Today’s page is a goody! We see the Jawas at last. And it’s another of those “what if George had taken this approach?” sort of affairs.
We get to see what actually happened to poor whinging pain-in-the-arse Threepio after he hailed the sandcrawler. It was a scene cruelly kept from us by George.
Oh, I see. So you think George – was trying to raise the tension and suspense? And I suppose you think George knew more about film-making than me when I was nine?—or my 4 year old son Johnny? (it was 2009) Sigh, I suppose you’re right. But I certainly understood the comic potential of irony, didn’t I? Observe:
“Yippiee!” [ZAP!]
Art Notes
Such short legs – and originally, they were even shorter! Maybe the Jawas fancied having a big golden crab for dinner?
Dammit! There I was sticking-in photos again. Now I’ll never know what the drawing was like. I hope it wasn’t as funny as panel 2. He looks like a gold-plated, short-legged Charles Atlas! As usual, Threepio’s line is preceded by “Oh,”
No vacuum tube. Instead: space-age magnetic radiation!
Film Theory: Pay Attention!
Yep, when I sit watching Star Wars with my little fella, we arrive at the scene where Threepio and Artoo are reunited in the Sandcrawler. Sorry—I should have yelled “SPOILER ALERT!” Not many people have seen Star Wars…
So there they are reunited. Johnny’s got to see how Artoo ended up in there – great. What’s not great, and very difficult to explain to a 4 year old is the answer to this question:
“But how did C-3PO end up there? We didn’t get to see it!” (Frustration – wailing – tears).
“Well Johnny, remember when he waved to the shining thing?”
“Yes..?”
“Well – just after that – he got captured by the Jawas. See? Simple.”
“But why didn’t we see it happen?”
“Because the man who made this film wanted to make the story more interesting for us by NOT showing it…”
“But that’s not more interesting. It’s just annoying.”
“But when we’re watching Artoo in the next bit after that we’re wondering ‘Gosh, what happened to Threepio? And what was it, shining in the distance?’. And then! – when they meet again in the Sandcrawler we realise: ‘Oh… so THAT’S what happened to Threepio. The same thing that happened to Artoo…”
“What happened to Artee Dootee?”
“You know, he got zapped and fell over like a dust-bin and got sucked-up like in a vacuum cleaner…”
“But why didn’t we see what happened to Threepio?!?!”
“Look Johnny – there’s another robot that looks like a bin! (diversionary tactic)”
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(See Threepio in the desert.)
'Soon --'
"Oh, I (missing text)"
PANEL 2
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'Suddenly'
A vehicle (Jawa Sandcrawler) comes over the dunes into C-3PO's view and he starts to wave frantically. "Help, oh help!" he calls out.
PANEL 3
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The vehicle comes closer and Threepio continues waving and calling "Help!"
PANEL 4
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(Closer-in on 3PO now)
The vehicle is very close and Threepio is jubilant, "Yippiee!" he cries.
PANEL 5
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'Jawas!'
A small cloaked figure appears beside the Sandcrawler tracks and fires his laser weapon at Threepio and utters, "Gurble beep hiss iz!"
PANEL 6
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"Aiee!" Threepio screams in terror. And we see two Jawas watch the immobilised Threepio being lifted up into the Sandcrawler.
I love this one, especially the final panel with the way he is hanging so uselessly from the magnet. LOL! I still like our BMS version though. http://www.bluemilkspecial.com/?p=10
Rod, I have to say: that strip of yours is one of my favourite BMS strips – ever.
Never underestemate the diversionary power of a robot who looks like a bin 🙂