Episode I : Anakin Skywalker Episode I : Anakin Skywalker was one issue in the " " series of comics . It was released May 19 , 1999 . Publisher ' s summary . There will soon come a day when the future of the galaxy hinges on the fate of one boy . . . though he does not yet know it . Growing up on the desert world Tatooine , Anakin Skywalker never thought he would venture beyond the small life he has . Simple , boyhood pursuits seem like the only things he should be concerned with . But destiny has other things in mind . . . Plot summary . On the galactic frontier of the Outer Rim , the planet Tatooine orbits the inner edge of the twin suns Tatoo I and Tatoo II . A clan of Jawas loots a crashed starship while a band of Tusken Raiders watches on from the cliffs overhead . As one observes the Jawas through a pair of electrobinoculars , two Tuskens pore over a poster advertising the Boonta Eve Classic podrace . The Tuskens mount their banthas and follow the Jawa procession towards the spaceport settlement of Mos Espa . There , in the junkyard owned by the Toydarian junk dealer Watto , the slave boy Anakin Skywalker works under a large bin with a fusioncutter , and is watched keenly by a womp rat . The critter dashes into a tripwire , springing a trap and causing Anakin to bump his head in the commotion . He ' s met by Amee , who notices the ensnared womp rat . Anakin cuts it free , stating that all living things should be free , and continues to search for parts for his secret podracer . The pair spot a herd of banthas , unusually close to the settlement , which Anakin suggests is because a storm is coming . Attempting to return to the shop before he can be yelled at by Watto , Anakin again encounters the womp rat , which sits on a gleaming energy binder . Surprised , Anakin inspects the device , having usually been able to know where to find things in Watto ' s junkyard . Anakin ' s inspection is interrupted by Watto , whose yelling in Huttese brings the boy and Amee inside the shop . He tasks Anakin with obtaining a thermal veristat and Thruster relay s from the visiting Jawas , and admonishes Anakin for destroying his podracer in the boy ' s last race . Watto threatens to beat Anakin blind , to which the boy quips that he would not be able to race if he was blind . Watto points out that he doesn ' t have a podracer to fly anyway , and sends Anakin away . The boy meets his mother , Shmi Skywalker , who asks him to buy fruit from Jira on his way . He asks her to hide his new energy binder , and sets off for the plaza . Wandering through the crowds , Anakin is accosted by his friends Kitster and Wald , the latter of whom has acquired a peggat Kitster hopes to spend on a ruby bliel . The boys stop off at Jira ' s stall , and learn her cooling unit has broken down . She gives Anakin some pika fruits for his mother , and Anakin promises to find a replacement unit in the junkyard . They head for Maggy the Gorgon ' s , but happen upon Sebulba the Dug in the street , admonishing his band over his entrance music for the podrace . Sebulba mocks Anakin about his crash in their last race , and Anakin accuses his rival of cheating and killing fellow racer Rimkar . The two square off , and are about to scuffle when a cantina patron is knocked through the doorway of Maggy ' s , interrupting the pair . An old spacer and previous acquaintance of Anakin ' s sees Sebulba off , and warns the slave boys not to go into Maggy ' s today , instead giving them a ruby bliel to share . Anakin asks the retired pilot to tell him about the Angels of Iego again when he comes back . Anakin vows that one day he ' ll become a deep - space pilot and walk on all the planets . As Anakin catches up with his friends , a Duros asks the spacer why he bothers talking to the slave , to which the old human replies that there is something about Anakin . The pair laugh it off and return inside Maggy ' s , where the Xexto podracer Gasgano is in the midst of a violent bar brawl . Forcing his opponents to exclaim the virtues of his " Ord Pedrovia " podracer , Gasgano is bitten by a Gran . Meanwhile , Aldar Beedo and Wan Sandage negotiate a deal to eliminate Sebulba from the race , while Ark Roose watches Skywalker from the window , plotting his revenge against the boy . Unbeknownst , Anakin and his friends find the Jawa traders , but only in time to watch a pit droid buying exactly the parts Skywalker is looking for . Back at the shop , Watto is furious with Anakin , and makes him clean the bins again . Anakin gives his mother the fruit from Jira , and Shmi takes a moment to look at her son , momentarily fearing that she might not see him again . Seeing him off , Shmi warns Anakin of the approaching storm . In the junkyard , Anakin again discovers the womp rat he saved , now standing on a cooling unit . Anakin sits on top of it happily , and stares up at the sky in time to spot a ship coming in a high speed . Anakin wonders if it was an Angel , and dreams of one leading warriors into battle on planets without number . He sees himself as a Jedi , holding a glowing lightsaber as chained hands reach out to him imploringly . However , he is stirred from his vision by Watto ' s voice , and arrives at the shop in time to find the Toydarian has visitors : Qui - Gon Jinn , Jar Jar Binks , R2 - D2 , and the beautiful young Padmé Naberrie , whom Skywalker thinks of as the Angel of his dreams .