscious Lando being held by Han. Han is threatening to destroy the capital of Godo with the Rebel fleet if the Godoans do not save Lando. Luke is standing menacingly behind the Godoan's liaison Fumiyo. This is the most sensational situation from the interior story and a good choice for the cover.
Star Wars #99a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (September 1985)Star Wars #99b - Marvel Comics, U.S. (September 1985)
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