Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 22, 2024 10:16:59 GMT -5
Empire's End #1
Cover dated : Oct. 1995
Issue title : Triumph of the Empire
Script: Tom Veitch
Artwork: Jim Baikie
Letters: Lois Buhalis
Cover art Dave Dorman
Overall rating: 6 out of 10
Plot Summary : Thanks to the Galaxy Gun, systems are lining up to re-join the Emperor, but his clone body is unstable and failing rapidly.
ON Byss, the natives decide they should be Jedi, and forsee Jem's death (which has already happened for us) as well as the Rebels losing an attack force of 100,000 to the Galaxy Gun. (which happens right after). It does make one wonder why the Jedi died out if it's that easy, but I digress.
It seems like game over when Han catches a spy just after he beams the rebel base location to the Emperor, but the Galaxy Gun's missile is a dud, allowing the Rebels to evacuate in time before the 2nd one destroys their new base on Nespis VIII.
They decide Byss would be a new good HQ (thinking the Emperor will not want to destroy the Jedi artifacts) and Luke and the Jedi head there while the rest of rebel leadership scatters. Han and Leia are told to go into hiding so the future of the Jedi is safe.
The Emperor decides Byss is also a great place to get some clone stock, so he raids there and kidnaps some people just before Luke and co. get there. They chase the Emperor's minions back to Vader's old castle and defeat them (that statue of Vader gets used again, which is fun). Like vows the Emperor is next!
My Thoughts: In contrast to the first two series.. the pace here is Flash-level. Its not clear how much time has past or how long the events take, but things sure are moving quickly! Anakin is on panel briefly and is clearly still an infant, so it can't be too long.
I quite like Jim Baikie's art, and they tried to keep the weird Cam Kennedy coloring on parts for consistencies sake, but only in spots. Baikie is much better at people (though no cool ships) and his Droids are excellent.
He's not without issue though... the Imperial spy is actually wearing an Imperial uniform in the rebel base working on the Falcon. And the scene where the galaxy gun missile is a dud is super silly looking.
The plot is a bit spotty (I'll get into that in a second) but its a fun read and seems to be heading to wrap things up, which is really necessary so the EU can get on with things.
Continuity Notes: The letters page is back, and both letters are just long strings of continuity questions, which they imply Kevin Anderson is in charge of (no wonder....) They hand wave a bunch of inconsistencies between names and such from Tales of the Jedi as different people, and even try to tell us Dengar was a different guy name Dengar. They also officially state that essentially all the books up to this point (Truce at Bakura, Courtship of Princess Leia and Zahn) come before Dark Empire, and Kevin Anderson's books come after.
Which of course leads one to wonder again.. where is Mara Jade? She sure woud make sense to be involved, with the Emperor. Of course we know why, but still, doesn't make any sense.
Also, where did the rebels get 100,000 ground troops to throw at the Empire when their main base just got wiped out? They also weren't very broken up about it, which is odd. Not to mention none of the main characters were involved. (There was a Calamari admiral but not Ackbar)
The of course is the discussion of how on Earth Thrawn had no idea about any of this when he literally stole and used all the Emperor's cloning stuff, but again, we know why, it just irks me. I think in my personal Star Wars timeline Dark Empire happens before Zahn, maybe after the less important books that are supposed to be right after RoTJ.. I think that was the intent (before Lucas approved two very different stories for the same time frame). Clearly, popular opinion decided Zahn's stuff was more relevant going forward.
The ads are totally different now.. no more back issue sales.. instead we have a 2 page spread for Dark Forces, and an actual coupon for Apple Jacks (who is doing a Rogue Squadron comic give away). There are also house ads for the Rouge Squadron series and the Heir to the Empire adaptation.
(I probably won't do the Heir to the Empire comics, they are very expensive and frankly don't really appeal to me. You can check the book review thread for my thought on the novels though)
Cover dated : Oct. 1995
Issue title : Triumph of the Empire
Script: Tom Veitch
Artwork: Jim Baikie
Letters: Lois Buhalis
Cover art Dave Dorman
Overall rating: 6 out of 10
Plot Summary : Thanks to the Galaxy Gun, systems are lining up to re-join the Emperor, but his clone body is unstable and failing rapidly.
ON Byss, the natives decide they should be Jedi, and forsee Jem's death (which has already happened for us) as well as the Rebels losing an attack force of 100,000 to the Galaxy Gun. (which happens right after). It does make one wonder why the Jedi died out if it's that easy, but I digress.
It seems like game over when Han catches a spy just after he beams the rebel base location to the Emperor, but the Galaxy Gun's missile is a dud, allowing the Rebels to evacuate in time before the 2nd one destroys their new base on Nespis VIII.
They decide Byss would be a new good HQ (thinking the Emperor will not want to destroy the Jedi artifacts) and Luke and the Jedi head there while the rest of rebel leadership scatters. Han and Leia are told to go into hiding so the future of the Jedi is safe.
The Emperor decides Byss is also a great place to get some clone stock, so he raids there and kidnaps some people just before Luke and co. get there. They chase the Emperor's minions back to Vader's old castle and defeat them (that statue of Vader gets used again, which is fun). Like vows the Emperor is next!
My Thoughts: In contrast to the first two series.. the pace here is Flash-level. Its not clear how much time has past or how long the events take, but things sure are moving quickly! Anakin is on panel briefly and is clearly still an infant, so it can't be too long.
I quite like Jim Baikie's art, and they tried to keep the weird Cam Kennedy coloring on parts for consistencies sake, but only in spots. Baikie is much better at people (though no cool ships) and his Droids are excellent.
He's not without issue though... the Imperial spy is actually wearing an Imperial uniform in the rebel base working on the Falcon. And the scene where the galaxy gun missile is a dud is super silly looking.
The plot is a bit spotty (I'll get into that in a second) but its a fun read and seems to be heading to wrap things up, which is really necessary so the EU can get on with things.
Continuity Notes: The letters page is back, and both letters are just long strings of continuity questions, which they imply Kevin Anderson is in charge of (no wonder....) They hand wave a bunch of inconsistencies between names and such from Tales of the Jedi as different people, and even try to tell us Dengar was a different guy name Dengar. They also officially state that essentially all the books up to this point (Truce at Bakura, Courtship of Princess Leia and Zahn) come before Dark Empire, and Kevin Anderson's books come after.
Which of course leads one to wonder again.. where is Mara Jade? She sure woud make sense to be involved, with the Emperor. Of course we know why, but still, doesn't make any sense.
Also, where did the rebels get 100,000 ground troops to throw at the Empire when their main base just got wiped out? They also weren't very broken up about it, which is odd. Not to mention none of the main characters were involved. (There was a Calamari admiral but not Ackbar)
The of course is the discussion of how on Earth Thrawn had no idea about any of this when he literally stole and used all the Emperor's cloning stuff, but again, we know why, it just irks me. I think in my personal Star Wars timeline Dark Empire happens before Zahn, maybe after the less important books that are supposed to be right after RoTJ.. I think that was the intent (before Lucas approved two very different stories for the same time frame). Clearly, popular opinion decided Zahn's stuff was more relevant going forward.
The ads are totally different now.. no more back issue sales.. instead we have a 2 page spread for Dark Forces, and an actual coupon for Apple Jacks (who is doing a Rogue Squadron comic give away). There are also house ads for the Rouge Squadron series and the Heir to the Empire adaptation.
(I probably won't do the Heir to the Empire comics, they are very expensive and frankly don't really appeal to me. You can check the book review thread for my thought on the novels though)