Tribute to a Fallen Hero Chewbacca #1 - #4 (of 4) Editors: Peet Janes & David Land(#3 & 4), Assistant Editor, Dan Harris Publisher: Mike Richardson, Designer: Amy Arendts Review by Ramos Kanzco Published 5/3/00 Gone but not forgotten, our pal Chewie is memorialised by his loved ones in this series of short-shorts.

Yes, Chewbacca is dead. If you didn't know that already, please accept my sincere apologies -- and condolences. I, however, am finding it difficult not to be cynical when the resurrection rate of dead characters in the Star Wars universe is so high. Boba Fett, Corran Horn, Admiral Daala, Emperor Palpatine (more than once!) ... I could name a bunch more but you get my point.

Anyway, even if the writers manage to bring Chewie back from under that moon that fell on him, in the meantime his friends are heartsore at his loss. See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo have taken it upon themselves to interview all of Chewie's friends and put together a tribute to him. Each issue features two or three stories about our favorite Wookiee, giving us insight into his life that we never had before.

As a whole I think this concept worked extremely well. I found each of the stories to be interesting, highlighting features not only about Chewbacca himself but also about the people telling the stories. In addition to great artwork and storytelling, I liked the high-quality feel of these books; the covers are heavier than the usual comic cover, a coated card stock that makes each one worth the extra 45 cents.

After reading these stories, I find myself feeling Chewie's loss much more keenly than before. To tell you the truth, I never cared one way or the other about the character ... he was more lapdog, to me, than hero. Perhaps it's because we never before really got into his head, or saw things from his point of view, but these comics have breathed more life into him than all of the novels combined. The whole series is well worth picking up from your local comics store. A+

This issue sets up the premise and features the first two stories narrated by Mallatobuck, Chewbacca's wife, and Attichitcuk, Chewbacca's father, respectively. At first I was a little wary of these characters. I guess anybody who's seen the execrable Star Wars Holiday Special can understand my fears. But I found both these stories to be entertaining and enlightening, full of humor and heroism in equal measure. A superb start to the series.

Chapter 1: Mallatobuck - The artwork was breathtaking. From the first full-page rendering of Chewie swan-diving through open air high above the jungle, I was hooked. Combined with the kinetic artwork, Mallatobuck's first sentences literally put chillbumps on my arms. If you don't want it spoiled, go to the next paragraph now, otherwise here's Malla's quote: "I remember the first time I saw him. It was a reckless, show-off jump, made over a needlessly long distance. It was flirting with death, an utterly childish thing to do -- but it was done so impeccably -- and so magnificently. It was then that I knew Chewbacca had to be mine!"

It's neat how Anderson makes Chewie and his pal seem adolescent just by their facial expressions and body language. (I didn't like Malla's hairdo, but then I'm not a Wookiee.) Darko Macan must have a wicked sense of humor. Who would have thought of the Wookiee's unique method of parasitical "courtship"? Or the hilarious results when the flirtation goes awry? But this story is far from fluff; as Malla and her friend flee the failed attempt at seduction, they are caught in the nets of Trandoshan slavers. At least, they're supposed to be Trandoshans ... perhaps a breed we've not seen before? (I'm trying to give Anderson the benefit of the doubt here ...) At any rate, we get to see Chewie pull a few arms off in a most gratifyingly graphic manner. If there were ratings for comics this one might get an "R." Not that I'm complaining.

Chapter 2: Attichitcuk - Chewbacca's father remembers when Chewie was confronted by an albino Wookiee with a chip on his shoulder and a penchant for dirty fighting. It's Chewbacca the Warrior in his finest form, noble and graceful and fierce. The look on his face as he taunts his enemy is well worth the price of admission on this one. And there are other powerful images -- the insinuation of crawling things in the inky blackness of the forest bottom, for instance -- but the most moving is on the last page. As Attichitcuk sees his son emerge from the depths, returning victorious from certain death, he muses, "How can a mere moon be a match for my son?"

Finally, let me comment on the cover by Sean Phillips (pictured above left): total eye candy. Could this be more gorgeous? I like the green forest background, which fits with the Kashyyyk setting of the stories inside; it makes the red title really stand out on the newsstand. And the expression on Chewie's face --  is he scared, surprised? You decide. I only wish Phillips had realized Chewie's eyes are blue ....

Unfortunately, Dark Horse has chosen to put out an overpriced "gold foil" edition of this comic, but the cover, seen at immediately above at right, is not very attractive, judging from this scan off Dark Horse's website. I've already ranted elsewhere about this "separate cover" scam, so I'll spare you here. Just say no, people.

This issue gives us three more tales about Chewbacca from a Trandoshan slaver who crossed him, a bounty hunter who was rescued by him, and Han Solo as a young Imperial cadet who disobeys orders to save him. All three are enjoyable stories, but only one of them gave us any real insight into Chewbacca.

First, the cover. After last issue's less-than-sterling depictions, I was glad to see Phillips pegged the skin texture of these reptilian creatures, although they are more tan than the green we see on Bossk (in ESB) or the narrator of the first story inside. The cover is full of energy -- and lots of teeth -- as Chewie fights three of his captors inside a red-lit spaceship of some sort.

Chapter 3: Ssoh or: A Slaver's Lot - I have to compliment Durrsema on this work; it's a tough job to draw a whole bunch of Wookiees and Trandoshans and make each one distinct, especially when you don't even have clothes or accessories to set them apart. Yet I never had trouble following the action in this one, even in the midst of a brawl. The idea behind this story is clever, too -- the slavers were using the Wookiees' clan hatred to keep them in line, and Chewie teaches them a better way. The arm-ripping was shown mostly in silhouette, so it didn't get too bloody. And I laughed out loud when I saw the slaver's tiny, still-regenerating arms and legs at the end of the story. I liked the way the story highlighted Chewie's intelligence, nobility, and strength. This one's a keeper.

Chapter 4: Mala Mala - I didn't much like this character in her first appearance in the forgettable Vader's Quest, where she's an ugly, half burnt pixie of a bounty hunter with a cadre of droid helpers, but she was slightly more interesting here. She starts out as a cute little elfin girl with long blond hair who is inexplicably a bounty hunter. She makes the mistake of trusting a pretty face who says he has information on the location of a big bounty: Chewbacca. Then she is betrayed, burned horribly as the guy takes off with her ship. Who should show up at that point but Chewie himself ... rescuing her from certain death and providing medical care. We are never told why Chewie was there, why he helped her. As an explanation for the disabilities of Mala Mala (and the similarity of her name to Mallatobuck's), this story works. As an insight into Chewbacca's character, it provides about as much illumination as a penlight in Carlsbad Caverns. The art is functional and uncluttered, rather old-fashioned; my favorite visual was the big frame where Mala Mala is caught in her engine's backwash.

Chapter 5: Turrdko or: Breaking a Custom - Our narrator is a Wookiee clan leader whose children were saved from slavers by Chewbacca. (How'dja like to have a name like Turrdko?) I was really looking forward to this story because it's the first time Lucas has let us get a glimpse at how Han and Chewie met. We always knew Han was supposed to have rescued Chewie from slavery and as a consequence lost his military commission. So I was disappointed when the story turned out to be a mere prequel to that drama. Also, I had a hard time following the action. At the beginning I couldn't understand how Chewie got onto the slavers' ship. I had to read the first few pages four times before I figured out that the tiny brown blob in the last frame of page two was supposed to be Chewie. I did like this line: "It was a ship full of slaver scum against one Wookiee ... what chance did they have?" Chewie's rescue goes awry when a Star Destroyer shows up, complete with one Lieutenant Solo with too much conscience to suit his brutal commander, Nyklas. Unfortunately, the story cuts back to Turrdko at that point, who declines to tell the rest of the story. What a cheat! The art and color were very good, with Han looking unmistakably himself. The image of Han Solo in a TIE pilot's uniform holding a blaster is worth the price of admission all by itself.

Here we have three more stories of Chewbacca’s past, told by Wedge Antilles, Lando Calrissian, and Leia Organa Solo. All of these were entertaining stories in their own way -- two funny, one heartbreaking.

I really liked the action-packed cover of this one ... Leia and Lando both firing blasters at some unseen enemy as Chewie literally hauls them out the door. Leia's face almost looks like a photograph, although Lando's face bears little resemblance to Billy Dee Williams.

Chapter 6: Wedge or: A Pilot's Anecdote - Wedge is looking a bit rough these days, gray hair, bags under the eyes ... and he's got a silly tale to add to the droids' compilation. Everything is depicted in Nadeau's spare style which has started to grow on me. The pacing, movement, and facial expressions are especially good here, and the story is a real hoot. A mistake in translation leads to a very upset Chewie hanging on for his life underneath Wedge's speeder during a dogfight, with a frantic Han demanding updates over the commlink. Imagine Chewie piloting a TIE fighter. If you don't grin at this one, check your pulse.

Chapter 7: Lando or: A Bet - I'd like for once to see Lando in a story that doesn't involve gambling. Here we have yet another tale of the slick quasi-hero gambling all and getting his posterior out of a sling thanks to Lady Luck. This time he's got to defeat an Imperial Moff in hand-to-hand combat. I had to suspend my disbelief a little too much on this one ... let's see, a dissolute graduate of the Imperial Military Academy versus a hard-living gambler with a penchant for brightly colored capes ... I'd put my money on the Imp. Actually, to be fair, the bet starts out with Chewie against a cobbled-together battle droid with the head of a Threepio unit, which is a slightly better match. I wasn't impressed with the art on this one -- the color was nice, but the pencils were cartoonish, with the bodies elongated like El Greco saints and aliens looking like something out of Pokemon. I did like the distinguished gray temples we see on "present day" Lando at the end.

Chapter 8: Leia or: Grief and Guilt - The link between Leia and Amidala is more than apparent here, as two hooded handmaidens help her get dressed in gown and fancy headdress while the traffic of Coruscant's skyline moves ceaselessly in the background. The art is good, clean and unobtrusive, and the "aging" Leia is a plausible portrayal of a woman of forty, still beautiful but sagging around the edges with the weight of responsibility. There's no action here, just talk, but the emotion is portrayed very well. If the other two stories were humorous, this one is downright gutwrenching, as Leia pours out her grief and guilt at not only losing Chewie but realizing that she had sometimes wished him out of the way so that she could be closer to Han. As she admits to the droids what she could say to no one else, we see a core of vulnerability she has always kept hidden beneath her regal bearing. At the end, as she masters her emotions and once more becomes the strong, heroic figurehead performing one more duty as dignitary, I realized this little story has given her an extra layer of depth. I will never look at her the same way again.

This issue packs quite a punch. Luke Skywalker remembers Chewie's death on Sernpidal, and Han recalls how his partner once saved his daughter. The first story has a much greater dramatic impact than the second, so I thought their order should have been reversed.

I found the cover a bit static -- Han and Chewie in a cockpit, grinning mischievously at each other, with Threepio in the background. Perhaps it's supposed to symbolize the good times, but it didn't do much for me.

Chapter 9: Luke or: The Boy I Once Was - A defeated-looking Luke is gazing down upon a hangar full of injured, apparently on Coruscant, and wondering when it will all end, when the droids arrive, asking him to relate the events of Chewie's death. We get flashes, snapshots of the event as Luke perceived it through the minds of those who were there. Despite the heavy-handed pencils that sometimes made Luke look sinister, the imagery here was superb. I didn't really feel much of an emotional tug when I read this scene in Vector Prime, but seeing it -- seeing the tears in the eyes of both Han and Chewie as they realized this was goodbye, seeing Chewie raise his arms into the air as if to embrace the flaming moon as it fell on him -- really brought it home to me in a much more visceral way. Other images I liked: the Mos Eisley Cantina panorama as Luke recalled his first taste of the galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong with a moon descending in flames behind him, Han, face in hands, sobbing uncontrollably as the flames from Sernpidal's death fill his cockpit with orange light.

Chapter 10: Han or: An Empty Galaxy - The first part of this story had me confused. Han is apparently cracking up, because he's calling for Chewie to bring him a tool. Then the droids show up and he talks calmly about Chewie's death without even commenting on his earlier, odd behavior. Perhaps this is foreshadowing for the upcoming novel, Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial, but at any rate his lapse is not explained or even mentioned again in this story. Instead, Han recalls a time when the kids were small, and Jaina wandered off after some creeping droid-like hand (what IS it, exactly?) that looks like "Thing" from the Addams Family. She ends up falling down a refuse shaft, and Chewie dives in to save her, inadvertently setting off a bomb. They emerge, slightly singed, and later that day Jaina gives Chewie a portrait of himself, saying "I love you." Han still has the picture, clutching it as he admits he should have told Chewie those words himself. As the droids thank him, Han wanders off to sit in the cockpit alone.

On the last page is a moving tribute to Eddy Biukovic written by editor Peet Janes. Biukovic, a long-time collaborator with the writer of this series and fellow Croatian, Darko Macan, illustrated X-Wing Rogue Squadron - The Phantom Affair and The Last Command comic adaptation as well as many non-Star-Wars titles. He was slated to illustrate the last chapter of this series, but died of a brain tumor before he could complete his work. This series was dedicated to him.