In Meta-Messages, I explore the context behind (using reader danjack's term) "meta-messages." A meta-message is where a comic book creator comments on/references the work of another comic book/comic book creator (or sometimes even themselves) in their comic. Each time around, I'll give you the context behind one such "meta-message." This time around, we look at a little teasing of the infamous "Greedo shot first" change in the Star Wars special edition.

Okay, just in case you are not familiar with this "controversy" (quotes because, well, come on, it's really not that big of a deal), in the original Star Wars film, we meet Han Solo when he is being accosted by a bounty hunter named Greedo. Han and Greedo talk about the open bounty out on Han's head from Jabba the Hutt. When Han explains that he is about to get the money (from giving Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker and their droids a ride to Alderaan), Greedo gets, well, greedy and wants that money for himself or he'll kill Han. When Han notes that he doesn't have the money yet, Greedo makes it clear that he will then just kill Han. What Greedo doesn't realize is that while he has a gun trained on Han above the table, Han has secretly taken out his own gun and aimed it at Greedo. Before Greedo can do anything, Han shoots him, killing him.

It's an iconic scene because it is so different than most heroes in films. Most of the times, your protagonists don't shoot first, ya know? So the fact that Han DID made him different from your typical hero and made him stand out.

However, the issue with that is what if you feel that Han SHOULD be a traditional hero? George Lucas believed that, looking back on it, Han should have been more of a traditional hero, so he believed that the whole scene did not work as it first appeared in the film.

He explained years later, "Han Solo was going to marry Leia, and you look back and say, ‘Should he be a cold-blooded killer?’ Because I was thinking mythologically — should he be a cowboy, should he be John Wayne? And I said, ‘Yeah, he should be John Wayne.’ And when you’re John Wayne, you don’t shoot people [first] — you let them have the first shot. It’s a mythological reality that we hope our society pays attention to."

So, when Lucas released the special editions of the original Star Wars trilogy in the late 1990s, he edited the scene to have Greedo fire on Han first...

There's a school of thought that believes that Lucas originally intended Greedo to shoot first. I addressed that in a Movie Legends Revealed (long story short, I don't believe him).

But anyhow, keep all of this in mind when you read "The Emperor's Court" from 2002's Star Wars Tales #14...

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Written by Jason Hall and drawn by Ramon Bachs and Raul Fernandez, "The Emperor's Court" is a parody of The People's Court, only with Emperor Palpatine in the role of the judge. In the latest case, Han is on trial for murdering Greedo...

After dismissing the testimony from the many different alien creatures who were in the Cantina when the incident occurred, the main piece of evidence for Han is introduced - the video that shows Greedo shooting first!

The whole "back and to the right" bit is a reference to the popular film, JFK, about the conspiracy over who shot John F. Kennedy.

In any event, the Emperor doesn't believe the video and he explains why it makes sense which, of course, also serves to explain why Greedo shooting first doesn't make sense...

It's funny to see a Lucasfilm-approved comic book teasing Lucas that much. Cute stuff.

If anyone else has a suggestion for a future Meta-Messages, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!