5 Ideas Of What Luke Skywalker's Solo Comic Could Have Been
mage Source: StarWars.com
At the start of the current Star Wars canon, a series of comic miniseries were released by Marvel, titled and strongly linked to one part of the main cast of five characters (Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, and Chewbacca) that existed by the end of Return of the Jedi. However, Luke Skywalker was excluded from this list of releases, probably because he was already a main character in one of the new canon’s first novels.
More than a decade later, and with more Luke-based storytelling on the horizon after a sporadic use of the character in Star Wars novels, CultureSlate thought now would be a good time to look back and consider just what a Luke focused comic miniseries might have looked like. Who knows, with next year being the 50th Anniversary of A New Hope, something close to one of these ideas might get revealed.
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5. 'Heir To The Jedi', Reformatted
Image Source: StarWars.com
Heir to the Jedi, alongside Tarkin and A New Dawn, were some of the earliest canon novels and represent an odd collection, with Heir frequently less fondly remembered for some of its narrative and structural choices. It was first-person, which, while giving us a good look into the mindset of Luke Skywalker in this early era, proved a little limiting when tackling a spy-thriller-style narrative with several other characters and moving parts.
A good idea for Luke’s miniseries then, might have been to shift Heir to the Jedi into a comic format, or at the very least, adapt the book right off the bat. The story, full of action and some very odd bits of lore which have never been given much attention in the years since, would be perfect for a comic book storyline. With the manga and comic adaptations of various Star Wars projects a slow but ongoing process, we might one day see this happen anyway!
4. Luke Alone And Stranded
Image Source: StarWars.com
Image Source: StarWars.com
A common plot in many creative projects is to isolate one or a few of the main cast alone in a location, and force them to rely on themselves to survive, or to adapt and change who they are in order to escape. We saw a plotline similar to this one in the 2015 Marvel comic series, where Luke and Leia were trapped on a planet and had some heart-to-hearts, but it was a very brief incident.
This, instead, would have been a five-issue miniseries perhaps showing Luke stranded on a hostile world, or being shot down and forced to evade his pursuers while still unlearned in the ways of the Force. Perhaps he could have been seen accessing new aspects of his Force connection, or have an encounter that informs his understanding of the Jedi. This is a similar plot perhaps to the Chewbacca miniseries Marvel did release, though with the benefit of Luke being able to talk and be understood by those he meets.
3. Luke The Pilot
Image Source: StarWars.com
We’ve seen Luke’s starfighter prowess on display a few times at this point, but an idea for a possible comic could have been to firmly set Luke up in opposition to a daring Imperial ace in a tense situation. Maybe set it as an ongoing duel while the Rebels evacuated Yavin 4, or have it in an isolated sector of space, but having Luke square off against a skilled TIE pilot, perhaps even in a unique TIE variant, could have been a very fun exploration of Luke’s character.
For all of his daring and skill shown in other comics, Luke has rarely had a one-on-one dogfight with someone who isn’t Vader, and seeing him stress, and plan, and use all of his resources as a young pilot new to the Rebel Alliance seeking to accomplish his goals, would have placed good emphasis on that area of his skillset outside of his role as a Jedi.
2. Luke On Tatooine
Image Source: YouTube
With Mad Cave Comics planning to bring us a new story of Luke’s days on Tatooine, examining Luke’s life before that fateful day he met R2-D2 and C-3P0 falls in line with the likes of the Lando comic released in the aforementioned batch of main character comics. This miniseries probably should have been small stakes, but could have allowed for a bit of local adventure with a teenage Luke, perhaps a few years before A New Hope, or in the days leading up to that film.
It could have re-canonized the deleted scenes with Biggs and Luke’s other friends (all but re-canonized in the years since) but also shown that Obi-Wan was watching over Luke from a distance, as has been revealed in other comics and the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ show. While Tatooine is one of the most explored locales in Star Wars, there’s always room for new or isolated places capable of giving an interesting adventure to locals like Luke!
1. Luke And A Force Journey
Image Source: Wookieepedia
This is a plotline that could have been part of any of the previously mentioned original ideas for a comic miniseries, either by exploring Luke’s link to the Force when it is still new in his context as a Jedi, or when he’s unaware of his connection if the story were to explore his life before A New Hope. But we have seen Luke exploring intuitions from the Force, or exploring ruins belonging to the Jedi and others before, and this story would have been able to set the template, or at least covered ground, other stories could have referred back to.
As it stands, that honor goes to The Weapon of a Jedi, another early canon novel tying into The Force Awakens. This adventure could have been weirder though, as befits the comic medium, with exotic structures, animals or plants, as well as strange beliefs in the Force or interactions due to whatever local event Luke encounters. All and all, it would have allowed Luke to grow in his understanding of the Force, and that’s always fun to see!
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