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Star Wars Comics
Gaslight
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(Hey folks. Sorry if there's been a prior appropriate thread at some point, hard to tell with the search non-functional.)
I'm interested to hear anybody's recommendations on Star Wars comics. I was a big Star Wars fan when I was a kid, read all the EU novels up until about midway through the New Jedi Order trilogy, but I never read any SW graphic novels aside from (I think) the Dark Empire stuff.
Now I see all of these sweet-looking, relatively cheap omnibus editions that they have these days. So what, if anything, is worth reading?
I don't have any strong preferences in terms of characters or storylines, but I guess if I was going to pick I would rather have original stories than comic adaptions of other SW media like novels. A big part of the appeal of SW, as I once read it described somewhere, was the feeling when watching the original movies that if you pointed the camera a different direction you would still see stuff happening and stories taking place, the sense of authenticity and alive-ness of the universe. So I'd like to try some books that focus on new characters or people were never really in the spotlight, or fill in the gaps.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Edit: Whoops, meant to go in Graphic Violence, I was in the wrong tab. :oops: Mods, please move.
I'm interested to hear anybody's recommendations on Star Wars comics. I was a big Star Wars fan when I was a kid, read all the EU novels up until about midway through the New Jedi Order trilogy, but I never read any SW graphic novels aside from (I think) the Dark Empire stuff.
Now I see all of these sweet-looking, relatively cheap omnibus editions that they have these days. So what, if anything, is worth reading?
I don't have any strong preferences in terms of characters or storylines, but I guess if I was going to pick I would rather have original stories than comic adaptions of other SW media like novels. A big part of the appeal of SW, as I once read it described somewhere, was the feeling when watching the original movies that if you pointed the camera a different direction you would still see stuff happening and stories taking place, the sense of authenticity and alive-ness of the universe. So I'd like to try some books that focus on new characters or people were never really in the spotlight, or fill in the gaps.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Edit: Whoops, meant to go in Graphic Violence, I was in the wrong tab. :oops: Mods, please move.
Gaslight on
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this was meant to be in Graphic Violence?
Yup. Sorry about this, feel free to ignore/mock until the mods get to it.
Secret Satan 2013 Wishlist
*Sigh* I just can't do anything right tonight apparently.
Coran Attack!
But the couple of actual comments on SW comics so far are not really encouraging...should I just save my time/money?
I've got a friend and his brother that are really into the omnibus books right now but I haven't really read much of those yet but I've generally heard good things.
Star Wars: Legacy just ended, which was really good. It takes place into the distant future where a Skywalker far down the line has pretty much turned his back on the Force and become a Han Solo type of character. A new sith order comes to power to usurp the current Imperial emperor and shit goes nuts. Every once in a while it dips into boredom or re-hashed SW type of redemption plot but overall it's pretty great.
I may be in the minority but stay the hell away from The Old Republic. That was one of, if not THE, worst comic I have ever read - not just SW related. I made it 3 issues in before I threw in the towel.
Knight Errant was okay, nothing spectacular but a decent story.
I don't know if you're looking for complete series or anything in general but a new series staring Qui-Gon just started that seems kinda promising.
Steam: Grizz
3DS: 4038-6012-7259
My take on Legacy, based on the first volume --
Some of the new ideas presented, like the Imperial Knights, are really cool. Basically, there's a third faction of "jedi" who are the bodyguards and personal entourage of the Emperor and his daughter. They are not affiliated with either the Jedi Order or the Sith. They are force sensitive, lightsaber wielding warriors who protect and serve the Empire.
It seems as if the Empire of the future is not evil like Palpatine's Empire. My impression from just a single book, is that the current Emperor is trying to steer the Empire back in the direction of the old republic. He seems like a pretty decent fellow.
I'm not a big fan of Cade Skywalker, however. It seems like Ostrander is trying way too hard to make him intricate and complex. The dude has inner demons, insecurities, reservations, anger issues, and all sorts of other problems galore. He's not a very sympathetic protagonist.
If you've read and enjoyed any of Stackpole's X-Wing novels you'd probably like the Rogue Squadron comics he wrote. They certainly fit the bill for shining the spotlight on lesser known characters like Wedge, Hobbie, Janson, etc. They take place immediately after Ep VI and lead right into the first X-Wing book. The art isn't consistent as almost every arc rotated in a new artist, but the writing is cohesive and there's a decent variety of stories, from straight-up military operations to pirate gangs to a retelling of the Russian revolution in space.
The original KotOR books from the 90s were also excellent, start off a little slow but ramp up into a bit of a major war. Only three TPBs here plus a few ancillary issues. They provide a nice backstory to some of the later EU canon, especially (shudder) kevin j anderson's books.
Buy this book. It's great.
There were three different "Infinities" stories, one for each of the original films, that were essentially "What If?" stories for the Star Wars universe. The ESB and RotJ ones are not, I repeat, are not worth reading, but A New Hope may be the best Star Wars comic I've ever read. The art is solid, the story is wonderful (it starts off with the Rebel's assault on the Death Star and a failed attempt at destroying it by Luke and the fallout experienced as a result) and is just an all-around great read.
I had heard of/looked at the Legacy comics before but I was initially turned off because it seemed to me like they had sort of "rebooted" the universe to restore the kind of situation that existed at the beginning of A New Hope and that struck me as very lame and uncreative. Given all the recommendations here I'll have to give it a second look.
Infinities: A New Hope looks sort of interesting but it's awfully thin at only 96 pages.
So, I think for now I'm going to be planning to check out Legacy, KotOR, and the other Ostrander stuff, in that order.
Thanks for the advice!
Also nostalgia, but less so, is Crimson Empire I and II. You've got ex Emperor's Royal Guardsman Kir Kanos who feels wronged by what the Empire is doing now and sets his sights on revenge on the new "ruler" Carnor Jax, who is also Kanos' ex-bestie and also badass Royal Guardsman. Bloody revenge tail, and the second series focuses on a new fringe sort of Imperial Council and (barely) forshadows the New Jedi Order mega series.
But if you just want stories, I highly recommend the Star Wars: Tails series. 6 volumes of like, 10-12 different one-shot stories per volume based on established or fresh characters. There are some continuing plots, some amusing spoofs (like a rebel squad patterned off the Fantastic Four), and some plain awesome stories (such as Darth Vader fighting a doppleganger of a former Sith, and Dark Forces badass Kyle Katarn taking on some Yuushan Vong(sp?) from the New Jedi Order series of books). Some others are just plain well done all around (like one where Vader encounters C-3P0's remains on Cloud City). Probably my favorite comics from Star Wars.
KotOR was good for when I was reading it. I liked it and it's far enough in the past of the universe that nothing really crosses over from the movies.