I have a passion for collecting vintage Star Wars merchandise from the late 70's. Action figures, comics, trading cards etc - anything related to the first Star Wars movie. But why only until 1980? It's not that I don't love The Empire Strikes Back and beyond (I really do), but there is something about that first wave of Star Wars mania that really grips me, back when it was all fresh and exciting...

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Marvel #30 - A Princess Alone



Issue #30 (from December 1979) was kind of a special one dedicated solely to Princess Leia. In it she travels to an industrial planet called Metalorn which is essentially a slave labor camp run by the Empire. Here she hopes to contact Arn Horada - her old tutor and inform him that the Imperial news broadcast that Alderaan was destroyed by a meteor shower was false and that the planet was in fact destroyed by the Empire.

Donning a funky one-piece, Leia infiltrates the workforce and steals a Stormtrooper's rifle before going on the run through the factory complex. Baron Orman Tagge makes another appearance as a visiting Imperial authority and shows his exasperation at the bungling governor's failure to capture the rebel princess.

Leia hooks up with Arn in the cafeteria and passes on her message. Tagge turns up with his lightsaber to finish her off, but she is able to escape thanks to the help of Arn and a young girl.

As Leia's ship takes off into hyperspace, her pilot expresses his concern that the mission was a failure, but Leia reminds him that the message of hope to the planet's inhabitants is a more valuable victory.


Here we have an ad for Kenner's Millennium Falcon - probably one of the coolest toys ever made - iron-on transfers featuring the stars of yesteryear and a bunch of ads promoting Saturday morning TV.


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