Han Solo at Stars' End (comic strip)


The strip has been republished by Dark Horse Comics in 1997. It was also on StarWars.com's webstrips section of Hyperspace.

Plot summary


Upon discovering that they need a special waiver in order to operate the Millennium Falcon within the Corporate Sector without running afoul of the authorities, Han Solo and Chewbacca attempt to get in touch with Doc, an outlaw technician. However, Doc's daughter Jessa informs them that Doc has vanished, presumably abducted. Han works out a deal with Jessa: in exchange for the waiver and upgrades to the Falcon, he and Chewbacca will help discover what happened to Doc and other enemies of the Corporate Sector Authority, the capitalistic and authoritarian organization that oversees the Corporate Sector.

As part of this effort, Han and Chewbacca escort two droids, Bollux and Blue Max, to the planet Orron III, where they meet with Rekkon, the leader of the missing-persons search. Blue Max, a small computer probe hidden in Bollux's chest cavity, infiltrates the Authority's computer network and searches for the location of the abductees. However, Rekkon's small group has been compromised by a traitor, and their activities are discovered.

During the group's attempt to escape the planet, Chewbacca is captured by Espos (Authority Security Police) and taken away. Han and the others escape the planet aboard the Falcon. During liftoff, the traitor shoots Rekkon and destroys the data that Blue Max gathered. Before dying, however, Rekkon leaves the words "Stars' End, Mytus VII" scrawled on the Falcons game table. Han realizes that this must be the location of the Authority's covert prison facility. After unmasking and dealing with the traitor, Han and the remaining members of Rekkon's group fly to Stars' End. Masquerading as interstellar entertainers, they infiltrate the facility and rescue the kidnap victims, including Doc and Chewbacca. The facility and staff members are destroyed in the escape.

Development


This strip almost ended up being the last Star Wars newspaper strip to run in the Los Angeles Times. In January 1981, the LA Times dropped the Star Wars strip, citing lack of interest. The Star Wars Fan Club wrote a letter of protest on the subject, which convinced the LA Times to allow the strip to continue, beginning with The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell.

The beginning strip for the story arc was later published on the official Star Wars Tumblr account.

Collections


  • Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Newspaper Strips Vol. 1
  • Star Wars: The Classic Newspaper Comics Vol. 2

Sources


Appearances

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