Lando Calrissian: How I Helped Build a Scoundrel's Backstory

by Rich Handley

I used to write a lot for Lucasfilm's various Star Wars licensees, from feature articles and interviews to columns and some fiction. (I still write blogs for starwars.com from time to time, but that's about it these days.) This included wok for Star Wars Insider, Topps' Star Wars Galaxy Collector, Star Wars Gamer, Star Wars Fact Files, Dungeon/Polyhedron and more. Among the fiction were two tales about Lando Calrissian, one a comic book for Dark Horse Comics (co-written with Darko Macan), the other a short story picking up where the comic left off.

I thought I'd share the pages of the comic in this blog, for those interested. The story was called "Lady Luck," from Star Wars Tales #3, and it chronicled how Lando Calrissian (my favorite of the film characters) won Cloud City. Some time back, Brian Cronin, over at Comic Book Resources, offered a fun write-up about it here. (My great thanks to both Darko and editor Pete Janes, for allowing me to be a part what turned out to be a great gig.)

The sequel, "Idiot's Array," was originally published at starwars.com and is now archived at Random House's Web site (you can read it here), with artwork by the amazingly talented and prolific Joe Corroney. "Idiot's Array" was also a followup to "Crimson Bounty," a prior short story I'd co-written with my friend Charlene Newcomb for West End Games' Star Wars Adventure Journal #14 several years prior, in that it brought back a character from that tale, a bounty hunter named Thune. Oh, and for Marvel fans, it also served as a prequel to that comic series, by showing why Lando and Barpotomous Drebble were such longstanding rivals.

And now, without further ado, here's "Lady Luck." Keep an eye out for cameos by Marilyn Monroe, as well as Al Pacino's Michael Corleone character from The Godfather Part III. The artist, Chris Brunner, clearly got what Darko and I were doing—namely, offering an homage to Ian Fleming's wonderful Casino Royale, the very first James Bond novel—and peppered the comic with the looks of characters that would help lend a film noir feel. I hope we did Mr. Fleming proud.

Curious what happens next? Why, then head on over to the Random House Web site and read the next chapter, "Idiot's Array." Tell 'em a scoundrel sent ya'.