Star Wars Newspaper Strip Spotlight – The Tatooine Sojourn
The Star Wars newspaper strips in ‘The Tatooine Sojourn’ were originally published from September 10 to November 5, 1979.
The Star Wars newspaper strips in ‘The Tatooine Sojourn’ were originally published from September 10 to November 5, 1979.
A bold yellow intro in the style of the classic Star Wars movie crawl announces that we are about to read the ‘Tatooine Sojourn,’ in which Luke Skywalker returns to his homeworld of Tatooine, to find, “it dramatically changed: a bustling spaceport, a hotbed of Rebellion, but as dangerous as it ever was…”
A transport capsule soars through space, breaks through Tatooine’s atmosphere, and finally crash-lands on the desert surface, breaking the stillness of the desert night!
The local Jawas are awakened by the commotion, and investigate the source of the noise. After they’re certain the capsule isn’t a trap, they summon their massive, mobile base of operations: a sandcrawler. They load their new prize into their vehicle, and slice it open with specialized lasers.
The Jawas are elated to find a nest of squills inside, which are well-known as disease-carrying pests to the galaxy, but treasured for their tough meat and pungent smell by the Jawas, who seem to have interesting tastes in delicacies. After all, look at the egg one of their tribes requests in exchange for some stolen property in The Mandalorian. The Jawas are satisfied with their night, which not only yielded some valuable salvage, but also a free dinner!
The next morning, a pair of stormtroopers are investigating the crash site of the capsule. The two troopers deduce that the pod must’ve been taken by Jawas, judging by the sandcrawler tracks leading away from the crater. In frustration one remarks, “They’ll sell the metal, and eat the squills! And their dead little eyes will be impossible to read!” Then, the scene transfers to space, where we catch a glimpse of a ship which looks like a cross between early concept art of The Millennium Falcon and a Star Wars version of a B-29 Bomber. Inside, Luke Skywalker has just been hailed by Massassi-One. Massassi-One orders Luke to abandon his reconnaissance mission! Luke responds eagerly “Gladly! We haven’t seen anything but space dust for–” He suddenly stops.
Massassi-One interrupts, and orders Luke to set course immediately for Tatooine! They tell him to investigate what observers have reported as the arrival of an unscheduled transport pod. Luke does his best to get his way out of the assignment, but his familiarity with the planet makes him perfect for the job, and so he jumps into hyperspace, “toward a confrontation with his past…”
Coming Up on Tatooine Sojourn….
What will Luke think of his homeworld after everything that’s happened since he left? What new characters will he meet when he lands on Tatooine? Find out the answers to these, and much more, next time at the Star Wars Newspaper Strip Spotlight!
Author Biography
Hi, my name is Jonathan Marroquin. My first memory of Star Wars is seeing a dusty VHS tape in the corner, which my grandpa explained was a sci-fi movie. I fell in love with it immediately. In the next few days, I watched Star Wars: A New Hope more times than I could count. I like to say Star Wars was my first love, and it’s stayed true to me ever since. A LEGO enthusiast and stop-motion animator, I enjoy writing fan fiction in the Star Wars and Harry Potter universes. I love to read Star Wars books, build LEGO Star Wars scenes and ships, and basically do anything with Star Wars involved. I am also currently learning French. May the Force Be With You, Always!
