Force in Focus: Star Wars #10

"Behemoth from the World Below"
April 1978

In a Nutshell
The Star Hoppers contend with the massive creature set loose on the Cloud Riders. 

Script-Writer: Don Glut
Artist & Co-Plotter: Howard Chaykin
Co-Artist/Embellisher: Tom Palmer
Layouts: Alan Kupperberg
Colorist: F. Mouly
Letterer: J. Constanza
Editor/Co-Plotter: Roy Thomas

Plot
The Behemoth makes short work of the Cloud Riders, with Han Solo and his team doing their best to avoid the collateral damage caused by the creature's rampage. Realizing the village elder is controlling the beast, Serji-X targets him, hoping that killing the elder will stop the beast. However, before he can strike, the monster crushes both Serji-X and the elder under its massive foot. With the Bbehemoth out of control, Han rallies the Star-Hoppers to stop it, before it destroys the village. Han has a plan, which requires Don Wan's lightsaber, but as he turns to ask for it, he discovers that Don Wan is already approaching the monster, determined to slay it himself.

Force in Focus: Star Wars #9

"Showdown on a Wasteland World!"
March 1978

In a Nutshell
Han and his group of spacers battle the Cloud Riders. 

Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas
Illustrators: Howard Chaykin & Tom Palmer
Colorist: Tom Palmer
Letter: John Costanza
Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin

Plot
En route to the village they've been hired to protect, Han and his band of spacers help fight off an attack by a group of scavenging High-Hounds, rescuing a young woman in the process. Reaching the village, Han learns the woman he rescued is Merri, daughter of the village's spokesman, and the group begins preparing for the imminent attack by the Cloud Riders. Meanwhile, believing he's found a suitable location for a new Rebel base, Luke breaks communication silence to contact Leia, but is mysteriously cutoff, prompting Leia to declare she's going to find him. Back on Aduba-3, Merri introduces Han to her grandfather, who insists he has a mystical way to combat the Cloud Riders, but Han blows him off. Just then, the Cloud Riders attack. In the course of the battle, Effie is destroyed and Don-Wan is seemingly killed, with no end in sight to the Cloud Riders. But as the battle rages, Merri's grandfather conducts a ceremony, and suddenly, a massive reptilian creature emerges from the nearby mountain.

Force in Focus: Star Wars #8

"Eight for Aduba-3"
February 1978

In a Nutshell
Han Solo assembles a team of spacers to defend a group of settlers. 

Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas
Artist/Co-Plotter: Howard Chaykin
Embellisher/Colorist: Tom Palmer
Letterer: J. Constanza
Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin

Plot
On Aduba-3, Han Solo gets in a bar fight, then listens to the proposition of a group of farmers, who every year are raided by Serji-X and his Cloud-Riders, who steal their livestock, burn their crops, and take their wives and daughters. Though they can't pay him much, they'd like to hire Han to defend their town from the raiders. Han agrees, on the condition that he can hire some additional help. Han interviews prospective candidates, assembling a team of eight (including himself and Chewbacca, as well as the carnivorous rabbit named Jaxxon) to confront the Cloud-Riders. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker departs Yavin 4 along with the droids, tasked with scouting the galaxy for a new Rebel base. Back on Aduba-3, Han and his team are confronted by Serji-X on the outskirts of the space port. Serji-X offers to pay Han to walk away, but he refuses, and Serji-X flies off, declaring Han will soon be one more lifeless corpse twisting in the desert wind, as Han tells his team of Star-Hoppers to mount their banthas and head out for the village. 

Force in Focus: Star Wars #7

"New Planets, New Perils!"
January 1978

In a Nutshell
After being robbed by pirates, Han and Chewbacca lay low on the planet Aduba-3.

Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas
Artist/Co-Plotter: Howard Chaykin
Embellisher: Frank Springer
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin

Plot
Eager to pay off Jabba the Hutt with the treasure they received from the Rebellion, Han and Chewbacca say goodbye to Luke, Leia and the droids and head for Tatooine.  En route, however, they're boarded by pirates led by Crimson Jack, who take the treasure for themselves. Realizing Jabba will soon have a price on their heads, Han and Chewie resolve to lay low for awhile, and land on the remote world of Aduba-3. Nearing the local cantina, they spot a group of spacers mobbing a priest and scare them off, learning that the priest is intending to honor the dying wishes of a cyborg who wishes to be buried on Spacers' Hill, much to the objections of the spacers, who hate all kinds of robots.