Page 63 - Star Wars Insider #181

NEW PLANETS, NEW PERILS

09

“I never thought they would
ever use the phrase ‘Starkiller,’
so knowing that had been one
of the possible names for Luke, I
thought, why not? Here I riffed
on the character Chico in The
Magnifi cent Seven, who’s a
younger guy who tries to become
part of the group. He’s a would-be
10
Billy the Kid type, so I thought of
‘Starkiller Kid’. It even has a little
internal alliteration. I fi gured the overall script [and the “Jaxxon isn’t a green
George wouldn’t mind—and he later novelization of Star Wars:
didn’t object, so…” The Empire Strikes Back]—the rabbit; he’s an alien
With the Aduba-8 fi nally Aduba-8 had defeated the Cloud
assembled, the gang took the Riders and saved the village from who happens to look

fight to Serji-X Arrogantus and their tyranny. In the fi nal panel,
his Cloud Riders. “I named the Han and Chewbacca rode off into like a rabbit.”
villain after my friend in L.A., the sunset on banthas, looking
Sergio Arogonés, the great Mad for new adventures, but Thomas
Magazine artist. I don’t know if I would not be along for the ride,
asked him, but he didn’t seem to stepping down as both writer and 08 The covers Marvel’s original Star Wars
mind! For the Cloud Riders, there editor from that issue. for issues #7 title ran for 107 issues between
to #10 of Star
was the Marlon Brando movie, “Star Wars worked out pretty Wars comic 1977 and 1986, and Thomas
The Wild Ones (1953), with the well,” Thomas remembers (Far left). looks back on his input into
motorcycle gangs, and I went modestly, “and I was happy with developing those adventures
09 Even in comic
back to the same infl uences as those Han Solo issues. I never books, it isn’t with fondness. “Star Wars is a
George did with Star Wars, which really thought about what I was wise to upset little more significant than most,

a Wookiee.
was Flash Gordon (1936 -1940) going to do beyond those four because of what it became. I
and Buck Rogers (1939), all those issues. Maybe I’d have fi gured out 10 Jaxxon “ain’t didn’t realize when I got into it,
pulpy serials. But George was how to do something with Luke, no rodent!” but it became more important
doing his own thing with it.” but I was having success with than a run of 10 issues would
Conan the Barbarian at Marvel ordinarily have been. I still look
Stepping Back and liked to do my own thing, upon it as a positive experience.
By the end of Star Wars issue so it was best for me to just step At the time those comics had an
#10—which Thomas co-plotted away, because Star Wars didn’t impact, and it’s a nice thing to
with Donald Glut, who wrote need me.” have on your résumé.”

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