In praise of Jaxxon

The above picture, and this homage, from Hope For the Future (@hf_tf): 

When Dark Horse started publishing Star Wars comics in the early 90s, it seemed to be editorial policy to bash the earlier Marvel run as an embarrassment....

The attitude towards the Marvel run was one I never quite understood as I had really enjoyed them, and took them pretty seriously, when I was growing up....

It seems that the only reason the Marvel comics were ever considered to be to be “goofy” and “camp” was the fact that a couple of the early issues featured a six foot tall green rabbit mercenary called Jaxxon.

OK maybe a gun toting, sarcastic bunny wouldn’t have worked in the movies, but comics are resolutely a different medium. Those early issues were a little crazy, but that was their charm. To an entire generation of Star Wars fans Jaxxon is not only the saga’s weirdest denizen, but also the symbol of a more innocent time. Hats off to you Jaxxon, and May The Holy Hutch Be With You.

Follow the link for more, including a full-sized copy of the pic.

Hope for the Future: Archive: Marvel Star Wars: Jaxxon

Giant green Marvel Star Wars rabbit may be Hasbro's next action figure

Comic Book Resources reports that Jaxxon, the giant green rabbit that featured in early Marvel Star Wars comics (much to the annoyance of George Lucas), is in the running to be Hasbro's next action figure:

Back in the 1970s Marvel Comics was saved by a little film called Star Wars, according to Jim Shooter....

And after Marvel adapted the film into six-issue series, they continued to tell tales set in the Star Wars universe. Issue #7 sported a cover promising new stories about Han Solo and Chewbacca, as the duo appeared in a “Seven Samurai” style tale with a whole bunch of new characters, including a big green rabbit named Jaxxon. While Jaxxon only appeared in a handful of Star Wars comics at the time, he made enough of an impression to achieve a sort of cult status with some folks....

And now the Bugs Bunny tribute character is up for the ultimate form of recognition, as Hasbro and Star Wars Insider magazine are holding a “Fans’ Choice Poll” where fans can vote on which action figure Hasbro will make next. Jaxxon is going up against some other “expanded universe” characters and the expected “Hey, weren’t they on the screen for five seconds? Make a figure!” characters from the films.

Personally if I were to choose a Marvel Star Wars character to make an action figure out of, I think it would have to be LE-914, otherwise known as Ellie. I might have said Lumiya, but Hasbro's already done that.

Comic Book Resources: Green rabbit from Marvel’s Star Wars comics competes to become an action figure

Star Wars Insider poll: Vote for the next Star Wars action figure