Star Wars comics discussion (and a Star Wars expanded universe question)
EddieDean
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
As a fan of the Star Wars movies, a friend recently suggested the Tales of the Jedi comics to me, which I absolutely adored.
I'd known that there was a large SW expanded universe out there, but I didn't know quite how much, or its scope.
Having played KotOR 1&2, I thought the TotJ comics were absolutely awesome, and recently followed them up with the Knights of the Old Republic comics, which I also loved, and found to bridge the gap between TotJ and KotOR very satisfactorily.
Having had this foray into the EU, I decided to check Wookieepedia for further info on what EU stuff might interest me, and the pure depth and breadth of it blew my mind. There's so much stuff around the movies themselves that I wouldn't know where to start, so I used Vector (the Old Republic/Rise of the Empire/Dark Times/Legacy era crossover event) as a kind of launchpad into the Legacy comics, which are at the complete opposite end of the timeline from TotJ/KotOR. They're also pretty damned great.
I still lust for more. I know there are a bunch of other recent comics (Republic, Dark Times, Empire, Rebellion), but none of that seemed as vital to the ongoing SW storyline as the ones I'm currently reading, and more centred around cameos from the main cast of the movies (as they're set in those times).
So, (and if this has now become a 'recommend me comics' thread as outlawed by the rules, please feel free to ignore this and even lock this,) I ask you: Where's a good place to join the EU again? I'm not just talking comics here (again, if I'm straying from the rules, I apologise, do lock me,) but books too. Specifically I'm after the most significant stuff, the things which have the most impact on the SW universe plot. I've read that a Thrawn Trilogy is pretty important, and some aliens called the Yuuzhan Vong have serious plot points associated with them, so anything that important, from either books or from comics, I'd love to hear about.
That said, I'd love for this thread to be open to discussion for all Star Wars comics (and books if that's allowed), though please spoiler any plot-heavy posts with:
Tales of the Jedi
Onward to chat!
I'd known that there was a large SW expanded universe out there, but I didn't know quite how much, or its scope.
Having played KotOR 1&2, I thought the TotJ comics were absolutely awesome, and recently followed them up with the Knights of the Old Republic comics, which I also loved, and found to bridge the gap between TotJ and KotOR very satisfactorily.
Having had this foray into the EU, I decided to check Wookieepedia for further info on what EU stuff might interest me, and the pure depth and breadth of it blew my mind. There's so much stuff around the movies themselves that I wouldn't know where to start, so I used Vector (the Old Republic/Rise of the Empire/Dark Times/Legacy era crossover event) as a kind of launchpad into the Legacy comics, which are at the complete opposite end of the timeline from TotJ/KotOR. They're also pretty damned great.
I still lust for more. I know there are a bunch of other recent comics (Republic, Dark Times, Empire, Rebellion), but none of that seemed as vital to the ongoing SW storyline as the ones I'm currently reading, and more centred around cameos from the main cast of the movies (as they're set in those times).
So, (and if this has now become a 'recommend me comics' thread as outlawed by the rules, please feel free to ignore this and even lock this,) I ask you: Where's a good place to join the EU again? I'm not just talking comics here (again, if I'm straying from the rules, I apologise, do lock me,) but books too. Specifically I'm after the most significant stuff, the things which have the most impact on the SW universe plot. I've read that a Thrawn Trilogy is pretty important, and some aliens called the Yuuzhan Vong have serious plot points associated with them, so anything that important, from either books or from comics, I'd love to hear about.
That said, I'd love for this thread to be open to discussion for all Star Wars comics (and books if that's allowed), though please spoiler any plot-heavy posts with:
Tales of the Jedi
Vader killed Dumbledore
Onward to chat!
EddieDean on
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To be relevant, I believe they adapted the Thrawn trilogy into comic form a while ago.
i don't usually care much about sigs, but i dearly love yours. just thought i'd say!
anyway, i've been thinking about picking up some star wars comics recently. the designs of the jedi and such keep catching my eye from the stands and saying "looooook! look how cool my outfit looks! a yellllow lightsaber! you love that shit, servo!"
basically i'm more interested in the tales of the jedi/kotor era than the modern luke 'n leia stuff. any suggestions?
No, not that one.
The one with the great art.
I thought there were some great story lines between Episode 2 and 3 and just how brutal the entire war was.
For big stuff, Jedi vs Sith tell about the end of the Sith armies and the Rule of Two along with showing how the Valley of the Jedi from the dark forces game came to be. Dark Empire, Dark Empire II, and Empires End are arguably the most important comic work as they had major impacts on the novels, with the introduction of Anakin Solo, and the whole reborn Emperor thing.
Invasion is starting...this month I think, and it takes place during the Yuuzhan Vong conflict. It would probably be the easiest way to get introduced to that era other than the novels, which at 19 books long might be a little much, especially if you aren't versed on the rest of the universe.
And Servo, the entire series of tales of the Jedi has been collected in two omnibuses. Yes they are smaller than the regular trades, but it is the only way to get the entire series and out of print books without paying and arm and a leg.
Kroofster and Bloods End, you both mentioned the Clone Wars comics. Are those part of the Republic meta-series?
There are only two comic series set in that era - the ones I mentioned above - Tales of the Jedi (set 5,000 and 4,000 years pre-movies) and Knights of the Old Republic (set just after the recent TotJ ones and a few years before the KotOR games), and I'd reccomend them both, and in that order. The storylines are awesome, and you get to see the development of the early Sith (both their initial empire and their resurgence in the core of galactic civilisation, which is fantastic.
They lead right up into the KotOR games, and it's a great time to be reading up on that period of history, especially since SW:TOR, the MMO, is coming out shortly.
Dark Horse launched Star Wars ongoing in the late 90s early 2000s. Star Wars ongoing becomes Republic. When the Clone Wars stories starts it becomes Republic: Clone Wars. Republic ends but the storylines continue in the Dark Times series.
That isn't exactly right. As stated Jedi vs Sith also exist in that era. And for the Old Republic MMO a online prequel comic series has been running on the site. When it's over it will be collected in a TPB but for right now you can read it here at http://www.swtor.com/media/webcomic/
My personal favourites (excluding the Zahn books which were really in a class of their own) would definitely be the X-Wing books and the spin offs featuring Corrin Horn.
Jesus, Cade is a dick. He's like Luke if look was a jerk and never learned anything.
Well, he has abandonment issues. People who have those tend to be dicks in tandem with an you don't know me on the inside complex.
As for books, I've read just about everything out there and enjoyed them to various degrees. New Jedi Order (NJO) has the whole "Vong" invasion which wasn't a bad story line, just 19 books long. I wouldn't suggest starting with the first book though (Vector Prime?). Start with Thrawn trilogy and then maybe the Jedi books by Kevin J Anderson to get decent idea of what the universe is like after the Empire's fall.
As for comics again, if you like Wedge or any of the X-wing pilots that entire book series is awesome and they also have 3 omnibus that collect all the comic issues that came out as well. I was always a big Wedge fan so when I found that series I was very excited.
I, Jedi is a pretty interest book as a sort of follow up to Corran (who you are introduced to in the Xwing books). It's written in the first person perspective so it's kind of neat that way.
Here is an awesome list of all the books in chronological order
Oh fuck no. Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy is a goddamn joke. Quite possibly the worst three books I've ever read in my entire life, and that's including things from Terry "the chicken was evil manifest" Goodkind and R. A. "all of my characters are mere archetypes, and each archetype has but one voice" Salvatore.
All you need to know from the trilogy is:
Luke gets permission to restart the Jedi Order by creating an academy on Yavin, specifically in the temple that served as the Rebel base at the end of A New Hope.
Luke hops from planet to planet in an attempt to find Force sensitive people. He does this by using a device the Empire created during the Purge that can detect Force users.
One of the students is a little shit who was rescued from the spice mines of Kessel named Kyp Durron. He sucks.
It turns out that the temple on Yavin was the home base of an old Sith Lord named Exar Kun. In typical Sith-y fashion, he tries to sway several of the students to the Dark Side even though he's a ghost. One student dies, and (unsurprisingly) Kyp Durron falls under his spell because Kyp is an impatient, headstrong little shit who feels threatened by Luke's greatness.
Kyp manages to find and steal a ship named Starcrusher. It's a superweapon, much like the Death Star, except it's somewhere between the size of a fighter and freighter, and destroys entire solar systems by causing their stars to supernova. Kyp accidentally kills his own brother with it because, again, he's a little shit.
Luke is put into a coma by the ghost of Exar Kun. Only Leia's twins can interact with Luke's astral projections.
Exar Kun is defeated by a motherfucking circle of kindness formed by the remaining Jedi students. I wish I was making this up.
Kyp, somehow (I forget, because by this point I really couldn't give a shit) is redeemed.
The end.
Of course, that's not all that happened. I saved you the misery of having to read about:
Leia's toddler children running around in the underbelly of Couruscant, with C-3PO, and meeting the homeless.
Admiral Ackbar acting like a whiney cunt.
Han and Lando winning/losing the Millennium Falcon from one another in repeated card games.
Wedge meeting and falling in love with some alien woman with feathers.
Some of the worst dialogue to ever be written. It was clearly written as an homage to the movies, but instead is an unintentional parody.
It was just a horrible series. Out of ~900 pages, only 50-100 actually dealt with the Jedi, and those parts were actually pretty solid. The rest was just a horrible mishmash of the worst kind of fanfiction.
The original artist is back on Dark Times for the current arc and it looks good. The art took a major dip for a little while there.
http://www.starwars.com/invasion/
Hmmm, a comic version of the NJO. I am intrigued.
You should also know that
Also, he mangles a quote that's in ESB. As in, it's probably the most famous line in the trilogy, and he gets it wrong.
And that's not even getting into Darksaber where
"I love you."
"I'm aware of that."
"Do, or do not. There's no trying in the Force!"
What is it, incidentally?
Instead, read I, Jedi. It contains 90% of the not-crap parts from the Jedi Academy trilogy, plus a substantial amount of awesome.
Yeah, I, Jedi is really good. Corran Horn is pretty awesome.
EDIT: Wow, what a horrible top of the page post.
But there is a bright side. If memory serves, I do remember this about Daala:
That's the only slightly redemptive thing in the books. And for all the wrong reasons.
what is dash rendar up to?
Namely pretty sure they said he died at the end of the Shadows of the Empire storyline, yet they've also said his ship has been spotted from time to time hinting that he is alive out there somewhere. It's a pity that Lucas flip flopped on the whole SotE cannon bit, first it was cannon and now it's not. Give it a few years and the Force Unleashed will be non cannon as well I bet.
Then again that would be a good thing since that storyline was horrible.
Thank gods that Star Wars Legacy keeps being pure awesome, that's the best pure SW book out there right now, much better than the lackluster Knights of the Old Republic which has been a sad disappointment.
As for Daala having any ties to Tarkin, well, go read this.
To put it short:
Now Daala's gone and made herself legit? Well, just goes to show.
As for Daala no way is she ever legit and the fact they made someone like her in charge of the whole thing shows not only are the good guys stupid and dumb but it's no wonder how the Empire keeps coming back, personally I think for all their crimes and evil doings at least you know where they stand.
Could be worse though I suppose, when Lucas bites the big one we could have an incompetant Mando wanker like Karen Taviss in charge of the whole thing.
Her views on the Jedi, the Sith and the Force overall goes to show she should have nothing to do with Star Wars when she totally hates those concepts and puts them down repeatedly to push her own Mando ideas.
Last he was mentioned in the Star Wars EU, he was hiding Jedi and their families from being hunted down by the Yhuzzan Vong, as well as assisting in refugee efforts during that said war.
I know that they're starting another arc with Fate of The Jedi, but it is kinda necessary to understand Darth Cadeus, which means reading the previous ten books, and.....ugh.
KotOR covers the Old Republic, Republic covers the PT, Dark Times and Empire the parts in between, Rebellion the OT, Thrawn trilogy comics and Dark Empire for the Imperial Remnant stories, upcoming Invasion for Yuuzhan Vong, and Legacy for the ongoing new arc.
Those should at least give a good summary of all the major galactic events.