Entrenched

"Entrenched" is a 12-page comic featured in Star Wars: Visionaries, written and drawn by Alex Jaeger and M. Zachary Sherman.

Publisher's summary

"The trenches of Hoth are the setting for this hard-hitting military action, as we witness the relentless Imperial attack from a young Rebel soldier's point-of-view."^[3]

Plot summary

The Rebel corporal Jobin records a holographic message for his mother, overlaid with his experiences in the Battle of Hoth. In one of the trenches at Hoth's Echo Station 5-7, Jobin apologises for being unable to write, attributing it to the Rebellion's constant mobility and his battalion commander orders that they avoid writing to their homes to avoid homesickness. Jobin expresses his concern that he has no time to waste given what he believes will occur. Jobin recounts recent events, such as his assignment to lead 4th Squad

Development

"Entrenched" was written by Alex Jaeger and M. Zachary Sherman,^[1] and also pencilled, inked, lettered, and colored by Jaeger.^[2] The comic was created for Star Wars: Visionaries, a graphic novel anthology that was proposed by author J.W. Rinzler as a way to share the work of concept artists who had worked on the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith that would have otherwise gone unseen by the public.^[7] The artists each had free reign in choosing the aspect of the Star Wars universe they wished to explore.^[9]

Jaeger originally pitched the idea for the comic as explaining the backstory for the line "Imperial troops have entered the base,"^[8] which is spoken over Echo Base's intercom in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.^[10] He was motivated to write a story focused on the rebel troopers in the trenches on Hoth, while also illustrating components of the Imperial Army such as AT-ATs, AT-STs, and snowtroopers. Jaeger completed work on the comic on top of his full time work.^[8] Visionaries was announced on StarWars.com on August 3, 2004, which also revealed Jaeger's invovlement.^[11] The title and a summary of "Entrenched," along with Sherman's involvement, were revealed in another StarWars.com post published on March 15, 2005.^[3]

Release and reception

Visionaries was edited by Jeremy Barlow and published as a trade paperback by Dark Horse Comics on April 2, 2005, prior to^[3] the release of Revenge of the Sith on May 19 of that year.^[13] "Entrenched" is the fifth story in the collection, following "Sithisis" and preceeding "The Fourth Precept."^[7] Barlow praised the variety of works in Visionaries, claiming that the artists involved had justified their employment by^[12] Star Wars creator^[13] George Lucas.^[12]

The whole of Visionaries was republished within Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space Volume 2 on October 9, 2013.^[14] "Entrenched" was later printed in Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Rebellion Vol. 6,^[2] released by Marvel Comics on September 10, 2024.^[15] In the collection, the story is placed between the comic story "Fortune, Fate, and the Natural History of the Sarlacc," first published in Star Wars Tales 6 in 2000, and Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 1 a 1994 republication of Marvel Comics' adaptation of the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, published contemporaneously with it in 1983.^[2] The Epic Collection was additionally republished in Star Wars Legends: The Rebellion Omnibus Vol. 3 on July 15, 2025.^[16]

Continuity

"Entrenched" depicts the Battle of Hoth, which was originally created for The Empire Strikes Back, and includes alternate perspectives^[1] on moments from the film, including the interrupted announcement that "Imperial troops have entered the base" and the escape of the Millennium Falcon from Darth Vader.^[10] The ending of the comic occurs during the events of Return of the Jedi,^[17] revealing that Mon Mothma discovered the death of her son shortly before her appearance^[1] in the film.^[17] The events of both films occurred in both 3 ABY and 4 ABY respectively, placing "Entrenched" in both of those years as well.^[6]

Near the end of the comic, Jobin mentions Mon Mothma's daughter Lieda,^[1] a character who originated in the Dark Empire Sourcebook in 1993^[18] and her first name was first used in 2002 in The New Essential Guide to Characters, although her surname was not specified,^[19] and "Entrenched" did not establish whether Jobin and Lieda had the same father.^[1]

The Rebels set the ion cannon to self-destruct in the story,^[1] an action previously established to have been taken by the Alderaanian crew of the cannon for the purpose of covering the escape of the remaining transports in the 1997 reference book The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology.^[20] and the 2002 magazine issue The Official Star Wars Fact File 22^[21] However, none of the sources explcitly described whether the cannon actually exploded, as it was also depicted still functioning during the Jedi Jaden Korr's mission to Hoth in the 2003 video game Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy,^[22] the events of which took place in 14 ABY.^[23]

On page 69, there is a mistake in Vader's line: were instead of where. The error was corrected in later publications.

Media

Collected in

• Star Wars: Visionaries
• Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space Volume 2
• Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Rebellion Vol. 6
• Star Wars Legends: The Rebellion Omnibus Vol. 3

Appearances

Sources

• Inside Star Wars: Visionaries on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
• "Drawn by the Force" — Star Wars Insider 82
• "A Long Time Ago.... 2005" — Star Wars Insider 103
• "A Long Time Ago...." — Star Wars Insider Special Edition 2010

Notes and references