Splinter of the Mind's Eye 1

Splinter of the Mind's Eye 1 is the first issue of Dark Horse Comics's adaptation of the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye. It covered roughly the first three chapters of the book and the first few pages of the fourth chapter.

Publisher's summary
''Deep in the swamplands of the planet Mimban lies a powerful crystal, capable of giving its possessor an invincible mastery of the Force. In the right hands, it could save the galaxy. But in the wrong hands, it could destroy it. While the explosion of the first Death Star still reverberates through the cosmos, Luke Skywalker finds that the war he thought he won was only a battle, and that the dark side of the Force still stalks the galaxy.''

Plot summary
"Don't worry, sir. Artoo and I will stand watch while you sleep. There's not a creature with the bad taste to devour Artoo.''" "BEE-OOP!" "''Very funny. I hope one of the local carnivores chokes on you and breaks every one of your external sensors!"

- C-3PO and R2-D2 stand guard.



While on a diplomatic mission to the planet Circarpous IV, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa crash-land on Circarpous V, also known as Mimban. Following the signal of a beacon, they stumble upon an illegal Imperial energy mining operation, the emissions of which forced them to land in the first place.

After stealing some miners' clothing from a shop, Luke and Leia enter a tavern so that they may eat some real food instead of cube concentrates. When they are nearly found out by the local authorities, Luke and Leia are approached by an old, Force-sensitive woman named Halla. After a bit of conversation with her, Luke and Leia try to get her to help them steal a ship so that they can get offplanet. Halla agrees to help them, but only if they help her find the legendary Kaiburr crystal first.

Halla manages to get Luke and Leia to agree to the arrangement by allowing Luke to touch the shard of the crystal that she brought with her as proof. The deal is then sealed when Halla brings up the threat of a Force-sensitive in the Imperial government coming into possession of the crystal, attracted by the disturbance in the Force that was caused by Luke touching the shard.

As they depart from the tavern in order to collect R2-D2 and C-3PO, Leia, angered by Luke's treatment of her in the tavern, gets her revenge by pushing him into the mud. Luke pulls her in with him and a mudfight ensues. They attract the attention of local ruffians who break up the fight but have intentions other than to "apprehend law-breakers." Luke attacks the ringleader in order to free Leia from his grasp, but finds that he's in for more than he expected when the ringleader begins to fight him with a large number of knives&hellip;

Notable differences from the novel
The comic adaptation of Splinter of the Mind's Eye remained fairly faithful to its source material. Because of the requirements of the format and the fact that there was a limited amount of space to tell the story, a number of elements were either altered or completely omitted. Some of the departures from the book included:


 * After being rescued from the quicklay, Leia complains somewhat at length about her dirty clothes. This contradicts the book, in which Leia remains silent but visibly disgusted by her situation.


 * In the book, when the group reaches the Imperial mining facility, Leia notices a pair of stormtroopers who are carrying their helmets under their arms. The same scene in the comic depicts the stormtroopers as wearing their helmets. This change was carried out at the insistence of Lucasfilm.


 * Luke is the one who steals the mining uniforms from the supply shop while Leia and the droids keep watch in the book. In the comic, Leia steals the uniforms while Luke and the droids keep watch.


 * It is implied that Leia changes her clothes inside the shop while she is stealing the uniforms and brings another uniform out for Luke in the comic. After Luke steals the uniforms in the book, Luke and Leia both change into their new clothes in the outdoors.


 * In the book, after Luke and Leia finish changing into their mining uniforms, Luke decides that Leia's double-bun hairstyle will attract scrutiny so he undoes her hair. Leia's hairstyle is never altered in the comic.


 * In the book Luke and Leia bury their packs and flight suits in the bog. R2-D2 and C-3PO accompany them into the town until they reach a tavern. Once there, Luke tells the droids to "find a dark corner stay quiet" until he and Leia come back. In the comic, the droids have been instructed to bury the gear in the bog and then to wait outside the tavern until Luke and Leia leave.


 * In the book, as Luke and Leia hurl mudballs and grapple with each other, they attract the attention of a group of miners who initially just observe for some time and then decide to intervene. In the comic, the miners appear to intervene almost immediately after Luke pulls Leia into the mud.

Collected in

 * Splinter of the Mind's Eye (TPB)
 * Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection Volume 8: Splinter of the Mind's Eye
 * Omnibus: Early Victories
 * Luke Skywalker, Last Hope for the Galaxy