The Second Kessel Run

The Second Kessel Run is a comic strip that was distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and published in U.S. and Canadian newspapers. This story was written by Archie Goodwin (as Russ Helm) and drawn by Russ Manning. It was collected in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 6, and is also available in the Webstrips section of Hyperspace.

Plot
Above the planet Zerm, Professor Renn Volz tests his Ion Ring. The test proves successful, and the weather on Zerm changes and killer storms stop. Volz then plans on using the Ion Ring on Kessel. However, before he can do this, Captain Bzorn arrives on board Volz's ship and takes the professor's daughter, Mira Volz as hostage. Bzorn plans to use the Ion Ring to devastate Rebel planets. He threatens the professor, telling Volz that if the professor won't obey him, Bzorn will kill his daughter.

On a distant spaceport, Mira manages to escape from the stormtroopers who were guarding her and sneak into the Millennium Falcon, which was being loading with spice. Han Solo and Chewbacca are going to make another Kessel Run for Jabba the Hutt, but first he wass going to pick up Luke Skywalker. On the hidden Rebel base on the planet Randa, Han picks up Luke, Artoo and Threepio and finds his unexpected guest. Mira tells Luke and Han about Bzorn's plan and asks Han to deliver her to the professor, knowing that he will stop the destruction after he learns that Mira is safe.

Meanwhile, the Ionic Ring turns the rebel planet Rion from a tropical paradise to a snowy desert. After arriving on Rion, Han gives some of his spice to the refugees who are starving. One refugee turns Mira over to the stormtroopers for food, but with the help of the other Rebels, she manages to escape. During her escape she learns that Bzorn's next target is going to be Kessel, her home planet. The Millennium Falcon manages to arrive on Kessel before the Ionic Ring, setting another new record for the Kessel Run.

Mira uses her father's sub-space image transmitter to project her image on the Ionic ring, which has already arrived in the system and has started an earthquake. Han suggests trying something else and they board the ship in the guise of surrendered Rebels. Mira's floating image creates enough distractions for the stormtroopers to allow Han and Luke to get to the command center. After Volz sees the image of his daughter, Bzorn orders the stormtroopers to kill everyone, but he is soon hit by friendly fire. Professor Volz, fearing that the Empire won't stop until it obtains his creation again, commences the ship's self-destruction and barely escapes with Luke, Han and Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon.

Behind the scenes
Han Solo states that he is making the Kessel Run for Jabba the Hutt. This means that the events depicted in the comic happened between Marvel Star Wars 28: What Ever Happened to Jabba the Hut? and Star Wars 37: In Mortal Combat, in a period when Jabba forgave Solo's debt.

Kessel, as depicted in this series, was a lush, idyllic world containing the Giant Fungi Forest. According to The Essential Atlas, and confirmed by Jason Fry on the Jedi Council Forums, this depiction has been retconned into being Little Kessel, a world not far off the Kessel Run.

Collected in

 * Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures 6