Star Wars 63: The Mind Spider

"Keep yer hand offa yer gun, grubber&mdash;or we'll fry ya hotter'n Farlie's pepper mash"

- Stormtrooper Grotto

Star Wars 63: The Mind Spider is the sixty-third issue in the Marvel Star Wars series of comics.

Plot summary
On the planet Shalyvane, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca and the Em'liy known as G'hinji stand before the visage of Darth Vader. They immediately go on the defensive until they realize that the image of Vader is merely a holographic recording. Vader tells Luke that his late friend, the Rebel pilot known as Shira Brie was actually an Imperial spy. Luke cannot believe his ears. The holographic emitter explodes after delivering Vader's haunting message. Unsatisfied with the revelation, Luke and Chewbacca decide to go to the databank vault located on Krake's Planet.

Later, on board the Executor, Vader meets with Admiral Mils Giel. Giel has recently failed to secure a rare creature known as a Teezl – a non-sentient alien that could have provided the Empire a tremendous advantage over the Rebels. Vader respects Giel's integrity though, so rather than kill him, he demotes him to the rank of lieutenant.

Meanwhile, Luke and Chewbacca arrive on Krake's Planet. They infiltrate the Krake Data Vault – a facility built from the mass of a giant Mind Spider. Luke goes to the kitchen area and tricks an Imperial officer into downloading information from one of the computer banks. He discovers that Vader had told him the truth. Shira Brie was born on Coruscant and genetically raised to be a perfect spy. By the time she was an adult, Vader personally selected her to act in the role of an Emperor's Hand. Although he is crushed, Luke can take some small satisfaction from the fact that the Force didn't betray him when it indicated that Shira was an enemy.

A squad of stormtroopers burst into the kitchen and begin firing at Skywalker. Luke manages to use one of the troopers as a Human shield and shoots the remaining soldiers. He regroups with Chewbacca and they hop into the Millennium Falcon. Chewbacca uses the Falcon's deflector screens to destroy the military outpost.

Meanwhile, deep in the bowels of the Executor, Darth Vader enters a special medical bay. Floating inside of a bacta tank is the barely-alive body of Shira Brie.

Behind the scenes
Turk and Grotto are intended to be lampoons of two other comic book characters created by David Michelinie. In the 1980s, the Marvel Comics series, Daredevil, regularly featured two incompetent snitches named Turk and Grotto, who frequently found themselves staring into the business end of Daredevil’s billy-club. Like his stormtrooper counterpart, Turk was often telling Grotto to "Shaddup".

The Imperial capital is seen here for the very first time, albeit in a recording. Thus, this issue contains the first appearance of the then-unnamed Coruscant.

Collections

 * Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 4: Screams in the Void
 * Luke Skywalker, Last Hope for the Galaxy
 * Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 3