Hmmm… ‘don’t recall that bit
This is a bit of a 1977 curio! I was so pleased to discover this page separately from the rest of the comic. An unexpected pleasure. Pretty funny, but it also seems as if it was done by someone who wasn’t really that familiar with the film! I’d say it was done very shortly after seeing it in ’77, so the details were fuzzy. My head was still ‘spinning’.
What’s Threepio doing exactly? Luring Artoo to his doom? Or calling for help? Probably both – regardless of the consequences for his much-abused little chum.
Art Notes
ArmaLites & Northern Ireland – Cor!
Soldiers. Cor!
Cor, check out the deadly telescopic laser sight – zooming in and in! Pretty crude stuff. This was definitely before I ever got my hands on a picture of the Jawas and their roof-felting-blowtorch-gun. The weapons seem more like the ArmaLites that I’d see the British Army soldiers wielding as they patrolled Bessbrook, the little village of my Northern Irish relatives.
Happy Days (Sigh)
It was incredibly inappropriate, but as a 9 year old, so exciting to chat with these hated enemies of the local Catholics. They’d oblige you with a look down the telescopic sight of their rifle if you asked. Never got to hold one, sadly. I was ignorant of the Nationalist cause – even though my relatives were Catholic Republicans.
I made an AIRFIX version
In anticipation of my first trip across to Northern Ireland from Scotland I was very excited at the prospect of seeing soldiers and army helicopters. After Mum had me say my prayers before sleep, she left the room. I supplemented my message: “Please God, when we’re in Bessbrook I’d like to see a big battle with Westland Wessex helicopters and tanks with lots of big explosions and bullets flying everywhere and everything.”
You know, before every visit my Grandad would inform the local IRA terrorist unit that there’d be a car with a British Registration Plate parked outside their house, in the Catholic Square, for 1 week. He’d assure them that we were cocher: relatives. I never knew this at the time. Just as well.
Bendy Shoot ‘Round Corner Guns
Those bendy muzzle-flares are of course not the result of Sci-Fi weapons technology, but rather my unwillingness to properly plan my compositions!
Film Notes
The prop design department actually used real WWII guns on Star Wars. Did you know that? It was another example of how George wanted to keep the look of the film other-worldly and futuristic – and yet – somehow familiar. They bought genuine weapons, sawed them up, reassembled bits and pieces, made casts and injection molded the props. Here’s what Lucas said to Charles Lipincott in 1976:
“I’m trying to make props that don’t stand out. (…) very natural, a casual I’ve-seen-this-before-look.”
Han Solo’s WWII Broom-handle Mauser gun
“You say, ‘I’ve seen that, it’s World War II – but wait a minute – that isn’t any kind of jet I’ve ever seen before’. I want the whole film to have that quality! It’s a very hard thing to come by, because it should look very familiar but at the same time not familiar at all.”
Next: Part III begins!
PANEL 1
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'R2 was in deadly danger--'
We see a very wobbly, childish drawing of Artoo-Detoo wheeling into shot, with a gun sight cross-hairs on him.
PANEL 1
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Then the shooting starts. The Jawas are firing two guns at him from overhead. Threepio is inside the Sandcrawler and knows R2-D2 is outside. She calls, "R2—in here!"
There's an explosion beside Artoo which almost hits the tracks of the Sandcrawler. A puzzled Artoo exclaims, "Zwit pling?"
When I first saw ‘The Last Crusade’ I thought it was the coolest thing in the world when he shot those three Germans with that gun.
There was a Mauser in it? Did you think it was a Han Solo gun – sneaked into the film? – or did you know it was a Mauser?