Today is new comic book day and the first of many Return of the Jedi one-shot comics by Marvel comics, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Jabba’s Palace #1 by Marc Guggenheim and Alessandro Miracolo.
First off, super fun issue. One-shots can be hit or miss for me and this one was definitely a hit for me. It tied into the events of Return of the Jedi while still expanding Star Wars Lore in an interesting way.
To add to the fun there were THREE first appearances in the issue. Most I believe to be pretty insignificant long term but there is one new character that could play a larger role, Bane Malar.
I will put my thoughts on each appearance below but if you still need to pick this one up you can check out all variants from Jabba’s Palace #1 and all of the other known one-shots here.
Alright… let’s dig in.
First Appearance Eightyem
Eightyem is Jabba’s protocol droid. The same protocol droid that is seen getting destroyed in the Star Wars: Return of the Jedi movie.
This comic details the poor droid’s demise as he goes behind Jabba’s back to try and earn his freedom with the help of Silvan Kaan.
Fun callback to the movie.
First Appearance Silvan Kaan
Silvan Kaan is a one-eyed Twi’lek who was scheming to take down Jabba the Hutt by causing chaos within his ranks. First, he injured Jabba’s accountant to give him an opening to take over the role himself. There, with the help of Eightyem by promising to remove the droid’s restraining bolt, Silvan stoked jealousy among Jabba’s crew causing infighting.
Specifically between the Gran, Ree-Yees, and the Ithrorian, Char Roohnda. He used that infighting to convince those Rhoonda that Jabba needed to be removed from power. Causing him to attack Jabba before being caught by the Bounty Hunter Bane Malar. More on Bane below.
He was eventually found out and either killed or imprisoned. We are unsure at the moment. If he survived I could see him becoming a bigger character.
First Appearance Bane Malar
This is the big one to me. Bane Malar is a Bounty Hunter who blew Silvan and Eightyem’s plans up by bringing them forward to Jabba as traitors. Getting Silvan locked up or killed and Eightyem destroyed.
He is a super deep cut from Legends. Here’s what he looks like.
Bane Malar was initially in Return of the Jedi at Jabba’s Palace. While he didn’t actually appear in the final he was included in a Jabba’s Palace Limited Expansion Pack for the Star Wars Customizable Card Game in 1998. I got that info from Wookieepedia but from what I can tell it’s similar to Magic the Gathering but for Star Wars. He was also in the Heir to the Empire Sourcebook.
Then in 2008 Bane Malar got an action figure in the Star Wars Legacy Collection line by Hasbro. There are a ton of listings for that figure on eBay.
So while he’s been around for quite some time, this is Bane Malar’s first comic appearance.
The interesting thing about Bane Malar is that in Legends he’s force-sensitive. He has telekinetic powers that are enhanced by ripping lines of spice. He gets all geeked out and then can use the force to read minds, move objects, etc.
Also his backstory is that he was sent to Jabba’s Palace to kill Jabba the Hutt. If that part of his story is made canon he may end up working with the disgraced Silvan Kaan in the future.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – Jabba’s Palace #1 is written by Marc Guggenheim. Marc has been building up his own little connected universe of characters lately in his comics. Crossover over characters like Khel Tanna and Ajax Sigma into other comic series.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to have Silvan and/or Bane show up in a future comic series he has planned.
Now, this is all speculation on my part and I could certainly be wrong. The characters in this one-shot comic could become completely irrelevant. But then again there is reason to believe they may not be.
That’s all for today. Sorry for the crazy formatting as I wrote this pretty quickly.
Hope you found it helpful or, at the very least, interesting.
May the force be with you.
Grand Admiral Frik
