A stellar tale of Tammuz long ago
Tammuz has always been one of our favorite months of the Hebrew calendar, both for the frisson of idolatry in its being named for a Sumerian deity and for the fact that we were born on the 27th of the month.
So we were delighted to see Tammuz make perhaps its first comic book appearance in the recent issue of High Republic: The Blade, a Star Wars comic book published by Marvel. The comic book is set centuries before the Star Wars movies, which famously took place “long ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”
As seen in a panel posted to Facebook’s “Star Trek Jewposting” group, a battle droid relays a message to the comic’s more human protagonists:
“Petition 171. Location: Gansevor, in the Tammuz sector. A local dispute. A fortress city is besieged by an army from a rival faction. They have requested Jedi assistance to break the siege and end the conflict.”
Most Star Wars fans probably didn’t recognize the clear call-out to the Jewish fast day that takes place on the 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, commemorating when the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem took a turn for the worse, with the invaders breaking through the city’s walls and beginning their destruction of the city that would culminate in the razing of the Temple three weeks later. That occasion is remembered to this day by a fast day, which is not one of our favorite parts of one of our favorite months.
The book’s author, Charles Soule, previously had written a one-page Chanukah story featuring Wolverine that appeared in 2018’s Merry X-Men Holiday Special #1.
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