Pizzazz #10-16 and Star Wars Weekly #60 "The Kingdom of Ice" (1978-1979, Comic Book)

Format: Comic Book
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Total Reading Time: 28 minutes
Note: Pizzazz has multiple comic book stories per issue. This is only a review of the Star Wars story in issues 10-16 of the magazine and not any of the other material. Also, Star Wars Weekly #1-59 have not been reviewed as they are simply reprinting U.S. material in the UK. Star Wars Weekly #60 (which is reviewed here) also contains non-Star Wars stories which are not covered here.

Introduction

About a week ago I reviewed the previous Pizzazz Star Wars story. This second story goes from issues ten to sixteen of the magazine. Unfortunately, the magazine was issued prematurely (presumably due to low sales). Due to this, this story originally wasn't finished. Over in the UK however, they had a Star Wars series going on called Star Wars Weekly. It was published (as the title states) weekly but was simply short reprints of material previously published in the U.S. For the most part the two series stayed relatively in tandem but the series in the UK was going through material slightly faster than it was being published in this U.S. This caused them to fill in these extra gaps with additional stories. Issues 57-59 reprinted the previously published parts of "The Kingdom of Ice" from Pizzazz and issue 60 covered the unpublished final part. This was the first time this story was finished. This final part eventually did make its way over to the states however in 1980 in a series called Marvel Illustrated Books which were paperback sized reprints of comic stories.

This story continues from the previous Pizzazz story with Luke, Leia, R2-D2, and C-3PO heading out to warn a rebel base of a potential threat from the Empire. They are attacked and crash land on the snow planet Akuria II where the droids get separated from Luke and Leia. Luke and Leia are picked up by some rebels while the droids are soon attacked by a monster. I can't really go any further than that without some spoilers.

Pizzazz #10: Star Wars: The Kingdom of Ice!

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciller: Walt Simonson
Publication Date: June 22, 1978 (cover dated July 1978)
Reading Time: 3 minutes
I forgot how difficult these issues are to read. Having a story split up into three page chunks is pretty obnoxious and makes for a very choppy feeling story. Can't blame the writer for that though.






Pizzazz #11: Star Wars: The Snow Demons!

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciller: Walt Simonson
Publication Date: July 27, 1978 (cover dated August 1978)
Reading Time: 3 minutes
I am liking the snowy environment here. Akuria II does feel a lot like the planet Hoth although that isn't a complaint with the issue as Hoth wasn't introduced until The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. Also, for whatever reason there seems to be a lot of struggle with lightsaber colors in these early comics as Luke has a yellow lightsaber in this issue.



Pizzazz #12: Star Wars: Treachery!

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciller: Walt Simonson
Publication Date: August 24, 1978 (cover dated September 1978)
Reading Time: 4 minutes
This issue has a really great reveal that was effective in catching me off guard. I think Leia should have sided with Luke on this one though. I feel that Luke was justified in being upset losing R2-D2 and C-3PO and the Rebels not wanting to go back for them.





Pizzazz #13: Star Wars: Death Trap!

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciller: Walt Simonson
Publication Date: September 28, 1978 (cover dated October 1978)
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Not too much happens this issue other than setup for the upcoming issues. It ends on a cliffhanger which is fine but I wish these issues weren't forced to have some sort of cliffhanger every three pages (an unfortunate drawback of the format more so than the fault of the writer).




Pizzazz #14: Star Wars: Snow Fury!

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciller: Dave Cockrum
Publication Date: October 26, 1978 (cover dated November 1978)
Reading Time: 3 minutes
This issue was a little odd. The artist here changes from Walt Simonson to Dave Cockrum. The art now feels much less like a water painting and has quite a bit more realism to it. Cockrum seems to struggle with C-3PO though which I've noticed is a trend with many of these Star Wars comics. Overall I do prefer this new art style though. Also, Luke and a few of the rebels ride "power skis" which are essentially skis with a rocket on the back. It feels ridiculous and out of place in Star Wars. It feels a lot like watching one of the later James Bond movies (before the Daniel Craig reboot).

Pizzazz #15: Star Wars: The Ice Worm Cometh!

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciller: Dave Cockrum
Publication Date: November 30, 1978 (cover dated December 1978)
Reading Time: 3 minutes
This issue isn't bad, but is basically another set up issue for the most part. Cockrum seems to have gotten C-3PO figured out as he is drawn extremely well in this issue. The power skis are back in this issue unfortunately. Also, the ending cliffhanger is predictable just based on the title. My last comment is that the rebel leader's dialogue is written like this: "...if the worm who made this burrow ain't gotten the word that it's extinct!". I really wish that it was just established that he spoke poorly. Writing it out is never the way to go and is just annoying.

Pizzazz #16: Star Wars: Showdown

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciller: Dave Cockrum
Publication Date: December 28, 1978 (cover dated January 1979)
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Here we finally see the showdown with the ice worm (sort of...it continues into the next issue). Unfortunately for readers at the time this cliffhanger wasn't resolved for a long time as Pizzazz was cancelled after this issue. I also find it odd that Superman is on the cover as it is a Marvel magazine.




Star Wars Weekly #60: Pursuit!

Writer: Archie Goodwin
Penciller: Dave Cockrum
Publication Date: April 18, 1979
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Here we have the conclusion of this story arc. This issue is definitely a reprint of some unfinished work. The art and the writing is decent but it is printed in black and white (unlike the other issues). It is also six pages long which is the length of two Star Wars stories in Pizzazz.




Overview

The plot in this issue is decent enough. It is nice to see some rebel on imperial action because the main ongoing series seems hesitant to feature any actual imperials. The one thing that seems off to me is that in the previous story it is established that Luke and Leia are off to warn a rebel base about the Empire (a base which they don't reach until this story). However, by the end of this story it simply states that Leia was heading over to recruit the group into the rebellion instead of them already being a part of it (even though the group are called rebels throughout the story). It is an odd inconsistency.

Also, this series never went full circle as it still contradicts the ongoing series by having Luke and Leia in a totally different place with no easy way to reconcile the two. The only thing that would make sense is if sometime between issues of the ongoing series Luke and Leia decided to take the droids go back to Yavin 4 then head off to recruit a rebel base before getting involved again with the main ongoing story. As you can see, it requires quite a stretch.

The story is definitely hurt by the format as it feels like there are constant cliffhangers and not enough room for very much plot development. The stories in these issues are fun but at the same time I am glad that Pizzazz has ended so I can get away from this format. I can't really recommend reading this story today. The artwork done by Walt Simonson doesn't jive with Star Wars very well (although halfway through it switches to Dave Cockrum who did a better job), the short format really hurts the story, the last issue is only in black and white due to some odd publishing, etc. You get the idea. Also, it contradicts the significantly better ongoing series at the time and doesn't feel very significant, even within the now non-canon Legends continuity.

Spoilers

The reveal that the rebels who pick up Luke and Leia are actually imperials (who high jacked the vehicle) was a surprising reveal and one that worked surprisingly well. I liked it but it still doesn't add enough to the story to make it worthwhile.