Star Wars 59: Bazarre

"You will keep the man amused, won’t you Chewie? And if we don’t report back safely in one hour…rip his head off!"

- Lando Calrissian

Star Wars 59: Bazarre is the fifty-ninth issue in the Marvel Star Wars series of comics.

Plot
Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker arrive at the gigantic merchant station known as Bazarre, where they meet with a shifty administrator named Orion Ferret. Lando has had dealings with Ferret in the past and does not trust him. However, they need Ferret’s connections in order to secure a purchase of four black market Imperial TIE fighters. After receiving his payment, Ferret gives Luke and Lando a small shuttle-craft as well as coordinates for a planet known as Patch-4. Patch-4 is a garbage world and it is here that the TIE fighters have been secreted away. Luke and Lando leave Chewbacca on Bazarre while they fly the shuttle to the planet of trash.

With Luke and Lando off the station, Orion attempts to sabotage the Rebels’ mission. Ferret is greedy and believes that if he kills Luke and Lando, he not only gets to keep his money and his ships, but he also gets to keep the Millennium Falcon. Knowing that Chewbacca will harm him if he discovers the double-cross, he attempts to imprison the Wookiee inside of a gelationus spritzer solution. Chewbacca escapes and begins chasing Orion all throughout the station. Orion attempts to flee inside of his personal shuttle, but Chewbacca destroys it with a few well-placed shots from his bowcaster.

Back on Patch-4. Luke and Lando begin sifting through the wreckage and eventually come upon the half-buried TIE fighters. Suddenly, a large worm-like creature known as a Watchbeast bursts through the ground and begins attacking them. Luke and Lando retreat into a cave that leads into an immense underground network of tunnels. Here they meet, Serja Kesselrook – a homeless nomad. Serja invites them inside and introduces them to an entire colony of degenerates who have remarkably found a way to make Patch-4 their home. Serja tells the Rebels that the Watchbeast (whose name is Caesar) belongs to Orion Ferret. Ferret controls the beast by way of a sonic pacifier located on the shuttle-craft.

Luke and Lando return to the surface. Lando distracts the Watchbeast with blaster fire, allowing Luke the ability to sneak past it and get back to the shuttle. Retrieving the pacifier, Luke activates it causing the Watchbeast to fall asleep. With nothing left to disrupt their mission, they pick up Chewbacca and bring the four TIE fighters back to the Rebel base on Arbra.

Behind the scenes
This story takes place concurrently with events from Star Wars 58: Sundown.

Leia Organa and Shira Brie only make cameo appearances at the end of this issue.

Lando Calrissian makes reference to coffee grounds while on Patch-4.

In a scene where Luke is discussing the Watchbeast, Caesar, he says: "We didn't come to feed Caesar…we came to bury him." Lando and Serja question Luke as to the meaning behind this statement. The line that Luke is paraphrasing is actually a piece of dialogue taken from the William Shakespeare play, Julius Caesar. This is but one of many examples where the writers of the Marvel Comics Star Wars series inserted real-world references into their stories.

Collections

 * Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... 5
 * Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 4: Screams in the Void
 * Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 3

Bazarre es:Star_Wars_59:_Bazarre