Star Wars 78: Hoth Stuff!

Star Wars 78: Hoth Stuff! is the seventy-eighth issue in the Marvel Star Wars series of comics.

Plot summary
Some time after the Battle of Hoth, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Lieutenant Barlon Hightower leave Arbra to investigate a crippled freighter which appears to have come from Hoth. Luke believes that Wedge Antilles, here described as an old friend who grew up with him on Tatooine, is aboard. When they come aboard, the ship appears to be abandoned, but the ship's log contains a recording of Wedge's voice. The recording tells the story of how Wedge and fellow pilot Wes Janson survived the Battle of Hoth.

They were stranded there for months, fending off the deadly cold and Wampa attacks. One day, when Wedge went out hunting for ice scrabblers, a group of scavengers led by Arns Grimraker came across the wounded Janson and killed him. Wedge avenged his friend by stealing the scavengers' ship, and leading their pursuing ships into the path of the TIE fighters who had been left behind in the Hoth system to search for Rebel stragglers. The tape ends with Wedge noting that his vessel is now adrift.

However, it turns out that Wedge is still alive, and was merely outside the transport doing exterior repairs. Wedge is reunited with his friend Luke, and the four Rebels return to Arbra to celebrate.

Behind the scenes
"I always did like spinnin' a good yarn!"

- Wedge Antilles

This issue greatly contradicts established canon. Wedge Antilles is stranded on Hoth in this issue, although he escapes the Battle of Hoth in the radio adaptation of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and appears in Shadows of the Empire. The backstory of Biggs Darklighter is also mistakenly applied to Wedge Antilles here. Finally, Wes Janson dies in this issue, despite reappearing in many of Rogue Squadron's later adventures. The Star Wars Roleplaying Game article Hoth: Under the Ice, however, has brought aspects of this story back into canon, and identified the rest as a tall tale Wedge Antilles tells new recruits.

During Wedge's story, he says, "Not that morning was much better&mdash;but at least the suns were out to make things seem warmer." This seems to imply that the Hoth system has a binary star, something that is non-canon.

Collections

 * Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 5: Fool's Bounty
 * Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 4