Page 60 - Star Wars Insider #181

NEW PLANETS, NEW PERILS

“In the original McQuarrie 05
production drawing I saw, I recall
an alien that reminded me of
Porky Pig, and that immediately
made me think of Bugs Bunny,”
Thomas recalls. This led to the
creation of team Solo’s most
controversial member: Jaxxon,
a “six-foot rabbit who gnaws on
hambones instead of carrots.
“Other people before and after 05 Jaxxon, the
memorable
were doing things with rabbits
green alien
in the wake of Marvel’s Howard rabbit.

THE LOST EGGS
OF LIVORNO

Roy Thomas’ alien rabbit Jaxxon bounces back in
a new tale penned by writer Cavan Scott in IDW’s
fi rst Star Wars Adventures annual. Insider asked
Scott what inspired him to bring back the space
bunny with a motor-mouth:
What is your personal history with Jaxxon?
I read Marvel’s Star Wars comics long before I the Duck,” adds Thomas. “It for this character. I’m not quite
saw my fi rst Star Wars fi lm. My dad picked up just seemed right to me. I was sure what he is, to be honest!
a job-lot of Marvel U.K.’s Star Wars Weekly in a trying to go one step beyond On the cover, he looks like a
second-hand bookshop and I just devoured them, Chewbacca, who’s kind of a porcupine. And if quills are the
including the issues which reprinted Jaxxon’s fi rst
appearance. I must have read them over and cartoon character. Jaxxon isn’t a weapons of a porcupine, you
over again, and as someone who’d missed the green rabbit; he’s an alien who can have an alien who has that
fi rst fi lm at the cinema, Han Solo’s Star-Hoppers happens to look like a rabbit. weapon as its power. Makes
were just as important for me as Luke and Leia. I
remember being really surprised, and not a little I did tell Howard to make him him a nice weapons guy, who
disappointed, that Jaxxon wasn’t in The Empire look like Bugs Bunny with a ray has his thing, as opposed to
Strikes Back! gun, and he did it very well. just a ray gun. Marvel had a
This was an expansion on those supervillain called the Porcupine

How did Lucasfilm react at the idea of bringing
such an unusual Star Wars character into canon? cantina scenes. Sometime later in those days, so you get ideas
The idea came from them! I think I’d mentioned I wrote Captain Carrot and his from everywhere. As writers,
my love for the comics, and Jaxxon in particular, Amazing Zoo Crew, so I guess I we become magpies. You grab
during meetings, and when Lucasfi lm’s
Michael Siglain realized that the fi rst Star Wars like rabbits!” everything you ever thought of,
Adventures annual was coming out at Easter time, Moving on to the ill-fated because you’ve got to fi ll those
the idea of doing a story with Star Wars’ very own Hedji the Spiner, the Aduba-8’s pages by the deadline!”
giant rabbit was too good an opportunity to miss.
I jumped at the chance to bring Jaxxon back. And other alien member, Thomas With the character of Amaiza
as this was for Easter, I knew I had to send Jaxxon continues: “There was an old Foxtrain, Thomas looked to his
on an egg hunt. sword-and-sandals movie back many years of reading comics
in the ’50s called The Adventures for inspiration. “I totally know
Where is Jaxxon when you pick up his story?
In trouble! His once lucky ship—the Rabbit’s of Hajji Baba. We all liked that where I got her name, from my
Foot—is out of control and plunging toward a movie, and that name came up favorite science-fi ction newspaper
space dock. The story takes place at some point strip, Chris Welkin, Planeteer
between A New Hope and Empire, but things
haven’t been going well for our furry smuggler. (1952-64), by Russ Winterbotham
and Art Sansom. There was an
How closely does your version of Jaxxon come
to the original wisecracking alien rabbit?
I tried to keep him as close as possible. Jaxxon
is still very much a motor-mouth and still knows
Han, although their relationship is best described
as a friendly rivalry. Jax is currently working with “I thought I was going
gangster Amaiza Foxtrain, another of the original
Star-Hoppers, although we’ve given them a new to do The Magnificent Seven,
droid in the form of ML-08. So yeah, it’s pretty
Star Wars style, so that’s what I did…”
much business as usual…

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