SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE #S 1-6

This comic takes place between The Empire Strikes Back (ESB) and The Return of the Jedi (RotJ).

The Rebel fleet is in tatters, and Luke Skywalker has just faced Darth Vader, who claims to be his father. Han Solo is also missing -- a captive of Boba Fett, who is on his way with Han to Jabba The Hutt on Tatooine. Emperor Palpatine has plans for the destruction of the Rebellion, and inlists the vast might of the criminal underworld that is Black Sun, lead by Prince Xizor.

I loved this story and the characters that have been introduced, it fills in a lot of holes that occurred between ESB and RotJ -- how Luke became so strong in the Force, how Leia got the Boushh costume and how Fett faired in his journey to Jabba.

Their are a few new characters introduced -- Dash Rendar: he is not seen much in the comic book, and is a total Han Solo ripoff. Dash is a rough looking smuggler who follows no one but has a sensitive side to him. Dash is featured more promontly in the novel; Prince Xizor: another alien to add to the huge Star Wars Universe, but this one has huge character. An unassuming, but deadly crime lord, Xizor would be great to look at in depth in another novel or comic series; and Guri: her strength is not shown in the comics, but she is an interesting character -- not just a tag along bodyguard for Xizor. The book delves deeper into her characterisation, and the new comic series SOTE: Evolution helps this along.

This comic series falls under the Lucasfilm marketing shadow, in that to enjoy the SOTE storyline to its fullest, one should read the novel and complete the computer game. Each has its own details that are now seen in the comic book series. Appreciation really does follow though, once you have looked at all the other mediums. This is really only something that a hardcore fan may accomplish, but the comic series does give a good read for the avid reader who is interested in the Star Wars Trilogy, but seems to lack a bit of detail for the hardcore Star Wars junky. Basically the comic needed more detail. The art is accurate and detailed, but lacks real quality. For such a big multimedia event, I would have liked to see a better artist handle the chores.

Read the book, then the comics. This comic series is enjoyable for anyone who wants to know more about the details of the Trilogy after they saw it, but lacks true depth for an avid Star Wars fan.

4/5 lightsabers