The Books of Russ Manning

A weighty collection of Manning's newspaper strips, which were originally published at the time that the movies were being made and released. This book contains several storylines, beginning with Luke, Leia and the Droids facing off against the Imperial agent Blackhole on the casino world Vorzyd 5. We also get Luke's first return to Tatooine ater 'A New Hope', an interesting story that is severely damaged by the daft concept of a virus that makes secret Imperial star maps appear in the sufferer's eyes. Then it's a solo adventure for Leia as she is forced to go undercover as a maid to the widow of Grand Moff Tarkin. I was fascinated by the concept that Tarkin's widow should be every bit as sinister as Peter Cushing's character, but in a more 'cruel aristocrat' sort of way. Han, Chewie and Luke then have to deal with a (frankly improbable) superweapon in a story that is just a touch too sentimental for my tastes. The Rebels then have to rescue a school of hostages and save a supply planet from an Imperial Star Destroyer (in the latter Leia even gets a bit of a love interest). However, the best is saved until last. The final story tells of the Rebels' run in with Boba Fett on the ice planet Ota. This last is a great little story that would almost be worth the money on it's own (although I'm a big Fett fan, so I would say that!). Overall this book is a great bit of Star Wars fun, with brilliant artwork and some of the best depictions around of the coolest Sith Lord, Darth Vader.