5. Marvel Illustrated Books #1

The Marvel Illustrated Books collect comics that were originally printed in Marvel's UK Star Wars comic, but had not been published in the US until this edition. There are four stories included: "Way of the Wookiee", "The Day After the Death Star", "Weapon's Master", and "Pursuit".

The first three stories are interesting because each focuses on one or two of the characters while they're away from the others. "Way of the Wookiee" tells a story about Han and Chewbacca, and focuses on Chewbacca's reaction to encountering another member of his species. We learn something about Wookiee culture, and also a little about Chewbacca's past. An interesting tidbit is Han's comment about Chewbacca being over 200 years old, which gives us an idea of Wookiee longevity.

"The Day After the Death Star" is a story of an adventure that Luke has the day after he destroys the Death Star. He comes across a remaining TIE fighter and ends up in a duel to the death with the pilot. At the end of the duel Luke is forced to realize that the war he is involved in is not just against machines, but there are people behind those machines who may or may not be committed to the Empire, but have their own history they're dealing with.

"Weapon's Master" tells the story of how Leia became so proficient with a blaster, whose skill she displayed very early in the original Star Wars movie. The story tells a little about her upbringing on Alderaan, and it also touches on how the civil war she believes in is affecting the innocent civilians in the galaxy.

"Pursuit" is actually the last part of a story that was started in Pizzazz magazine. The first part of the story, called "The Kingdom of Ice", was published in Pizzazz magazine issues 10-16, but when Pizzazz was cancelled, the end of the story remained unpublished. The end was eventually published in Marvel UK, but not until it appeared in Marvel Illustrated Books #1 did the end of the story get published in the US. It would have been better if the entire "Kingdom of Ice" story were reprinted, but unfortunately they only put in the end. Since I don't have the Pizzazz magazines where the story originally appeared, the end isn't that interesting to read.

Overall the stories in this book are fairly interesting, especially because we learn something about the character's past. The stories are well written, especially "The Day After the Death Star" and "Weapon's Master", and have a depth to them that doesn't appear in the other Marvel comics. The art is generally better as well. The book can be difficult to find for a reasonable price, but if you come across one I recommend that you pick it up.