Star Wars #50.
Star Wars #50 (August 1981) demonstrates the problem with media tie-in comics…since Han Solo was frozen in carbonite and whisked away by Boba Fett at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, all the comics published between that movie and the then-forthcoming third film Return of the Jedi had to make do without everyone’s favorite space-smuggler.
Either that, or you do lots of flashbacks. This issue (by Archie Goodwin, Al Williamson, Tom Palmer, and Walt Simonson) is no exception…Luke Skywalker is stuck down by a fatal disease known as “The Crimson Forever” – and the only clue to a possible cure is in a past adventure with Solo and Chewbacca. This is a solid Star Wars story, with good adventure writing by the always dependable Goodwin, and if you’re familiar with the names in the illustration credits, you know the art is quite lovely. Unfortunately, the muddy reproduction and the crummy paper undermine the linework. The only real misstep (if you can call it that) in the whole issue is the interjection of an ongoing antagonist created for the comics…it just seemed a little out of place in a special issue that, for 90% of the story, was self-contained and focused primarily on the characters from the movies.
However, if you can overlook that character just showing up out of nowhere (there’s enough clunky exposition thrown in there to catch you up), this is a fun Star Wars adventure, and worth seeking out.