"The Value of Proper Intelligence to Any Successful Military Campaign is Not to Be Underestimated" is a two-page comic that appeared in Star Wars Tales 19 and was later collected in Star Wars Tales Volume 5. It was written by Ken Lizzl, penciled by Lucas Marangon, and lettered by Steve Dutro. The comic tells the story of a small Imperial detachment sent to conquer the rural planet of Gibbela. Although they expected to meet little resistance, the Imperials were wiped out by a polymorphic native.
On the planet Gibbela, an agricultural world well off any trade routes, a tiny humanoid native farmer is farming on a plot of land. A small Imperial contingent lands on the farm in a Sentinel-class landing craft, planning on taking over the planet. Several stormtroopers and an officer disembark the shuttle and demand that the farmer surrender. However, much to the Imperials' surprise, the farmer transforms into a gigantic clawed beast and kills all of them. The creature shrinks back to its original size and continues its fieldwork, using the remaining armor and weapons of the deceased Imperials as farm equipment. In the future, spacers avoid Gibbela because of its deadly inhabitants.
The Gibbela native uses the captured Imperial gear as farming equipment.
A short, two-page comic, "The Value of Proper Intelligence to Any Successful Military Campaign is Not to Be Underestimated" first appeared in Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars Tales 19, published on May 14, 2004. It was later collected in Star Wars Tales Volume 5, which was released on February 23, 2005. The comic was written by Ken Lizzl, penciled by Lucas Marangon, and lettered by Steve Dutro.
Originally, the canonicity of "The Value of Proper Intelligence to Any Successful Military Campaign is Not to Be Underestimated" was considered ambiguous, or S-canon, because the comic had been published in an issue of Star Wars Tales before issue 21. However, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, released in December 2008, referenced the events of the comic in its entry on Gibbela, promoting the comic to C-canon, or Continuity Canon, which consists of all published works recognized as part of the official continuity.
- Star Wars Tales Volume 5
- Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Empire Vol. 4
- Star Wars Legends: The Empire Omnibus Vol. 3