A Death Star Is Born

"A Death Star Is Born" is a 12-page comic featured in Star Wars Tales 4, written by Kevin Rubio. It was collected in Star Wars Tales Volume 1.
==Plot summary==
Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Tol Sivron, and Bevel Lemelisk present their Death Star proposal to Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. The perceived flaws of the schematics are humorously discussed, such as that the tractor beams are easy to shut off, owing to the low intellects of the common stormtroopers, and there are no support beams on the bridges because it would be too expensive to add them. The Emperor also notes the exhaust port as being too large at around fifteen meters wide, prompting them to reduce its size to the canonical two meters—the smallest possible safe size—and add multiple turbolasers and ion cannons to the trench to decrease the chance that a pilot could make the necessary shot.
==Development==
The title of the sketch is similar to the 1937 movie A Star is Born, which has been remade three times, in 1954, 1976, and (sixteen years after the comic was published) 2018.
==Continuity==
The appearance of Bevel Lemelisk is different in this comic than in any other source where he is portrayed. This was an intentional choice on behalf of the comic's creator, although for unknown reasons. One should also note the presence of a particular Mon Calamari.
When the Maw Installation team approach the Imperial Palace on their Lambda-class shuttle, also visible are the original Starship Enterprise, a Bob's Big Boy, BGY-11 "Big Guy" robot, the Millennium Falcon (well, a YT-1300 at any rate), and the "Yellow Submarine".
The Imperial emblems in the Palace are in the shape of Mickey Mouse ears. Also, when Darth Vader gives Tarkin coffee, he offers him a milk carton with a cow pictured on it. The hologram Lemelisk accidentally presents, claiming it belongs to his daughter, features Yogi Bear.
Names offered for the first Death Star include "Planet Killer" (a possible reference to The Doomsday Machine), "Death From Above" (a possible reference to Apocalypse Now or Ivan Drago's nickname in Rocky IV), and Titanic.
==Appearances==
==Collections==
*Star Wars Tales Volume 1
*Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Clone Wars Vol. 4
Category:Non-canon comic stories
Category:Star Wars Tales 4 stories