Star Wars 49: The Last Jedi

Star Wars 49: The Last Jedi is the forty-ninth issue in the Marvel Star Wars series of comics.

Plot summary
Princess Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker and the droids take a Y-wing fighter to a jungle planet where they answer a beacon left behind by Prince Denid of Velmor. Denid, his betrothed Loren, and his friend Jedidiah crash-landed on this world years ago, a crash that claimed Loren's life. It is now imperative that he returns to Velmor to take the rite of succession or else his younger brother, an Imperial sympathizer, will gain control of the planet. Luke is surprised to find that Jedidiah, now addle-brained due to an injury was once a potential Jedi Knight.

With Luke disguised as a bounty hunter, and Leia disguised as Loren, they escort Prince Denid back to Velmor to claim the throne just in time to prevent the coronation of Denid's brother Anod as the new king. This frustrates not only Anod but also Zelor and Imperial Captain Zeta Traal, each of whom have their own plans for power.

At the ceremonial Mrid Hunt to commemorate the return of Denid, Traal plans to have Denid and Leia killed in order to keep the planet sympathetic to the Empire. Zelor also desires the two would-be leaders dead, but for his own personal gain since he would rule the planet if no one of royal blood could take the throne. In the ensuing battle Denid and Leia are wounded by Anod, but Anod himself is killed by Traal. Zelor intends to kill Luke thinking the brash scoundrel would be no match for him with his energy sword, but he doesn't realize that Luke is a skilled swordsman who easily defeats Zelor. But during the duel, Traal has a clear shot at them both but is interrupted by Jedidiah who bravely sacrifices himself to prevent Luke from being captured.

With all of the conspirators either killed or captured, Denid is free to become King of Velmor and pledges to be sympathetic to the Rebellion. Luke, Leia and the droids bid farewell to Denid and leave Velmor, and Luke takes charge of Jedidiah's body and gives him a funeral in space in honor of the fallen hero's bravery.

Behind the scenes
This is the first and last appearance of Jedidiah. He actually uses the name Jedi as a nickname. Like many other Jedi before him, Jedidiah does not discorporate upon death like Obi-Wan Kenobi did.

This is the first appearance of Captain Zeta Traal.

At one point, the name of the planet, Velmor is misspelled as Velmore in this issue. Similarly, on page 12, Alderaan is misspelled as Alderann

The Y-Wing that the crew uses to reach Velmor has a cabin, comfortably housing four (Luke, Leia, the King of Velmor, and C-3PO) - not possible in any canonical Y-Wing model.

On page 22, Luke's lightsaber is incorrectly colored red.

On the cover, Jedidiah is colored green, but is shown with a purplish hue throughout the remainder of the issue.

As in Star Wars 45, Luke inexplicably has a lightsaber, despite having lost his in the Duel on Cloud City.

In contrast to other depictions of hyperspace travel, in this issue, a portal appears as ships are entering and exiting hyperspace.

Trivia
This comic book issue includes advertisements for the following products:


 * Marvel Comics and DC Comics present Superman and Spider-Man – On sale April 28th
 * Bubble Yum bubble gum
 * National Public Radio presents the Star Wars audio drama''
 * Marvel Comics subscription service ad
 * Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, Inc.
 * Grit Magazine
 * Hostess Cup Cakes (featuring Spider-Man)

Collections

 * Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... 2
 * Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 3: Resurrection of Evil
 * Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 2