I wish I could put up a screenshot of this but I can't find it online. Since this site has tons of retro SW fans such as myself on here, I'm assuming someone out here will know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, in the old Marvel comics Star Wars series, in the first "Special" issue or whatever, there was a plot involving an Eagle-esque race which tells Luke that they were protected/saved by Obi Wan Kenobi and two of his pupils (back then Obi-Wan was supposed to have once had multiple students, as we all know). They then tell Luke that one of the pupils returned and basically ruined things for them (this pupil being Darth Vader). At the end of the comic, it is revealed that the other pupil of Kenobi was Luke's father.
As anyone who really knows Star Wars understands, at this point, Luke's father and Darth Vader were two totally distinct and separate entities, and the whole Skywalker Senior/Anakin=Darth Vader thing wasn't decided until the end of the production for "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1980 (Secret History of Star Wars is great!).
When the Bird is telling this story there is a picture of Old Obi-Wan, Darth Vader (in the helmet/suit), and a young smiling Jedi with a strange little bushy hairstyle only on the top of his head. When I read this I was SHOCKED, because I knew how stringent Lucas was, even then, about Marvel not delving too deeply into the "Pre-SW (77) era" of his story. I thought the only thing Marvel got was the Obi Wan flashback which basically had him aboard a ship solving a crisis by deducing that a microwave was causing a transmission issue (as far as I can remember). However, this comic panel from Marvel CLEARLY reads that Obi-Wan, Luke's father, and Darth Vader were all at this planet and it also CLEARLY shows Obi-Wan and Darth Vader and...another Human.
It seems pretty obvious that this has to be Luke's Father (now known as Anakin, since 1983) in his earliest appearance, placed into Marvel "indirectly" in a sneaky "assumed" manner. When I look this up, I find NOTHING. But who else could this be? It wouldn't be young Obi-Wan, because Marvel showed an Obi-Wan from the "Prequel" days in a totally different matter, and it really couldn't be a Pre-"Incident"/Suited Vader since they show the armored Vader right there in the panel!
Have I stumbled upon the FIRST EVER APPEARANCE OF ANAKIN ?!?
-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars. Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me?
-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.
-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten!
P.S. This is my first thread and I noticed I put it in the wrong category. :(
-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars. Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me?
-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.
-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten!
I'll move it for you.
Where were you in '77?
The story you refer to appeared in Star Wars Annual #1 in 1979. Some of these once a year specials were reprinting stories that first ran in the UK Marvel Star Wars book, which was a weekly black and white publication, and sometimes needed more material as a result.
I think this is the panel you’re thinking of.
or
Where were you in '77?
Double Thanks for both properly categorizing my post AND for finding the exact panel! YES. This is EXACTLY it. So, is it just me or is "Muffin Hair" a prototypical Anakin or someone else? Now that I have the panel to look at, it seems that the creature mentions several pupils being present under Obi-Wan...
-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars. Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me?
-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.
-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten!
So Luke's father was originally supposed to be Vanilla Ice?
Seriously, as SHoSW points out, it's never said that Luke's father was Ben's pupil. All he says is "I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your father." I think the original assumption at the time was that they were equals, not master and apprentice.
You are right. The dialogue from Star Wars (and Return of the Jedi) suggests that Luke's father/Anakin and Ben/Obi were equals rather than master-apprentice. However, with the ret-con/merger of the characters of "Anakin" and Vader you then kind of have to accept that Luke's father was Obi's apprentice. But, then again, this is 1979, here, before all that and back when they weren't one and the same.
Still, though, at the end of this comic, the creature states that Luke is wearing the lightsaber of the Jedi who was chiefly responsible for saving them and Luke says that his father was someone he could be proud of (this line is all the more poignant with the character-meld/retcon in my mind!). Furthermore, this Vanilla Ice/Muffin Hair man with Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi most likely wouldn't simply be some random pupil since his presence is kind of odd and, seemingly, at equal status with Kenobi and Vader.
In conclusion, it is my opinion that the man with the bad hairdo is none other than Marvel's interpretation of the visage of the father of Luke Skywalker, only placed anonymously in one panel to avoid attracting the attention of our boy George.
In fact...I doubt George has ever seen this panel! Boy would he probably be ticked! Heck, he would probably want to have the next Dark Horse compilation/omnibus of the Marvel comics have Hayden's visage tacked on to this panel! :P
-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars. Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me?
-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.
-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten!
Lucas apparently did keep an eye on the comic early on, as he objected to Han Solo's big meat eating rabbit ally. Whether he was watching things as closely in 1979 is anyone's guess.
Someone at Lucasfilm had to be paying attention as Marvel got perilously close to scooping the films more than once. Some cute fuzzy aliens had to be redrawn months before Jedi, with the Ewoks waiting in the wings.
Some of the pre-production art glimpsed on the Revenge of the Sith DVD does depict Anakin with a mohawk. Could someone have been inspired by the comic?
Where were you in '77?
^Thank goodness that didn't pan out...
A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em
the blue guy and the green winged woman have the same hairstyle, without having read the whole comic, I'd say it's more likely that the blue guy is the KHARYS character that she refers to in the panel, that Vader put in charge of the planet and imparted his knowledge to.
Problem is, Kharys is the female alien at the bottom of the panel.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kharys
I wish I could just dig out my old Marvels and reread this issue, but they aren't handy at the moment.
Where were you in '77?
I remember the story well.
It could be that the blue coloured chap is another member of Kharys' species (possibly a Jedi recruit that may have received training from Kenobi) and Vader in armour is her remembering Anakin's return after the big burn.
although it doesn't explain who the blue guy is, this entry from Wookiepedia
does put to rest Vader and Anakin appearing as two seperate people in this instance, and that the third Jedi was called Halagad Ventor
Kharys, who was thirteen years old at the time, was witness to three Jedi warriors, General Obi-Wan Kenobi,Anakin Skywalker, and Halagad Ventor, who rescued the world from destruction.[3] To repay the Jedi, the clan'sPatriarch, Klarymére, <(MOST LIKELY THE BLUE GUY!!) swore eternal friendship and loyalty to their rescuers. Although nearly all S'kytri were prejudiced against "walkers," the S'kytri's derogatory term for those without wings,[4] Kharys became infatuated with Skywalker and his incredible talent in the Force, and Skywalker sensed the young S'kytri's own Force potential during an interaction with her. Although Skywalker tried to convince Kenobi to take Kharys with them, Kenobi and Ventor both agreed that she was much too old to take for training. However, before departing the world, Skywalker promised Kharys that he would find a way to have the young girl trained.[3]
Kharys, during her training under Darth Vader.
Years later, following the end of the Clone Wars and the transformation of Skywalker into the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, Skywalker returned to Skye to fulfill his promise. Garbed in a dark mask and armor and no longer going by his former name, the S'kytri were unsure which of the former Jedi he really was. However, when Vader arrived at Kharys's home to take her as his pupil, the young woman knew Skywalker had come to fulfill his promise.[3]
I read the story, and I do think "Vanilla Ice" there was intended to be Anakin. With Vader and Anakin having been merged into one character, I suppose you can just retcon "Vanilla Ice" into being another Jedi that accompanied Ben and Anakin on their mission to Kharys' world, and that Vader later lied and claimed to be this Jedi when he returned to the planet following his fall and transformation.
Stuff like this is why the Marvel Comics are officially considered a lower level of canonicity than even the EU
Officially, yes, but that doesn't keep the nuts who run the EU from trying to fit as much of it into continuity as possible.
Star Wars Purist said:
You are right. The dialogue from Star Wars (and Return of the Jedi) suggests that Luke's father/Anakin and Ben/Obi were equals rather than master-apprentice.
BEN: A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.
BEN: When I first knew him, your father was already a great pilot. But I was amazed how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought that I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong.
Tobar said:
Star Wars Purist said:
You are right. The dialogue from Star Wars (and Return of the Jedi) suggests that Luke's father/Anakin and Ben/Obi were equals rather than master-apprentice.
BEN: A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.
Before ESB, this line was only talking about Vader, not Luke's father.
When Lucas wrote that dialogue, Vader and Luke's father were two separate people. When Alec Guinness performed that dialogue, Vader and Luke's father were two separate people. When audiences first heard that dialogue, Vader and Luke's father were two separate people. Until Lucas wrote the second draft of ESB in 1978, Darth Vader was not Luke's father. Between then and April 12, 1980 (when the novelization was released), Luke's father and Darth Vader were still officially two separate people.
I think he may have been replying to Purist's statement that even the ROTJ dialogue says nothing about a training relationship. Instead, it's explicitly stated.
Yes, yes. To tim you listen.
As for this:
SilverWook said:
Some of the pre-production art glimpsed on the Revenge of the Sith DVD does depict Anakin with a mohawk. Could someone have been inspired by the comic?
That looks like it was more inspired by the Droids animated series:
Which wouldn't be surprising seeing as quite a few things in the prequels seem to have been "inspired" by that show:
Probably has something to do with the fact that Ben Burtt wrote for the series.
Yes, I was speaking of the assumed master-student relationship. Honestly, though, I love most of the Marvel Comics, especially the Baron Tagge/"The Wheel" issues, and as my user-name implies, I don't care if they're considered below the "C-Canon" that most EU work falls under. In my mind, the Prequels are beneath "Non-Canon" since they completely ruin my interpretation and enjoyment of the Original Star Wars films and work. Sorry. I just refuse to accept that the greatest villain of all time (imo) was once a wide-eyed "yippee!" shouting little slave boy who ALSO lived on Tatooine who then became a snotty adolescent and that he "solely" fell to the Dark Side because of a nightmare about his wife. Also Obi-Wan falling in his early 50s in Star Wars is just ridiculous. As weird or different as Marvel's Star Wars comics got, they never got as "non-canon" as the Prequels did.
But I digress. As for whether or not this was supposed to be Anakin, I guess none of us can ever know for sure, especially since most people will simply try to work this into the current "canon" (ugh) of the Star Wars universe and will deny this individual was ever intended to be a Jedi. Heck, most people I talk to anymore honestly think the Vader=Luke's Dad relationship was always planned out. Lucas's Stalin-esque Revisionism needs to be uncovered by any decent SW fan.
-Someone, someday, needs to bring back the LIGHT SIDE to Star Wars. Has anyone else noticed striking similarites between the character of Anakin/Vader and George Lucas, or is it just me?
-It's called STAR WARS. NOT "Episode IV: A New Hope". Kids, get this straight.
-Please read the Archie Goodwin daily SW comics: Too good to be forgotten!
Our mystery man may not actually have blue skin though. Isn't that also a color technique to show someone in shadow or darkness?
Interesting they drew Ben with a stubbly beard, but no mustache.
Where were you in '77?
timdiggerm said:
Stuff like this is why the Marvel Comics are officially considered a lower level of canonicity than even the EU
I'll take Marvel over the EU any day of the week. It's a lot more fun.
Where were you in '77?
^True for some parts of the EU, not true for others; it varies, really.
Star Wars Purist said:
I love most of the Marvel Comics, especially the Baron Tagge/"The Wheel" issues, and as my user-name implies, I don't care if they're considered below the "C-Canon" that most EU work falls under. In my mind, the Prequels are beneath "Non-Canon" since they completely ruin my interpretation and enjoyment of the Original Star Wars films and work.
...
As weird or different as Marvel's Star Wars comics got, they never got as "non-canon" as the Prequels did.
One could reasonably interpret that the Vanilla Ice fellow is simply Vader prior to his fall to the dark side as even before the merge with the Father Skywalker character, he was written as having been scarred by his battle with Obi-Wan. Thus the comic displays Darth as he looked in his days as a Jedi and how looked when he came back as a Dark Jedi; both next to a drawing of the man responsible for putting him that suit.
