Poor 'Porky' Porkins

As you all know, Wedge was played by Denis Lawson - Ewan McGreggor's uncle. I ws going to say 'well you wouldn't think so, looking at today's page.' But actually, I just found this photo and it's not a bad likeness at all!

I have to say, It must be brilliant being Scottish. I lived there from the age of 4 to 9, and I loved the place. Lawson is actually from Perthshire - were I lived.

But what about Porkins? Why, oh why did George choose that name for him? There were no black actors in Star Wars - a fact that was lost on me because there weren't any black people in Ireland in the '70s either, apart from Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott. So, not one black person, but there was one portly man in Star Wars. In the mid seventies he was probably still part of a minority. And what happens? He gets a joke name. Poor sod.

Oh, sweet release.

Eject - eject? Where to?

It's occurred to me that if Porkins did eject, he'd most likely end up floating - very nervously - above the Death Star watching his mates racing down the trench trying to make the station go boom. Do you think he'd await his fate in brave resignation - or... get on the radio to the Death Star and do a deal with them? "Uh, d'you know that exhaust port of yours..?"

Art Notes

Funnily enough, in my version Jek Porkins is looking quite slim isn't he? Wedge is also flying a Y-Wing. What a confused young boy I was. I was about 15 or 16 so it was probably hormonal.

The last panel is just like Howard Chaykin's Marvel version of SWa9.

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