Friday, September 15, 2017

Retro Dark Horse

Star Wars: Jabba the Hutt - The Dynasty Trap

Jabba's callousness is on full display in Jabba the Hutt - The Dynasty Trap.  Having taken the treasure from Princess Nampi's ship, Bib Fortuna suggest Jabba sell the ship to Cabrool Nuum who has a nearby base on the planet Smarteel.  Jabba ponders selling Cabrool the ship's crew as well since Cabrool also deals in slavery, but instead decides to eject them into space and watch them die.  He does take the ship to his colleague Cabrool however.  While meeting with Cabrool alone, Cabrool's kids, Norba and Rusk, interrupt and Cabrool shows his irrational temper by threatening to kill his own kids.  He eventually comes to his sense and Jabba asks about Cabrool's associate Vu Chusker.  Cabrool becomes suspicious and orders Jabba to kill Chusker, but Jabba refuses.  Cabrool, again unhinged, orders his men to put Jabba under house arrest.  Later, Rusk enters Jabba's quarters and tells Jabba his father has gone insane and ask for his help in killing him.  Jabba agrees and strangles the sleeping Cabrool in his chambers with the help of Cabrool's guards.  After his father's murder, Rusk orders Jabba to kill Vu Chusker and Jabba again refuses.  Rusk has his men take Jabba to the hold where Norba appears and appeals to Jabba to kill her brother Rusk.  Jabba agrees and Norba leads Jabba to her brother who Jabba squishes to death by jumping on him.  Norba, also fearful of her dad's former associate, asks Jabba to kill Chusker.  Jabba refuses and Norba has Jabba thrown into the hold.  Later, Norba comes down to talk to Jabba but gets to close to the hold's bars and Jabba grabs her with his tongue and swallows her whole, presumably killing her.  As Jabba is leaving the base, he encounters another being.  Upon learning that this being is Vu Chusker, Jabba smacks him with his large tail, killing him.

Jabba has a shrewd side in these one-shots where he appears humble and presents himself as subservient to his colleagues.  This is part of his act to get them to do his bidding or to garner a better deal.  In this story, Jabba is able to get a higher offer from Cabrool for the ship for example.  But when those same colleagues wrong Jabba, he also has a ruthless side.  Jabba is not above murdering anyone and, as this story shows, he is willing to do this dirty work himself.

Star Wars: Jabba the Hutt - The Dynasty Trap a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1995)
The cover shows Jabba in the hold at Cabrool Num's base.  The artwork makes it appear like Jabba is defending himself against spider-like creatures, but inside the comic, Jabba is never in this situation.  There are spider-like creatures that drop from the ceiling, but Jabba nonchalantly grabs one and eats it.

No comments:

Post a Comment