'Star Wars: Dark Empire' – Veitch, Kennedy, Klein (Boxtree)


'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...'

I know I said that I hardly read science fiction (and I know I said it yesterday...) but 'Star Wars' is so much it's own thing now that it's hardly science fiction, is it? Yeah I know, I'm really pushing it here but I don't think of 'Star Wars' as science fiction, I think of it as, well... 'Star Wars', this amazing adventure story that just happens to be set in space. Well, that's what I'm sticking with anyway ;o)

Being of a certain age, I'm all about the original movies. Nothing against the Prequels or the 'Skywalker' trilogy, they were fun but not made for me (and I think a lot of people would feel a lot happier if they just realised these movies were made for the kids that middle aged us once were). The original movies got there first, funnily enough, and that was that.

It's weird to think that there was a time when all we had was those three films and a few books and comics. It's even weirder to think that there's a whole universe of amazing Star Wars tales out there that got canned so as to protect Lucasfilm and Disney's vision for the future of the franchise. It's the way it goes but I'm not too bothered, these days, as it's not like those stories aren't still out there. Stories like 'Dark Empire'...

Six years after the Battle of Endor, the fight for freedom rages on. Darth Vader is dead but a reborn Empire, under a mysterious new leader, strikes back at the struggling Rebel Alliance.

Massive World Devastators ravage entire planets while the ruthless heirs of Jabba the Hutt place a monumental price on the heads of Princess Leia and her husband Han Solo.

Along with Lando, Chewbacca, Artoo and Threepio, Han and Leia struggle to protect the future for their unborn child. But their greatest foe may be their closest friend, Darth Vader's son, Luke Skywalker...

Thanks to all that stuff I mentioned earlier, 'Dark Empire' is no longer canon; I'm not sure if it comes under the 'Star Wars Legends' line (basically an excuse to keep printing the old novels, because they're great) but that's kind of the world it dwells in now. Don't let any of that stop you from picking up 'Dark Empire' if you see it though. It's still brilliant and deserves to be read by everyone; I also suspect it may be where some of the inspiration came from for certain parts of 'Rise of Skywalker'.

'Dark Empire' is basically everything that a 'Star Wars' story should be. Veitch clearly knows what makes a good 'Star Wars' story and throws it all into the mix here. Constant action? Check. Massive Imperial war machines destroying planets? Also check. All your favourite characters charting hitherto unexplored parts (Nal Hutta!), of the 'Star Wars' universe, and making a few new friends along the way? What do you think...? ;o) It's not just a rehash of the original movies though. While 'Dark Empire' has familiar elements to it, Veitch gives it a fresher feel by asking a couple of big questions of the plot; what would today's Rebels look like in six years time and how would things pan out if Luke turned to the Dark Side..? The first question is answered fairly easily. It's 'Star Wars' so everyone is still fighting of course ;o) It's the second question that drives the plot into some dark places and while you know it can't stay like that forever (Luke is pretty much untouchable as a main character), it's interesting to see how Veitch gets to that point. There's some great storytelling going on here, Veitch captures the heart and soul of 'Star Wars' near perfectly.

And if you ever wanted someone to draw alien planets and their inhabitants, Cam Kennedy is very much your man; he certainly is here. Kennedy has great form for drawing action packed stories in alien worlds (I first came across his work in 2000AD) and he has brought all that experience into 'Dark Empire', bringing Veitch's words to life in the best possible way. Kennedy not only captures the dynamic feel of 'Star Wars' perfectly, he's also not afraid to bring Ewoks to a gun fight. I love that little bit of detail and wouldn't have minded seeing that tale explored further in a mini-series or something (I'd call it 'Wicket Goes To War'...). It's all good, not a single panel at all that's below par.

There's no point pretending that I'm not a massive fan of this book (I am, very much so, bear that in mind) but I really think that if you pick this book up you'll see all the same stuff that I do when I read it. I've never given too much thought to ranking my favourite 'Star Wars Expanded Universe' stories but 'Dark Empire' would easily be somewhere in the top three if I had to come up with a list. Give it a go if you see a copy floating around, I don't think you'll regret it.

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