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Marvel Star Wars (1977-1986) #96-107
Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Vol. 7: Far, Far Away
This final volume of Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... features classic Star Wars stories previously out of print and hard to find for nearly two decades! Far, Far Away collects issues 96 to 107 of the original series, taking place after the classic Star Wars trilogy, as our beloved Star Wars heroes continue to fight the remaining Imperial Forces and new evils following the Battle of Endor. "Supply and Demand" is a gem of a story, with comics legends Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson whisking Han Solo and co-pilot Nien Nunb off on a mission to a former Imperial prison planet. Jo Duffy and Sal Buscema offer an excellent underwater adventure in "School Spirit!" as Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian return to the water-planet Iskalon and are reunited with old allies.
312 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 21, 2018
I am sad to see this series come to an end. While many Star Wars fans like the more intricate tales of the expanded universe, there was something very entertaining about the original cast of characters in stories not so wide in scope.
The series was in the middle of a pretty involved alien invasion story when things had to be wrapped up quickly. They did a good job of tying loose ends up in the final issue, but the story really had more potential that unfortunately they never had time to explore.
Overall I am a huge fan of the Marvel Star Wars comic series, even if it does come across somewhat campy in hindsight. If you are a diehard fan of the original trilogy and the original characters, this is worth a read.
The series was in the middle of a pretty involved alien invasion story when things had to be wrapped up quickly. They did a good job of tying loose ends up in the final issue, but the story really had more potential that unfortunately they never had time to explore.
Overall I am a huge fan of the Marvel Star Wars comic series, even if it does come across somewhat campy in hindsight. If you are a diehard fan of the original trilogy and the original characters, this is worth a read.
January 27, 2019
It was really fun revisiting these classic Marvel Comics. Towards the end of the series the stories were really out there with focus on alien conflicts the new government faces after the end of the Empire. The art is colorful and very reminiscent of comics at the time. A lot of fun
February 12, 2022
Star Wars Legends Project #301
Background: Far, Far Away, released in July of 2003, collects issues #96-107 of the original Marvel run of Star Wars comics (originally published from March 1985 to June 1986). Mary Jo Duffy concludes the series as the writer for all but one of these issues (written by previous regular writer Archie Goodwin, with art by his frequent collaborator Al Williamson). Most of the remaining issues were drawn by Cynthia Martin (she also drew two issues from the previous volume). The exceptions are one issue apiece by Ron Frenz, Sal Buscema, and Steve Leialoha (co-drawn by Martin). Duffy, of course, wrote about a third of all of the entire run. About a third of those were drawn by Frenz, but Buscema only drew one other. Leiahola inked and colored a number of issues throughout the series.
Far, Far Away picks up where Wookiee World (my review) ended, in the months after the Battle of Endor, 4 years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, Threepio, and Artoo, plus various recurring characters like Plif, Dani, Kiro, Knife, and Lumiya.
Summary: The Nagai, a ruthless race of aliens from beyond the known galaxy, have invaded, and the Alliance of Free Planets, still struggling to establish themselves, scrambles to respond. Driven by her fierce hatred of Luke Skywalker, Lumiya the Dark Lady, now revealed to be the Imperial saboteur Shira Brie, joins forces with the invaders. But as the galaxy once again girds itself for battle, hints of an even darker threat loom on the horizon.
Review: I'd have a better idea of how to judge the significant flaws in this final volume if I knew how much notice Duffy had that the series was being cancelled just as she started to get a new major arc off of the ground. Certainly, a lot of the choices right up to the penultimate issue make very little sense if she knew the series would conclude with #107, which feels incredibly rushed at best. But even assuming the best, there are a lot of inexplicable story choices throughout.
I feel even more ambivalent about it, because this is probably the best the series has ever been in at least the sense of feeling like it's guided by a single, talented vision. Just that sense of consistency and stability does a lot, even if I don't like much of what is happening overall. It also helps that Martin is probably my favorite artist of the entire run. Her depiction of the duel between Luke and Lumiya is an absolute high-point of this series. I mean, just look at this. Spectacular.
And then, inexplicably, she just kind of fades out of the story, and even the Nagai invasion itself just sort of simmers for most of the remaining issues until it gets short-circuited by a second invasion from beyond the known galaxy, this time by a race of giant 17th-century British highwaymen called, and I swear I am not making this up, Tofs. They are brilliantly visualized by Martin's drawings, but that doesn't make them any less incredibly dumb. Not even Doctor Who will go full-twee like this. Have a little dignity.
I would have really liked to see this series given the time and space to deliver on the initial promises of the Nagai invasion . . . but I'm not really confident that it ever would have, so it was probably best to put the whole business out of my misery. I'm being super-negative here, because as a whole, I did not care for this entire era of Star Wars storytelling. Taken on its own terms, there was a lot to like in this final volume. I'm just way more than ready to be done.
B-
Background: Far, Far Away, released in July of 2003, collects issues #96-107 of the original Marvel run of Star Wars comics (originally published from March 1985 to June 1986). Mary Jo Duffy concludes the series as the writer for all but one of these issues (written by previous regular writer Archie Goodwin, with art by his frequent collaborator Al Williamson). Most of the remaining issues were drawn by Cynthia Martin (she also drew two issues from the previous volume). The exceptions are one issue apiece by Ron Frenz, Sal Buscema, and Steve Leialoha (co-drawn by Martin). Duffy, of course, wrote about a third of all of the entire run. About a third of those were drawn by Frenz, but Buscema only drew one other. Leiahola inked and colored a number of issues throughout the series.
Far, Far Away picks up where Wookiee World (my review) ended, in the months after the Battle of Endor, 4 years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, Threepio, and Artoo, plus various recurring characters like Plif, Dani, Kiro, Knife, and Lumiya.
Summary: The Nagai, a ruthless race of aliens from beyond the known galaxy, have invaded, and the Alliance of Free Planets, still struggling to establish themselves, scrambles to respond. Driven by her fierce hatred of Luke Skywalker, Lumiya the Dark Lady, now revealed to be the Imperial saboteur Shira Brie, joins forces with the invaders. But as the galaxy once again girds itself for battle, hints of an even darker threat loom on the horizon.
Review: I'd have a better idea of how to judge the significant flaws in this final volume if I knew how much notice Duffy had that the series was being cancelled just as she started to get a new major arc off of the ground. Certainly, a lot of the choices right up to the penultimate issue make very little sense if she knew the series would conclude with #107, which feels incredibly rushed at best. But even assuming the best, there are a lot of inexplicable story choices throughout.
I feel even more ambivalent about it, because this is probably the best the series has ever been in at least the sense of feeling like it's guided by a single, talented vision. Just that sense of consistency and stability does a lot, even if I don't like much of what is happening overall. It also helps that Martin is probably my favorite artist of the entire run. Her depiction of the duel between Luke and Lumiya is an absolute high-point of this series. I mean, just look at this. Spectacular.
And then, inexplicably, she just kind of fades out of the story, and even the Nagai invasion itself just sort of simmers for most of the remaining issues until it gets short-circuited by a second invasion from beyond the known galaxy, this time by a race of giant 17th-century British highwaymen called, and I swear I am not making this up, Tofs. They are brilliantly visualized by Martin's drawings, but that doesn't make them any less incredibly dumb. Not even Doctor Who will go full-twee like this. Have a little dignity.
I would have really liked to see this series given the time and space to deliver on the initial promises of the Nagai invasion . . . but I'm not really confident that it ever would have, so it was probably best to put the whole business out of my misery. I'm being super-negative here, because as a whole, I did not care for this entire era of Star Wars storytelling. Taken on its own terms, there was a lot to like in this final volume. I'm just way more than ready to be done.
B-
January 12, 2026
I really enjoyed this one. Especially the penultimate comic where everybody was capturing everybody. I've really enjoyed the Nagai invasion. The last comic wasn't the best wrap up of the series, but it wasn't awful either. Overall I quite enjoyed the series.
April 24, 2018
The early EU was... goofy.
February 25, 2020
Holy shit this is garbage.
Read
July 5, 2010SW alta v.7
August 30, 2012
Worth reading for Star Wars fans.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews