Star Wars: Dark Empire

I've been jonesing for some GOOD Star Wars. I want to be taken back to that place, back to how I felt as a kid, sitting in that dark theater, watching the miles of miles of Star Destroyer roll over my head for the first time.

It's a classic now, but many have recommended Star Wars: Dark Empire. I picked it up a while back but just tonight sat down to crack the cover of this beautiful hardback that collects Dark Empire I and II, Empire's End, and the Dark Empire Handbook.

The art is good. I understand it was superior for the day (Dark Empire I was conceived in 1988), but after looking at the amazing stuff in Dark Times, it's definitely a step down.

But, the story! My God, man! THIS IS STAR WARS!!

I can tell, just by the first couple of pages, that the producers of this work LOVED Star Wars the way I do.

I started reading, and turning the pages...and I stepped back in time. I was a kid again, in a dark theater, seeing a new Star Wars film that I had never seen before.

In a few pages this book is doing what Lucas couldn't do in over 6 hours of the prequels.

I want you to turn on your imagination for a moment...sit back, and in your minds eye, think of how the intro to this Star Wars story would be as a film....







The theater is dark. You've got your popcorn. You're excited. You're about to view some new Star Wars!

Blam! The powerful score starts, and the opening title crawl begins to slide up the screen in front of you--

STAR WARS

DARK EMPIRE

Like all the Star Wars movies, this one starts in medias res--right in the middle of the action. You're acutely aware that time has not stopped in this universe while you were away. There are things you don't know--things that have happened. But, you're not privy to those events. All you know is what little you can learn from the opening title crawl.

It is 10 years after the Battle of Yavin. The Rebel Alliance has morphed into the New Republic, but the Empire is not dead. Though the Emperor and Lord Vader are dead, Palpatine's Galactic Empire lives on and has recaptured much of its lost territory during th Rebellion. Even the capital, Coruscant, is now back in Imperial hands.

But, not everything has gone well for the Empire. Members of the remnant are revolting against the traditionalists. The Empire is fighting a second civil war within itself, Imperial against Imperial, and the New Republic moves to take advantage of the situation.

Master Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian have captured an Imperial Star Destroyer, returning to Coruscant, where the Imperial Civil War is raging. During the fighting, the mammoth starship crashes on the surface of the world. And, the surviving New Republic soliders are holding out against the warring Imperials, waiting for rescue.

The title crawl stops. "Man," you think to yourself,"....Wow. THIS is where the story BEGINS!"






The gold letters of the title crawl have receded into the top of the screen. You're looking at deep, dark, space. The music cues up.

And your point of view drops.

Now, you see a world. Dark, but with billions of distant lights. Coruscant.

Then, a hulk of space debris swings past you. Your view widens, and you realize that you're looking at a piece of a Star Destroyer. Millions of other starship pieces float past. Some of the ships are recognizable. Some are not.

A huge space battle took place here.

BOOM! The Millenium Falcon zips into view, exiting hyperspace. The ship begins to zip and zoom impossibly around the tight confines of the debris.

C-3PO: "Sir! The odds of collision with the space debris are 3,722 to one...If I may suggest..."

Chewbacca: "Rrrraaawwww!"

Han (completely ignoring the droid): "Chewie! Watch your thrusters!"

Two New Republic Frigates exit hyperspace immediately behind the Falcon. One begins maneuvers to navigate the debris, but the other is not as fortunate. It slams into another section of a destroyed Star Destoyer. The bow structure of the frigate explodes with the brightness of a sun. The long, cylindrical section that connects to the engineering hull snaps in two, and the rest of the ship, fire blazing from a thousand hull ruptures, begins to float and take its place in the starship graveyard.





The Falcon dips form the debris cloud down into the atmosphere of Coruscant. In seconds, it is skimming the ground below.

The surface of Coruscant looks much like its orbit. Buildings have toppled. Fighters and troop transports litter the sky. Men and machines maneuver around the ground debris. Blaster bolts make the surface of the world seem alive with bright, flashing impulses.

With Chewie at the controls, Han and Leia take to the Falcon's gunwells. The craft expertly swoops by an Imperial Walker. Leia's touch on the firing controls blow the vehicle to smithereens.

The crashed Star Destroyer is located. Lando and his troops are busy defending their postion. The Wookiee lands the freighter to give them a hand and begin the rescue.

Lando: "What took you so long? Another honeymoon? We've been holed up here for days!"






Then, a new Walker comes into view. All eyes go to the behemoth stepping towards them. The ground shakes with each of its steps.

What are they going to do? Han! Chewie! Leia! Lando!

There is a familiar figure at the rubble to the old Imperial Tower. The shape...no, it can't be! Darth Vader is dead!

But, his outline is unmistakeable. And, he walks into the light...it's Luke!

The scene is one you'll never forget. The auditorium is quiet. Everyone is gripped by the events, glued to their seats. No one can take their eyes off the massive Imperial Walker, impossibly huge on the screen...and standing in front of it, a lone figure.

Luke Skywalker.

Master Jedi Knight.

The turrets on the Walker angle and fire! Luke's lightsaber flashes into existence at the same moment. The hum of the weapon is loud, and the blast is deflected back to the control cabin on the Walker, obviously doing severe damage to the vehicle.

Then, Luke's hand is proffered in front of him. In his head, he can hear the echoes of Master Yoda, "Size matter not--the only difference is in your mind."

As Luke's fingers start to clench into a fist, the control cabin on the Walker begins to implode! It's as if a giant invisible hand has gripped the Walker's head and begun to sqeeze.

Crushed! The Walker's head explodes, and the giant vehicle falls on its knees, then over on its side.

Luke Skywalker. Master Jedi Knight.





God! That's COOL! THAT'S why I've started reading comics. I can hear the voices in my head...SEE the action take place.

When a comic is done well, it's an amzing experience unlike a novel or a movie. It's a combination of story-telling, visuals, and your own imagination.

NONE of the prequels delivered this kind of Star Wars high for me.

It's amazing.

I'm addicted.




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One of the few comics I read. I honestly didn't like the story aspect with the Emperor's Clone. But other aspects may work just fine for me.

I actually read these for the first time last month. I was already somewhat aware of the plotline, both from reading some of the SW RPG books but mostly from the "Jedi Academy" novels, but had never actually read the comics themselves.

I thought that "Dark Empire" was... okay, but no better than okay. I thought that "Dark Empire 2", though, and especially "Empire's End", was increasingly weak. I don't particularly regret reading them, but I don't think I would recommend them to anyone else.

I just hope that when they do the sequels, Disney have the good sense to leave Vader and the Emperor dead.

Well, I just stared the book, and I am blown away. To me, it's a magical adventure. It's "Star Wars", like it was originally. Maybe I'll change my mind once I've finished the book, but I'm pretty excited about it at this point.

Two things stand out for me: First, the Force is still mysterious--a quasi-religious power. It's a force of nature. I could see that hyperwormhole smoke acorss the heavens in my mind's eye, past the derelicts in orbit, down to the surface of coruscant. All the debris on the surface begins to float up into the sky, then Luke is enveloped with Force Energy.

I thought it was a spectacular moment. Almost a religious moment. And, there were no scientific "midichlorians" or other explainations. It was pure Space Opera. Mysterious. Unknown.

The other thing I like about the book--and this is probably due to my imagination more than anything else--is the "feel" of the universe. For me, there were many moments in the prequels that took me out of the story. The computer-game feel. Too much CGI. Too steril. But, the visuals in this book seem to carry on the wonder and granduer of Star Wars, the way I saw it as a little kid.

In the same way I "wow-ed" at the Star Destroyer the first time I saw it, or the Death Star, I did the same in the interesting rock canyons (very sci-fi) of the Rebel's Pinnacle Base, or the when the story got to the planet Biss....a world completely enshrowed by the Dark Side!

I am completely loving this book.

As for the Emperor's clone. Why not? It seems totally logical to me. Palpatine would not have become Emperor if it were not for the strength provided by his clone army. Plus (although the 1988 writers of this graphic novel had no idea--well, who knows what Lucas told them), Palpatine says that he knows the Dark Side secret of returning life from death.

Looking at the story through the lens of the prequels, the story actually makes even more sense than it did in 1988.

I'm sold. This is good "Star Wars" stuff.

Wasn't the Dark Empire the miniseries written to encourage kids to read? Or am I thinking of another SW comic?
But other wise, yeah, that was a decent story. Luke falling to the dark side to be redeemed as was foretold in some prophesy? Eh.
There's a reason that when hasbro made EU action figures, at least 3 of them were from Dark Empire (Luke, Leia, and Clone Emperor).

sabrinathecat said:

Wasn't the Dark Empire the miniseries written to encourage kids to read? Or am I thinking of another SW comic?

Click to expand...

Another, I think. The Star Wars comics (like the films) are written for a general audience. G to PG, using the movie rating system. There are some Star Wars comics directed at younger readers, though. This may be what you're remembering. They have simpler art and simple stories.

I finished Dark Empire I. Excellent!

It could serve as a GREAT Star Wars movie. I'm talking old school Star Wars, back when the battles were more than just a bunch of crap flying across the screen...back when a lightsaber chopped off an arm, there would be blood...back when The Force was a mysterious energy field created by all living things that surrounds us and penetrates us and binds the galaxy together.

I LOVED the Battle of Calamari. The Mon Cal Sea Commandos!

And, that scene where Luke fights the clone, fresh from the tank. It is completely naked except for its containment sack and birthing jelly. What an idea!

I acutally heard the score start in my head as I viewed the last panel, with Luke looking over his shoulder at us, saying, "I feel it. Great things are coming. The Jedi Knights will rise again."

YEAH! Star Wars, baby! Star Wars!




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Dark Empire II

God! These stories are phenomenal! Amazing!

The Force is flowing through them!

And, I'm loving every page...every panel! I almost feel as if I should give up my Conan RPG campaign and return to the Star Wars RPG. I'd love to take these epic stories and turn them into gaming scenarios.

I'm about halfway through Dark Empire II. This story is not as epic as Dark Empire I, but that's a good thing. It's letting me experience something different than before.

I love how The Force remains a mythology in these stories. The prequels, to me, seemed to rationalize and generalize The Force so that it was nothing special--just an extra weapon some people have if they have the right symbiots in their blood.

But, The Force in these Dark Empire stories...it's stilll....a wonder. And wonderous things happen.

If you read it, you'll know what I mean when you meet Master Ood Bnar.

And that scene where the lightsaber cash is found and Skywalker and the others ignite them, holding them to the sky. One step closer to re-establishing the Jedi Order.

That scene in a film would have been iconic.





There was so much "wonder" in the original trilogy. Of course the first movie was full of wonder--it was the first time anybody had seen such a spectacle. But, the wonder continued in Empire and Jedi: The Walkers. Vader's Super Star Destroyer (you though a standard Star Destroyer was big!). The revalation about Vader being Luke's father! Yoda! Speeder Bikes. Incredible space battles...the list goes on.

The prequels, at least for me, had none of this. I can't remember being awed even once. Well, maybe when Darth Maul was on screen, but that's about it. Lucas seemed to me to present the newer Star Wars movies with all of the wonder bleed out of the story telling.

One of the main things that have attracted me so much to these graphic novels is THAT element is present: The wonder. Where the original trilogy would grow the universe each outing, the prequels seem to stay within the confines of the universe already created.

These graphical stories are bringing new things to the Star Wars universe...wonderous things...things that "fit" but are altogether brand new.

Thumbs up.

I'm going to keep on reading.

I am addicted.



EDIT: Oh, and speaking of new items of wonder...I've got two words for you. Galaxy Gun.





An Ysanna Nomad of Ossus...

I dunno. From that description, it's an example of a common thing I don't like: amplification of the Force into a superpower capable of feats never even hinted at in the movies.

It seems to be a staple of lots of computer games and stuff, but it was never hinted that even Vader, the Emperor, or Vader could destroy armoured vehicles with a gesture,

Morrus said:

I dunno. From that description, it's an example of a common thing I don't like: amplification of the Force into a superpower capable of feats never even hinted at in the movies.

It seems to be a staple of lots of computer games and stuff, but it was never hinted that even Vader, the Emperor, or Vader could destroy armoured vehicles with a gesture,

Click to expand...

I'd completely disagree, citing the scene with Yoda (as is reflected in the scene in the graphic novel, too) where the Jedi Master tells Luke that size does not matter. To me, he's not just talking about weight and mass, but also telling Luke that anything is possible with the Force if it is used correctly.

Then, again, in the prequels (Episode III), Palptine/Darth Sidious tells Anakin that he learned how to use the power of the Dark Side to bring back the dead. Was he lying and manipulating Anakin with this? Definitely manipulating, but maybe lying.

Who knows. Maybe the upcoming sequels will play in on that and bring the Emperor back.



EDIT: Also, the feeling I got was that we haven't been shown all that a Force Wielder can do. This is backed up in the movies by showing us new Force powers that we haven't seen before.

Remember, we don't see the telekinetic power of the Force until Episode V. In A New Hope, we see Ben change the stormtrooper's minds in Mos Eisley, and we see him make some troopers on the Death Star think they hear something, making them look in a different direction so that he can get away. We also see Ben "feel" the deaths on Alderaan when it was destroyed--plus his hoodwinking the Tusken Raiders.

We saw Vader almost kill an Imperial Officer by crushing his throat, with the Force.

With Luke, we don't see much, except him playing with the remote with the blast shield on his helmet down, and, of course, his using the Force to guide the proton torpedoes into the exhaust port on the surface of the Death Star.

As the film moved on, we were given the idea (or, at least I was) that there was a lot of things that you can do with the Force.

That's why, when I first saw Empire, I thought it totally natural that Luke would use the Force to pull his lightsaber to his hand early in the beginning of the show.

Then, we see Luke lift his X-Wing from the swamp...we see Vader rip machinery out of the walls and throw it at Luke. We see Luke and Vader jump and flip around in superhuman maneuvers.

That's also why, with Luke now being a Jedi Master, I have no problem at all seeing Luke, 8 years after A New Hope, use his mastery of the Force to crush the head of a walker.