TAZÍ

Details

• Writer: Tom Veitch
• Artist: Cam Kennedy
• Letterer: Todd Klein
• Publisher: Dark Horse
• Publication: 1991-1992
• Genre: Sci-Fi

Premise

The surviving Imperial Forces of Thrawn are torn by civil war and harassed by rebel attacks. But when one of these raids ends in disaster, it’s up to Han, Leia and company to rescue Luke Skywalker.

The narrative

So first and foremost, I think it is not spoiler that somehow he returned. Yes, and what did I think of it? Well, it is quite divisive, but I think it is better handled here than in The Rise of Skywalker.

“The Emperor? What do you mean?”
“Yes. He lives.”

Moreover, the characters felt in-character, except Luke, but that was on purpose, since he had to deal with overcoming the dark side. The dialogue was snappy and there was no exposition dumping so far as I could tell. The pacing is just fine and especially the last issue was very good, making a good conclusion to this comic run.

Leia was actually the protagonist in this, and I know George Lucas would be happy to know that. (Maybe he does). She is the heart of the story, serving as the glue that sticks Han and Luke together as the holy trinity. Han on the other hand has to deal with a shadow of his past, while Luke has to deal with his own demons.

There are some nice battles put in here and Palpatine as clone with his world devastators makes for a big impact on the New Republic. And the way he is defeated at the end, because of a weakness that was exploited earlier makes for a good sendoff that probably is even better than his original one (sorry, not sorry).

The Visuals

The style of the comic is slightly realistic with a bit cartoonish interweaved in it. The color tone is red and blue, which matches the tone and atmosphere of the story. The reds gave it that “the dark side is everywhere” feel, whereas the blue lightning at the hyperspace panels make the inking all that more complete. The paneling is done artistically; some really move over the page. Moreover, there weren’t really any individual splash pages, but there were some nice close-ups of luke as shown above. The lettering is readable.

The verdict

Dark Empire is a great comic book and one that could have easily been made into a movie.

The High point: The Fall of the Clone Emperor.

The low point: Just a bit, but the return of the Emperor.

I give Dark Empire a 4/5 ⭐️.

Buy, borrow or pass: I say buy.

I recommend this comic to Star Wars fans from old to new.

How would you rank this comic? Let me know below:

Thanks for reading and see you in the next one.

Yours,

Rein