Star Wars #16

Oct 1978 · Marvel · 0.35 USD

📊 ~110,407 copies sold its debut month

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“The Hunter!”

★ 1st appearance — Beilert Valance

About this Issue

Star Wars #16 marks the debut of Beilert Valance, the first original bounty hunter created for the Star Wars universe in any medium — arriving in print years before the bounty hunters audiences would meet in The Empire Strikes Back. As a cyborg Imperial veteran with a pathological hatred of droids, Valance introduced a morally complex anti-villain archetype to a franchise then still defining itself beyond the original film, and scholars have since noted how his droid-hunting cyborg concept presages characters from other major franchises. The issue also serves as a meaningful coda for the Aduba-3 cast, with Jaxxon and Amaiza Foxtrain making what would be Jaxxon's final in-series appearance for decades, and the death of Don-Wan Kihotay closing out that early story cycle. Valance proved durable enough to be formally reintegrated into modern Star Wars canon — a rare distinction for a Bronze Age Marvel original.

In "The Hunter!", bounty hunter Valance zeroes in on a high-profile target, mistaking the young Starkiller Kid for the legendary Luke Skywalker after the Death Star's destruction. With Jaxxon and Amaiza racing to shield the Kid from Valance’s relentless pursuit, the hunt becomes a high-stakes chase across alien worlds. Written by Archie Goodwin and brought to life by Walt Simonson’s dynamic art—penciled and inked by Simonson himself—this 1978 Marvel Star Wars issue delivers pulse-pounding action with a fresh twist on the galaxy’s most famous legend.

writer Archie Goodwin · artist Walt Simonson · inker Bob Wiacek · colorist Bob Sharen · letterer Denise Wohl · cover Walter Simonson

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $7

CGC 9.8 · 205 in census $265

CGC 9.6 · 254 in census $85

CGC 9.4 · 203 in census $59

CGC 9.2 · 115 in census $44

CGC 9.0 · 70 in census $39

CGC 8.5 · 68 in census $39

Show all 18 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 40 in census $39

CGC 7.5 · 31 in census $31

CGC 7.0 · 16 in census $29*

CGC 6.5 · 15 in census $27*

CGC 6.0 · 11 in census $27

CGC 5.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 5 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 4 in census $20

CGC 4.0 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 2.5 · 2 in census $20

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

Find on ebay

Search eBay for Star Wars #16 ▸

No confirmed live listings for this exact issue right now — this opens an eBay search.

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

Issue #16 fell during Archie Goodwin's tenure as both writer and editor, which he assumed from Roy Thomas beginning with issue #11; Goodwin shaped the series' expansion into wholly original storytelling during the interfilm gap between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. For penciller Walt Simonson, this was his very first Marvel Comics assignment, brought on as a guest artist by Goodwin — Simonson later recalled in Star Wars Insider that he eagerly accepted because he would do anything Goodwin asked. The editorial team also included consulting editor Jim Shooter and assistant editor Mark Gruenwald, whose presence on the letters page is hinted at by in-jokes about armadillos. The story 'The Hunter!' was structured as a villain-centric issue rather than a conventional hero spotlight, an unusual formal choice for a licensed Bronze Age title.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Beilert Valance (self-styled 'The Hunter'), a cyborg bounty hunter and former Imperial officer with an obsessive hatred of droids, who would become a recurring figure in both the Legends and modern Star Wars canon continuities.
Written by Archie Goodwin with pencils and cover by Walt Simonson (his Marvel debut), inks by Bob Wiacek, and colors by Bob Sharen; published July 25, 1978 (on-sale date per Marvel's official site) with a cover date of October 1978.
The story title is 'The Hunter!' — a villain-led narrative told largely from Valance's point of view; the main cast of the film (Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, R2-D2, C-3PO) appear only in flashback or reference rather than as primary actors in the plot.
Jaxxon, the green Lepi smuggler introduced in Star Wars #8, makes his final appearance in the original Marvel run here, teaming up with Amaiza Foxtrain to defend the Starkiller Kid (Jimm Doshun) from Valance; Don-Wan Kihotay dies in this issue, closing out the Aduba-3 story arc.
Valance's origin is revealed within the issue: wounded in Imperial service and rebuilt with cybernetics, he projects his self-loathing onto droids, driving his vendetta against Luke Skywalker once he learns of Luke's bond with C-3PO and R2-D2.
Wikipedia and other sources note that Valance — a droid-hating cyborg predating The Empire Strikes Back — has been cited as a possible influence on Boba Fett's development, and his relentless mechanized pursuit of a human target has drawn comparisons to the Terminator franchise (1984).
The issue exists in two original-print formats: a standard newsstand edition and a Whitman variant, both from 1978.
Reprinted in: Star Wars Weekly (Marvel UK) #31 (September 6, 1978); Star Wars: A Long Time Ago… Vol. 1 (Dark Horse, 2002); Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1 (Marvel, 2015); Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years Vol. 1 (Marvel, 2016); and True Believers: Star Wars — The Hunter #1 (Marvel, February 2020).