“Princess, I’m a pilot, not a diplomat. It wasn’t that long ago I was fixing vaporators in the desert!” — Luke Skywalker
“Mind Your Manners”
Luke Skywalker has to fill in for Princess Leia in an important diplomatic conference. Hilarity ensues…
Art by Jon Sommariva
Lettered by Tom B. Long
Colored by Matt Herms
Cover by Jon Sommariva
Edited by Bobby Curnow, Denton Tipton, and Elizabeth Brei
Also contains “The Lost Eggs of Livorno” by Cavan Scott, Mauricet, and Chris Fenoglio.
At Star Wars Celebration 2017 in Orlando — in the same building where in 2012 I had the conversation that led to Star Wars: Kenobi‘s publication — I was approached by Chris Ryall, then of IDW, who let me know that the publisher was about to announce its publication of a line of Star Wars comics for kids; he invited me to pitch for it.
It would be later in the summer when I finally got around to the proposal stage — and one of the concepts, as it turned out, was an idea that I had first had when submitting proposals for my very first Star Wars comics at Dark Horse in 2004. One of the concepts then had Leia being injured on the way to a tricky diplomatic conference, and Han having to pinch-hit for her as diplomat. Since the series I was proposing for was Star Wars: Empire, Dark Horse went instead with a Darth Vader concept of mine, which wound up in Star Wars: Empire #35. The Leia idea, however, had humorous possibilities — and I recrafted it for IDW with Luke, instead, as the fish-out-of-water.
The story was initially written and approved to appear in two consecutive issues of the regular series in late 2017, but IDW decided to release an annual in the Spring of 2018 and put both halves of the story in the same issue. Further, I had known that both Chris and Lucasfilm‘s Michael Siglain had been interested in seeing the character of Jaxxon someplace in the new kids’ series; an Easter release for the giant green rabbit seemed to make a perfect sense. Cavan Scott wrote the Jaxxon story, while my one-time two-parter ran as the lead, drawn by Jon Sommariva.
It’s a delightfully fun romp, I think — and it was, in fact, my first new Star Wars comic book since December 2012 and Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith – Spiral #5. Time flies when you’re writing novels!
“Do I really have to wear the hat?” — Luke Skywalker
Sarka and the Sarkans’ obsession with protocol was something I brought in from the Expanded Universe.
The “medkit” mention came from the Knights of the Old Republic video game.
Ord Cantrell was a planet I introduced in Knights of the Old Republic #42. At least Zayne Carrick never had to wear any clothes from there!
Here’s where to find the story!
Star Wars Adventures Vol. 7: Pomp and Circumstance
With Leia injured, it's up to Luke to undertake a sensitive diplomatic mission with the easily-irritated Sarkans! What should be a routine meeting soon turns into an action packed adventure with the fate of the galaxy on the line!
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