The Return of Ben Kenobi The Return of Ben Kenobi is a comic strip written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by Al Williamson . It was originally published by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate from May to July 1982 , and later reprinted in " Amazing Heroes " magazine # 27 - 30 , in Classic Star Wars 10 and 11 , on StarWars . com ' s webstrips section of , and most recently in " Luke Skywalker , Last Hope for the Galaxy " . Plot summary . An unknown and ancient actor , recruited by Darth Vader , underwent plastic surgery to resemble Obi - Wan Kenobi . He also received Jedi training under Vader , and technological gimmicks were used to make the resemblance to Kenobi more than physical . The impersonator first appeared on the Expansion Region desert planet of Aridus , where he saved a Rebel Alliance agent from being apprehended by Imperial troops . Later , the Kenobi impersonator led the native reptilian Chubbit s — whom Imperial colonists had long mistreated — in a rebellion against the local Imperial garrison . Hovertrain s were ambushed while Imperial military and mining posts were raided . The Chubbits and their leader hit the targets then quickly disappeared . News of this reached the Rebel base on the jungle moon of Yavin 4 , currently under siege by an Imperial fleet . The young Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker — who had witnessed his mentor ' s death on the first Death Star during a fight with Darth Vader and was curious about this mysterious reappearance — departed for Aridus with C - 3PO on a transport . Having just landed on Aridus , they witnessed a group of poorly equipped Chubbits attacking a heavily armored Imperial hovertrain . Seeing his fellow rebels in trouble , Luke and C - 3PO threw two bags containing proton charge s from their transport at the hovertrain , destroying it . However , flying debris knocked Skywalker unconscious , as they were too close to the train . Luckily , the Kenobi impostor — who had been leading the Chubbits — arrived on the scene and tended to Skywalker . Skywalker was fortunate to have only a slight concussion resulting from the flying debris . He soon recovered , and he and his droid joined forces with the Chubbits and Kenobi , whom he had not yet realized was an impostor . Later , they continued their journey through the deserts of Aridus on a locally built wind - runner . Later , the impersonator secretly contacts Darth Vader with an update . Continuing their insurgency against the Empire , the Chubbit rebels attacked an Imperial outpost and laid waste to it . Using technological gimmicks to substitute his lack of Force power , the Kenobi imposter won the admiration of the Chubbits and Luke Skywalker . Following the raid , the Kenobi impersonator contacted Lord Vader himself via a holoprojector . He informed his master that everything was going as planned and that Skywalker had joined him , not yet having realized that he was an impostor . As part of the plan , the impostor was to lead Luke to the Iron Tower where Vader would be waiting . Then , Skywalker would be a prisoner of the Sith Lord . However , the impersonator began to have doubts about his mission . The respect shown by the Chubbits and the awe in Skywalker ' s eyes indicated to him that Obi - Wan Kenobi had been a great Jedi Master and that he was little more than a cowardly actor willing to serve under an oppressive Sith - led Galactic Empire . Later , he and Skywalker departed for the Iron Tower alone with their droffi steed s on a mission to destroy the automated power transformer and signal amplifier whose powerful ultra - strong frequency waves were crippling the nervous systems of the Chubbits . On their way , the duo defeated an Imperial patrol speeder . When they arrived at the Iron Tower , the pair split up as intended by Lord Vader . The Dark Lord of the Sith contacted the Kenobi impersonator and ordered him to lure Skywalker into his trap . However , having seen the Empire ' s true colors , he refused to obey the Sith Lord and pulled a control lever that started a power overload in the Tower ' s upper levels , destroying the structure and effectively shut down most of the Imperial operations on the planet . The resulting explosion severely wounded the Kenobi impostor , and he died in Skywalker ' s arms . Before he passed away , he informed Skywalker that he had destroyed the Iron Tower and confessed that he had merely been an impostor . Luke later relayed the details of what happened to C - 3PO ( whom was sent to Luke via the Kenobi imposter just before the latter sacrificed himself ) . C - 3PO then mentioned that Vader was seemingly killed in the Iron Tower ' s explosion , although Luke suspected that Vader might have survived and that they won ' t be rid of him as easily . Vader was knocked unconscious by the debris and left for dead , although he regained consciousness long enough to witness Luke Skywalker ' s ship fly away . He was later rescued by Jix , a former Imperial soldier .