Han Solo & Chewbacca #4
THE CRYSTAL RUN, Part 4
It is a golden age of criminal enterprise. With the evil GALACTIC EMPIRE preoccupied with bringing the galaxy under its thumb, scoundrels and thieves are free to ply their illegal trade with abandon.
The vile gangster Jabba the Hutt has hired Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Greedo to steal an urn containing the ashes of his archrival.
With the help of the man claiming to be Han’s father, they have located the urn on the remote world of Antillion. Han and his father were about to abscond with the item when they were attacked by the bounty hunter Krrsantan….
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: David Messina
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Cover artist: Phil Noto
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: July 20, 2022
As we ended the third issue, the black furred hand of Black Krrsantan wrapped around the throat of Han Solo, lifting him off the floor in a single page of power and fury after Solo and his ‘father’ had liberated the urn containing the ashes of Krestrel D’Naran from Madelin Sun on the backwater world of Antillion. Leap forward to issue four and we find the legendary wookiee Chewbacca, previously sent back to the Millennium Falcon, roaring in fury as he sees Solo’s father unconscious and Han being carried to Krrsantans ship. The wookiees exchange blaster figure before Chewie clamps a tracking beacon to Krrsantans ship and carries Solo’s father to the Falcon, where they manage to communicate, despite the elder Corellian not being able to speak shyriiwook, and set course for the Country Planetoid of Mollo Tanka.
Still unsteady on his feet after his exertions, the Solo Senior stays on the ship as Chewie leaves to find Han, scaring off two guards who leave the building open for Chewie to enter and find a bloodied and bruised Han repeating for the 20th time that the urn was still back on Antillion. Krrsantan spots Chewie and a brawl breaks out as the two wookiees clash. A thermal detonator blast ignited by Chewie stuns Krrsantan, allowing Han to get his blaster and start taking down guards as they evade their captors and race back to the landing site of the Falcon, only to find it’s gone.
Classic Han and Chewie adventures have been a staple of Star Wars since the very first film, and beyond into the first post-Star Wars EU stories in the monthly comic and Brian Daley’s legendary trilogy of books. It’s fertile ground, and the reason it works is the partnership between Solo and his mighty co-pilot, one that manages to bounce them from situation to situation in every corner of the galaxy, their reputation expanding as they go. This series, snappily written by Marc Guggenheim and drawn by David Messina wrapped in the ever-amazing artwork of Phil Noto on covers only adds to that legacy, folding in a touch of Han’s past as his Dad – is it even his Dad? – gets under the young smugglers skin, keeping him on the backfoot even without the incompetence of Greedo to slow them down.
It may not be a tale for the ages, but in an era of Star Wars literature that’s bringing us stories from The High Republic era, the post-Return of the Jedi age in Shadow of the Sith and much more, a straight-down-the-line-Han-and-Chewie-getting-into-scrapes mini series is a breezy, very welcome diversion.
Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca #5 @ ForbiddenPlanet.com
