The cover's new to me...

...since my original has probably been coverless for twenty years or more; so I'll always grab a cheap copy when I can. From 1980, Star Wars #31, "Return to Tatooine!" Written (and edited) by Archie Goodwin, breakdowns by Carmine Infantino, inks by Bob Wiacek.

This comic may be dated, off-model, or cheesy to some; but to me it's as Star Wars as you can get! Besides, by 1980, although Empire would've still been a few months away, Marvel's adaptation was getting more and more authentic. Here, we've got references to a deleted scene that would've been rarely seen, if at all, at the time; and an appearance from a vehicle made for the toy aisles, the Imperial Troop Transport.

On a mission to recruit blockade runners for the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to his home planet Tatooine, with Artoo and Threepio. At the demolished home of his late Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen, Luke discovers vaporator equipment still working; having been maintained by two of his childhood friends, Fixer and Camie. (Their scene had been deleted from the film, but was referenced in the novel and the comic adaptation.) They had thought Luke, the boy they called "Wormie," had been killed with his family, by Tusken Raiders. Luke isn't interested in reclaiming the family farm, though; and then leaves after Threepio warns him about an Imperial Troop Carrier in the area. But those Stormtroopers aren't looking for him, or even just on patrol: they're after an escaped bantha...which Luke finds in a canyon, frozen to death, under Tatooine's twin suns!

Returning to the Mos Eisley cantina, Luke does find two experienced blockade runners: Han and Chewbacca, who he last saw in issue #23! Their reunion is cut short by a guilty Fixer, who tries to warn Luke that he and Camie had reported him to the fuzz--or rather, the Stormtroopers! Luke, Han, and Chewbacca shoot their way out fairly easily, then blaze out of town on Luke's landspeeder...which a trooper notices, was hit, and is leaking coolant...

The same week I bought this issue from the dollar bin, I also bought it in the Dark Horse reprint volume Star Wars: A Long Time Ago volume 2: Dark Encounters. Which I actually already had. I'm not sure if I'll return it to the store, since I could see myself just buying it again the next time I see it...