Writer: Mike W. Barr Art: Walt Simonson & Tom Palmer Luke, Leia, and the droids rescue one Prince Denid, whose ship crashed on a jungle world some time ago. Denid needs to return to his home-world Velmor to be installed as its ruler before his brother Anod, an Imperial sympathizer, can take his place. Luke and Leia agree to transport Denids party which includes an alien named Jedidiah, a one-time Jedi apprentice who is suffering from what amounts to Alzheimers disease. In order to elude the Imperial commander on Velmor, a woman named Traal, Luke assumes the identity of a bounty hunter and Leia poses as Denids fiancé Loren, who was killed in the crash years before. While they do arrive in time and Denid assumes the throne, Anod and Traal have plans to eliminate the new king and his rescuers. Leia and Denid are wounded in the attack, and Luke is nearly killed before the aged Jedidiah, in a final moment of clarity and heroism, sacrifices his life to defeat Traal and save them all. Theres a lot of fun to be had in seeing Luke play the Han Solo part and Leia getting to act more regally then were accustomed to, but this story is really brought to life by Jedidiah. While its true that Yoda did seem a little swamp-happy when Luke first meets him in Empire, the idea of a Jedi growing old and losing himself is one that we dont ever think of when it comes to the Jedi order. Here it grounds the story with a simplicity of spirit that is hard to turn away from, no matter how emotional it gets. The final panels of Luke igniting his lightsaber in salute as he jettisons Jedidiahs body into space are a perfect ending to a near flawless story.
I've been a huge sci-fi fan ever since going to see "Star Wars" at the tender age of 3 (and yes I actually do remember it! I love pretty much any intelligent and entertaining film and television series (some of my all time favorites are 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, Battlestar Galactica [SyFy], and The West Wing). Must thank the stars above for such things as HBOGO and Netflix (Am thoroughly enjoying Ripper Street btw). I've also been an avid comic book collector since childhood. I earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing with a second emphasis in film studies from Florida State University (Go Noles!) and definitely enjoy sitting back and watching pretty much any sports. I wish I had a joke to end with, but I don't so I'll simply say "The End."
