Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Circa 35-33 BBY: Jedi Chef

Jedi Chef is a hilarious little tale found in Star Wars Tales volume 2. It features Jedi Master Micah Giiet, who in this tale is side-kicked by Jedi Master Plo Koon.


I loved this story.

Spoofing the Japanese game show Iron Chef, Micah Giient and Plo Koon head to Ord Mantell on a rescue mission of Giient’s friend and world famous chef Slaaba Drewl. Drewl has been captured by Corpo the Hutt, and in order to release his friend Giient challenges Corop’s unbeatable chef droid to a cook-off in an Iron Chef style duel. With the help of Plo Koon behind the scenes who sabotaging the droids meal with all kinds of nasty ingredients, Giient wins the duel and secures the release of his friend.

I don’t have much else to say about this comic, except that the eye-patched ewok with underwear on his head eating a pretzel literally made me laugh out loud. The art in this piece was fun and well done.

The second title of this tale “Pizza Hutt” reminded me of a line from Spaceballs, where at the end of the movie we are told that “Pizza the Hutt ate himself to death”. That line always cracks me up.

The character of Micah Giient seems very interesting as well. Foregoing the usual Force reliant means of rescuing a friend from a Hutt, Giient instead relied on subterfuge and misdirection to help Drewl. The only time he pulled his lightsabers were to chop up the theme ingredient of Denusian squirmers.

Jedi Chef was a fun little tale.

For my next post I’m going to look at Urchins. Until then my friends, may the Force be with you.

3 comments:

  1. I'm skeptical that this story is C-Canon. Stuff like an Ewok appearance with underwear make me suspect it's an infinities story. I don't think we've been definitively told either way, though.

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  2. This is what Leland Chee, Keeper of the Holocron, says about these stories:

    Which [Tales elements] are C-canon?
    Consider everything that's not completely outrageous or intentionally comic as S-canon. If it's referenced in another non-Tales source, then elevate it to C-canon. I'd definitely consider several aspects of the "Princess Leia Diaries" like the water balloon on Tarkin and Leia channeling the dance moves of Elaine Bennis as intentionally comic.

    The funny thing about S-Canon is that if there are two fellows, A and B, on planet C, and in higher canon source it is said that A has been on planet C, B being on planet C is still S-Canon. This could be called Shrödinger's Canon.

    But this was a fun story, and I'd like to see more Micah Giient.

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  3. I took at a look at wookieepedia, and it also says that "Jedi Chef's" canonicity is ambiguous at best.

    But beyond the eye patched ewok with underwear on his head eating a pretzel and the Iron Chef reference, the events of the story are not really that outrageous. Giient and Koon head to Ord Mantel to rescue Giients's friend from a Hutt. Giient does so by making a wager with the Hutt - to beat his prized culinary droid in a cooking duel. Giient is known as an "unorthodox" Jedi who prefers not to reply solely on his Force abilities. Such a proposition is fitting with his character (from what I've read about him on wookieepedia anyway). Koon helps him cheat and they rescue Slabba Drewl.

    I think if they events themselves were depicted less comically, then "Jedi Chef's" canonicity wouldn’t really be in question. Of course you can say the same thing for most infinity narratives so I really don’t know what I'm attempting to say. It’s early and I haven’t had my morning coffee.

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