Hello and welcome to another installment of Laughing Place’s ongoing analysis of Marvel’s original Star Wars comic book, which first launched in 1977 ahead of the release of Star Wars in movie theaters. Issue #10 was published on January 10, 1978, making it the first chapter to come out in the following year. It was also the final issue of Star Wars produced by the title’s original writer/artist team of Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin. In the bullet-point list below, I’ll go through this issue panel-by-panel, pointing out any oddities or interesting tidbits along the way.
- Cover: “The Behemoth from Below!” Han Solo and Chewbacca’s weapons both look a little off-model.
- Page 1: The actual title inside the book is “Behemoth from the World Below,” a slight variation from what we got on the cover. We pick up where last issue left off, with Han and his Seven Samurai-inspired band of “alien warriors” facing off against the Cloud Rider gang with the help of a giant monster conjured by a local shaman.
- Page 3 (panel 4): The Cloud Riders’ vehicles are apparently called Skyspeeders, and besides here they’ve appeared across the previous two issues.
- Page 4 (panel 1): According to Wookieepedia, “Maze-flies” are only ever mentioned in this issue.
- Page 5 (panel 2): “Luna-weed” was mentioned here and last issue.
- Page 5 (panel 5): RIP to both Serji-X Arrogantus and the shaman.
- Page 6 (panel 5): Jaxxon calls himself a “Rocket-Rabbit…”
- Page 7 (panel 1): …But the very next panel provides his true full species name: “Lepus Carnivorus.”
- Page 8 (panel 3): I’m not sure I understand Han’s “don’t squeeze too hard” line here.
- Page 9 (panel 1): I also don’t get the “didn’t mean that literally” line, but maybe I’m just dense.
- Page 9 (panel 3): Jaxxon says “I’d of” instead of the grammatically correct “I’d’ve” or “I’d have.”
- Page 10: Princess Leia gets a single-page continuation of her adventure this issue, and it’s also the first chapter not to feature Luke Skywalker at all.
- Page 12 (panel 5): The idea that Don-Wan Kihote’s mind may have been warped by his found lightsaber into believing himself to be a real Jedi Knight is an interesting one.
- Page 13 (panel 5): The lightsaber (still spelled “lightsabre” here) also evidently has the power to interfere with the Behemoth’s energy beam.
- Page 14 (panel 1): The above-mentioned power is semi-explained as the monster’s natural reaction to seeing a weapon it knows can threaten its own life.
- Page 14 (panel 3): The image of Chewie running full-speed while carrying Han tucked under his arm is pretty funny.
- Page 15 (panel 2): “Never used one of these gadgets before!” We see Han Solo brandish a lightsaber in this comic a couple of years before he briefly wields Luke’s in The Empire Strikes Back to cut open the Tauntaun.
- Page 15 (panels 2-3): Han’s heard a legend of a Jedi using a lightsaber to kill a similar monster, as it counteracts the energy of its fin bolts. Another explanation for what happened earlier with Don-Wan.
- Page 15 (panel 3): A “beek-money” has only ever been mentioned here and in the 2011 Legends-canon novella SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story.
- Page 16: The lightsaber destroys the behemoth, confirming at least one of Han’s various theories.
- Page 17: Han doesn’t get the girl, and Next Issue: “Star Wars continues with the search for Luke Skywalker!”
