Dark Empire

Series: Dark Empire

Publication Date: 1991 - 1995

# of Issues: 14
Writer: Tom Veitch

Era: New Republic Era

Galaxy Date: 10 ABY*

*After Battle of Yavin

In 1991 Dark Horse bought the right to publish Star Wars comics from Marvel and the world would never be the same. The first comic they published was Dark Empire. Dark Horse has not stopped publishing comics since. Thousands, if not tens-of-thousands have been released

Luke Skywalker

Dark Empire is, if nothing else, dark. It tells the tale of an Empire still at large, still threatening the alliance six-years after Endor. Luke is now a Jedi Master and he has really taken a dark turn. Something is eating at him from the inside, but he doesn’t know what.

Eventually, Luke finds a deep-core world called Byss (okay fine, a “Force Storm” sucked him up and took him there). It is on Byss that Luke discovers that Emperor Palpatine has found a way to cheat death- clones- Lots of clones actually- and what’s worse is that Luke has begun to feel the pull toward the Dark Side. Will he be Palpatine’s pawn, like Vader? Or will he be able to defeat his foe?

One of Palpatine's clones fighting Luke

First appearance of a Holocron

Palpatine Clones aside, Dark Empire plays a big role in paving the way for the EU that we all know and love. It introduces many characters and ideas such as Anakin Solo, Holocrons, the return of Boba Fett from the Sarlacc.

Another reason to check out this comic is that the artwork is completely different than anything you’ve seen before. I think it was made with a low budget, so the stenciling has been colored over by mostly yellows, blues, and greens. Every page is slightly monotone, but it makes everything feel dark and surreal. Without the full-spectrum of colors you find emotions are raw, almost like a Picasso painting- but angrier.

Empatojayos Brand
with built-in lightsaber!

Dark Empire struggles the most in character depth. Everyone is a flat cardboard cutout and it’s pretty much just a battle of good vs. evil. The new characters fail to be interesting and you can care less if they live or die. (Though, there is a pretty cool Jedi without any legs or arms, so he has to sort of float around in his robo-suit.)

Overall, I’m going to have to give this one 3.5 out of 5 lightsabers. I love the artwork and the tone, but the characters need to be better developed and the comic has not aged well. Even with this in mind, I believe that this is a MUST-READ for fans of Star Wars Comics. This is where it all started, my friends! This is the original Dark Horse series!

Next Time: Crimson Empire! 

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Brian Wood's Star Wars Brian Wood's Star Wars
Dark Empire Dark Empire
Crimson Empire Crimson Empire
Invasion Invasion
Legacy Vol. 1 Star Wars: Legacy
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Legacy Vol. 2 Legacy Volume 2
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