Description

Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection Volume 8 – Splinter of the Mind’s Eye             Hardcover
Writer: Terry Austin
Artist: Chris Sprouse
Inker: Terry Austin
Colorist: James Sinclair
Letterer: Steve Dutro
Editors: Peet Janes & Ryder Windham
Cover by: Duncan Fegredo

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise centered on a film series created by George Lucas.  The film series began with Star Wars, released on May 25, 1977. This was followed by two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21, 1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25, 1983. Then more than two decades after the release of the original film, the series continued with a prequel trilogy; consisting of Episode I: The Phantom Menace, released on May 19, 1999; Episode II: Attack of the Clones, released on May 16, 2002; Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, released on May 19, 2005; and finally the epic saga concluded with Star Wars: The Force Awakens released on December 18, 2015; Star Wars: The Last Jedi was released on December 18, 2017. And Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released on December 20, 2019.

Dark Horse Comics presents an adaptation of the novel Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. Splinter of the Mind’s Eye is the first Expanded Universe Star Wars novel, written by Alan Dean Foster and originally published in 1978 by Del Rey, a division of Ballantine Books. It is set between Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Luke and Leia are stranded on a supposedly desolate planet. There they discover the Kaiburr Crystal, a powerful crystal that greatly enhances the power of the Force. It becomes apparent that their main imperative must be the guarantee that this crystal never fall into the hands of the Empire – a job that becomes increasingly difficult when Darth Vader learns of the Crystal.

Now… a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are traveling to Circarpous IV for a Rebel underground meeting in an attempt to take the Circarpousians into the Rebel Alliance. Leia’s ship experiences problems; she is forced to land on Circarpous V, (the planet Mimban) a foggy, swampy planet. Luke follows. A strange colorful energy storm caused by energy mining forces their ships down in a crash landing. Stranded on the jungle planet, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia find themselves desperately racing Imperial Stormtroopers to claim a gem that has mysterious powers over the Force. Accompanied by Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio – his two faithful droids – Luke and the Princess set out for the Temple of Pomojema…and a confrontation deep beneath the surface of an alien world with the most fearsome villain in the galaxy!

Story/Spoilers
In part #1, Deep in the swamplands of the planet Mimban lies a powerful crystal, capable of giving its possessor an invincible mastery of the Force. In the right hands, it could save the galaxy. But in the wrong hands, it could destroy it. While the explosion of the first Death Star still reverberates through the cosmos, Luke Skywalker finds that the war he thought he won was only a battle, and that the dark side of the Force still stalks the galaxy.

While on a diplomatic mission to the planet Circarpous IV, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa crash-land on Circarpous V, also known as Mimban. Following the signal of a beacon, they stumble upon an illegal Imperial energy mining operation, the emissions of which forced them to land in the first place. After stealing some miners’ clothing from a shop, Luke and Leia enter a tavern so that they may eat some real food instead of cube concentrates. When they are nearly found out by the local authorities, Luke and Leia are approached by an old, Force-sensitive woman named Halla. After a bit of conversation with her, Luke and Leia try to get her to help them steal a ship so that they can get offplanet. Halla agrees to help them, but only if they help her find the legendary Kaiburr crystal first. Halla manages to get Luke and Leia to agree to the arrangement by allowing Luke to touch the shard of the crystal that she brought with her as proof. The deal is then sealed when Halla brings up the threat of a Force-sensitive in the Imperial government coming into possession of the crystal, attracted by the disturbance in the Force that was caused by Luke touching the shard. As they depart from the tavern in order to collect R2-D2 and C-3PO, Leia, angered by Luke’s treatment of her in the tavern, gets her revenge by pushing him into the mud. Luke pulls her in with him and a mudfight ensues. They attract the attention of local ruffians who break up the fight but have intentions other than to “apprehend law-breakers.” Luke attacks the ringleader in order to free Leia from his grasp, but finds that he’s in for more than he expected when the ringleader begins to fight him with a large number of knives…

Next in part #2, Imprisoned by the Imperial forces, confronted by two very violent, very massive creatures known as Yuzzem, Luke and Leia have only one hope of escape: the Mimban Crystal, capable of giving its wielder total, omnipotent mastery of the Force. But Luke’s use of the crystal could draw the unwelcome attention of certain … dark powers.

Luke Skywalker, and his sister Leia and their assailants are arrested by Imperial stormtroopers for the crime of “fighting with weaponry in a public place”. Luke and Leia are taken directly to Captain-Supervisor Grammel, who believes them to be common criminals but suspects them to be something more after being informed of the mysterious shard of crystal that Luke was given by Halla. While Luke and Leia are assigned to a cell containing two Yuzzem, Grammel, intrigued by the shard contacts the regional governor, Bin Essada, who is known for his knowledge of radiant stones. When Essada sees the pictures of the two “petty criminals” caught in possession of the gemstone, he recognizes the female and orders Grammel to hold them in custody unharmed until the “proper authority” arrives on Mimban to collect them. Luke, Leia and the two Yuzzem stage a daring escape from the Imperial prison and then meet up with Halla and the droids to steal a swamp crawler that they plan to use to reach the Temple of Pomojema -and the Kaiburr crystal. However, a hungry wandrella has other plans for them…

Next in part #3, Even as Darth Vader and his Imperial garrison approach Mimban from the air, Luke and Leia find that their biggest problems lie under the planet’s crust. For deep in the soil lives Mimban’s deadliest predator -perhaps the galaxy’s deadliest predator – the gigantic, wormlike wandrella; and if the humongous wandrella can’t catch them, the subterranean race of aboriginals – the Coway – just might!

Luke and Leia manage to simultaneously evade and lure the wandrella to its death by hiding in a Thrella Well. However, the monster’s destruction of the ladder that they used to get into the well forces the pair to temporarily split up from Halla, Hin, Kee, R2-D2 and C-3PO. After agreeing to meet up with the rest, Luke and Leia venture into the planet’s subterranean levels. Meanwhile, Darth Vader lands on Mimban, drawn by the report on the presence of Luke and Leia on the planet, as well as that of the legendary Kaiburr crystal. He takes charge of Grammel’s troops and begins the search for the pair. Luke and Leia eventually find Halla and the others captured by a tribe of Coway. In order to free the others, Luke must prove himself in single combat with the tribe’s greatest warrior or be killed by the tribe along with the others. The fight goes badly for Luke and he ends up with his face held underwater by the Coway warrior…

Finally in part #4, Mimban is like a million other planets in the galaxy – a lot of trees, too much mud, and not much else. But one of Mimban’s abandoned temples holds a powerful gem – the Kaiburr crysta – capable of magnifying and clarifying one’s perception of the Force. Luke and Leia know it’s there – somewhere – and so does Darth Vader. And that makes Mimban a whole lot livelier right now than those other planets!

Luke narrowly escapes drowning to death and wins the duel by using the Force to knock the Coway warrior unconscious. As a result, the Coway spare the lives of Leia, Halla, Hin, Kee, R2-D2 and C-3PO. However, there is little time for them to celebrate, as Luke has sensed the presence of Darth Vader growing closer. He helps to plan the defense of the Coway village against the impending Imperial attack. The attack, led by Vader and Grammel is repelled. As Vader retreats, Luke notices that the Dark Lord is heading in the direction of the Temple of Pomojema, which is said to hold the legendary Kaiburr Crystal. Luke, Leia, Halla, the Yuzzem, and the droids sneak out of Mimban’s subterranean levels and steal an Imperial transport and make their way with all haste to the temple. After beating Vader to the temple Luke gets his leg pinned under a heavy block while subduing a giant lizard. While he and Leia struggle to move it, Darth Vader enters the temple. Leia picks up Luke’s lightsaber and tries to defend Luke from the advancing Dark Lord. Leia is no match for Vader, who injures her to the brink of death. With the help of Hin, who is nearly dead, Luke finally manages to free himself from the heavy block and catches the lightsaber thrown to him by Leia. Luke puts up a good fight against Vader, eventually cutting off the Dark Lord’s right arm, but he is exhausted. Vader calls his lightsaber to his left hand and it seems that Luke’s fate is sealed until Vader trips over his severed arm. With a scream of “NOOOOOO!” Vader falls into a dark pit. Having retrieved it from the statue of Pomojema, Halla gives Luke the Kaiburr Crystal and he uses it to heal himself and Leia. Luke, Leia, Halla, C-3PO and R2-D2 get into the crawler that they commandeered and leave the temple for a meeting on Circarpous IV.

Hardcover reprints/collects: Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (1995 – 1996) Issues #1-4.  Dark Horse Comics.

Hardcover is bagged and will be carefully / securely packaged then shipped via USPS Priority Mail to ensure that it arrives to you perfectly and quickly.

First Edition
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: October 2007
Format: FC, 112 pages, HC, 10.25″ x 6.75″
ISBN-10: 1593078072
ISBN-13: 9781593078072

Collectible Entertainment note: Hardcover is New & Unread.  Very Fine + condition.  Beautiful!  Please See Scans!!  A must have for any serious Star Wars collector and/or enthusiast.  A fun & entertaining read.  Very Highly Recommended.

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