I'm mildly surprised there weren't pogs for this. Were there pogs? Ah, I don't know.

When I was a kid, I saved up my Kenner proof-of-purchases and mailed in for the Boba Fett action figure. Many complain about the lack of the rocket-firing feature; but I didn't care, since to me it had been hundreds of years since I had ordered it and I was just glad to have it. Then poor Boba kind of gets clowned in Return of the Jedi. If only this chapter had filled the gap then...From 1996, Shadows of the Empire #1-6, written by John Wagner, pencils by Kilian Plunkett, inks by P. Craig Russell.

I don't know if Shadows of the Empire is fondly remembered; I can't even tell you it's remembered at all. This was a multimedia extravaganza with all the tie-ins you would get with a Star Wars movie, just without the Star Wars movie. It even had a soundtrack CD! There was a novel--written by Steve Perry, which ties in a lot here--toys, the video game. I hopped on a lot of those: I still have Dash Rendar and his ship the Outrider, partially because I crashed them, a lot, playing the game. This was set between Empire and Return, and Dash is not only the replacement Han, he's also the player character: he may be a bit of a knockoff, but I wonder if maybe he would be more fondly remembered if video game technology of the time had allowed for more decision making or sandbox exploring. Dash was written as somewhat more mercenary than Han, a more modern game might have had the opportunity for him to be more of a cad, or blow off missions too dangerous. (The comic also features Jix, an agent of Vader assigned to infiltrate Jabba the Hutt's men and watch for Luke: he could've been in the game for escort-style missions, as he saves Luke more than once from the swoop bike gangs.)

The comic, however, puts a lot of focus on Boba Fett making the trip to Tatooine, to get his big payoff from Jabba the Hutt, for the frozen Han Solo. By the Mandalorian, carbon freezing prisoners seems more commonplace; but here Fett describes him as "a work of art...'Man in Carbonite'--a masterpiece by Darth Vader!" Fett is also chatty here, often talking to Han; as he is repeatedly bushwacked by the other bounty hunters--IG-88, Bossk, Zuckuss, and 4-LOM--as they try to poach the bounty. Apparently nobody likes Dengar, or he knew better...You can feel Boba Fett getting surlier and surlier at Solo, who is safe as houses in his carbonite block, while Fett has to risk his neck and use a spare set of armor as a decoy in his end run to Jabba. (That also doesn't quite align with Mandalorian lore; that armor could've been more of a prize than Solo.) When Jabba tries to dicker on the price, Fett seems like he's ready to kill everyone in the building rather than hear that noise. That repressed rage kind of makes this one of my favorite Star Wars things, and it's just a weird little side trip. Which is usually what I like, actually.