–edit. I just improved the FX in the final panel, George Lucas style. Hit refresh–

That’s it for the Death Star!  We raced through three strips this week in order to get here.  Starting next week is the rebel ceremony to be closely followed by our interval material which will lead into the Boba Fett cartoon and the Star Wars Holiday Special.  Look out for some new appearances in the coming weeks.  We’re currently 15 strips ahead and almost finished with the immediate interval “story arc”.  We have some surprises in store! 🙂

As we are finally and sadly bidding farewell to one of the Star Wars trilogy’s best villains, I’d like to take a brief moment to discuss Tarkin’s famous line:

“Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances.”

Back in the early days of the worldwide web, I came across an article by a Star Wars fan concerning the rationale behind Tarkin’s position against evacuation.  I have since lost the article and the name of the author (it’s been a shocking twelve or more years at least!) but I agreed with it wholeheartedly.  It’s conclusion was that Tarkin realized the danger but had no choice but to remain aboard.  In a nutshell, Tarkin’s gamble that the Death Star would bring order to the rebellious Outer Rim territories weighed his entire political career against the success of his doctrine of fear.  Even if he had lacked the honor to go down with his ship, he would be stripped of his authority and influence and possible executed. The novels imply he had ambitions for the Emperor’s throne, but with the failure of the Death Star it is unlikely he could even marshal an Outer Rim Imperial fleet for his own protection.  He was a victim of his own ambition and his own sense of honor.

Here are the last two strips from this week in case you missed them in our rush…

Rebel base in range

Cup-holder

Vote for Blue Milk Special on TopWebComics!

To start reading Blue Milk Special from the beginning click here.