Dark Empire

Last updated

Dark Empire
Darkempirei.jpg
Dark Empire I (Trade Paperback)
Publication information
Publisher Dark Horse Comics
ScheduleMonthly
Title(s) Dark Empire I
Dark Empire II
Empire's End
FormatsOriginal material for the series has been published as a set of limited series.
Genre
Publication dateDark Empire I
December 1991 – October 1992
Dark Empire II
December 1994 – May 1995
Empire's End
October–November 1995
Number of issuesDark Empire I: 6
Dark Empire II: 6
Empire's End: 2
Creative team
Writer(s) Tom Veitch
Artist(s)Dark Empire I and Dark Empire II
Cam Kennedy
Empire's End
Jim Baikie
Reprints
Collected editions
Dark Empire I ISBN   1-56971-073-2
Dark Empire Trilogy ISBN   1-59582-612-2

Dark Empire is a Star Wars comic book metaseries produced by Dark Horse Comics. It consists of a six-issue limited series written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Cam Kennedy, followed by a second six-issue limited series by Veitch and Kennedy, followed in turn by a two-issue limited series written by Veitch and drawn by Jim Baikie. The initial series is notable for being one of the first Star Wars comics to be produced by Dark Horse, which retained the comic rights to the franchise for over two decades.

Contents

Part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the trilogy picks up six years after the events of Return of the Jedi and just a year after Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy (1991–1993). The story deals with the resurrection of primary series antagonist Palpatine, revealed to have cheated death by transferring his spirit into a succession of cloned bodies. Other highlights include Luke Skywalker temporarily succumbing to the dark side of the Force, the return of Boba Fett (who seemingly died in Return of the Jedi), and the first appearance of Princess Leia and Han Solo's youngest son Anakin Solo.

The series received mixed-to-positive reviews, and is credited as helping revive interest in the franchise in the early 1990s. Audio dramas and action figures were produced, and the series has been referenced in various other Star Wars media. As of 2000, over 100,000 issues had been printed. Although the comic was amongst many works declared non-canon to the franchise in 2014, the final film of the Skywalker Saga, The Rise of Skywalker (2019), utilized the plot element of Palpatine returning via cloning.

Publication history

The Dark Empire I story was originally developed by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy for Marvel Comics. Veitch and Kennedy were approached by Lucasfilm based on their success with The Light and Darkness War . [1] [2] After difficulties with Marvel, the project was picked up by Dark Horse Comics. [3] According to Veitch, he pitched franchise creator George Lucas the idea of a different character wearing Darth Vader's armor, which Lucas rejected but said he would allow Palpatine's return, as well as his use of a clone body. [4] However, Star Wars Insider's series of retrospectives on the creation of the series in 2015 clarified that Veitch's editorial contact throughout the development of the series was Lucy Autrey Wilson. [5] [6] [7] This was further illuminated in 2022, when Wilson spoke about the development of the series, saying: "Tom Veitch, the story he wrote... You know, we were kind of letting people do what they wanted then. He wrote his story. I didn't ask George anything." [8] Lucas, after reading the trilogy, stated to Wilson that Palpatine would never have been cloned. [9]

Dark Empire I was a six-issue limited series published bimonthly in 1991 and 1992. Dark Empire II was also a six-issue limited series published from 1994 to 1995. The final installment, Empire's End, was a two-issue limited series published in 1995. The trilogy is set after Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, which was published from 1991 to 1993.

The individual comic issues each feature several pages of prose "endnotes" that provide additional background for the story, such as contextualizing Palpatine's goals and worldview through excerpts of encyclopedic volumes called the Dark Side Compendium written from his in-universe perspective. [10] [lower-alpha 1]

Collections

The various series have been collected into trade paperbacks:

The entire metaseries has also been collected into a single hardcover, which also includes Star Wars Handbook 3: Dark Empire, a collection of illustrated essays on the characters, locations, and other elements of the story:

It was collected again under Marvel's Epic Collection as Volume 5 of the New Republic series. This volume collects the three parts of the Dark Empire storyline, as well as some strips from Star Wars Tales, and the Star Wars Handbooks for X-Wing Squadron and Dark Empire (496 Pages, Marvel Comics, March 2021, ISBN   978-1302926984).

Plot

Dark Empire

Six years after the events of Return of the Jedi , [11] the Millennium Falcon leads a Rebel task force to Coruscant. Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and C-3PO are heading to the planet to rescue Luke Skywalker, R2-D2 and Lando Calrissian, who have spent the past several days holding out against Imperial attacks after an earlier raid using the captured Star Destroyer Liberator goes awry and the warship crashes. The Rebels successfully rescue the survivors, but a massive energy storm appears. Luke sees the storm as a large disturbance in the Force, and asks everybody to leave him behind; he lets himself be devoured by the storm.

The taskforce returns to the Rebel fleet in the Da Soocha system. Rebel commanders discuss the appearance of the Imperials coming out of the Deep Core and discover that Admiral Ackbar's homeworld of Mon Calamari is now under attack by a fleet of Imperial war machines. Called the World Devastators, the machines are designed to convert everything in their path into raw materials for building more war machines on the spot. Lando leads another taskforce with a second captured Star Destroyer leading the charge to aid in Mon Calamari's defense.

Meanwhile, Luke awakes from the light of the Force storm and finds out he is aboard an old Imperial prison ship heading to Byss. The ship docks and Luke is closely escorted to a chamber, where he is stunned to see Emperor Palpatine alive. The Emperor explains that he has revived himself in a clone body and makes Luke doubt any attempt to kill him knowing he will quickly manifest in another clone. Sensing the futility and seeing the horror of what is happening on Mon Calamari, Luke humbly surrenders to becoming the Emperor's new apprentice.

Leia has visions of Luke being pulled to the dark side of the Force and wants to travel to Byss and save him. She and Han travel to Nar Shaddaa and try to arrange a ship to bring them past Byss' security network. Han reunites with smuggler friends Shug Ninx, Salla Zend, and Mako Spince to make it happen. Along the way, an old woman named Vima-da-Boda—a former Jedi who survived the Empire's purge—feels Leia's Force energy and gives her an old Jedi artifact. However, the Hutts have put a large bounty on Han and Leia, with Spince selling him out to Boba Fett (revealed to have survived being devoured by the sarlacc during the events of Return of the Jedi); the two escape Nar Shaddaa aboard Salla's ship, the Starlight Intruder, with the Falcon attached. The Intruder has the proper codes to get inside Byss, and Imperial security lets them in (but lock out a pursuing Fett). Han, Leia, Chewie, and the droids are brought before Luke and Palpatine.

Leia discovers that he holds hostage an even greater treasure: a mysterious and intelligent artifact called the Jedi Holocron, a holographic cube that contains historical information about the Jedi. When Leia discovers that Palpatine is interested in possessing her third child, she steals the Holocron and the group successfully breaks out of Byss while having to leave behind Luke again. Luke faces the already frail Palpatine and destroys his clone tanks, but Palpatine possesses one living clone and subdues him to his will.

Han's group travels to Mon Calamari as Rebel commando forces lay siege to the World Devastators, which have been shut down by a special master code Luke was able to steal and give to R2 and C3PO for transmission to the machines. The Imperials aboard the machines still have the factories running and attack the Rebels. R2 rigs the World Devastators to destroy each other.

As the Rebels celebrate on Mon Calamari, Alliance command determines that the World Devastators are part of a larger Imperial offensive to conquer the galaxy. Leia studies the Holocron and sees an old prophecy about a pregnant woman coming to save the Jedi from doom. At the same time, a small Imperial fleet, led by the massive flagship Eclipse, appears above Da Soocha. The Emperor demands that the Alliance surrender Leia to him and Luke. Leia travels on her own and appeals to Luke to break away from the Emperor. Palpatine creates a large Force storm to destroy the Rebel fleet, but Leia and Luke work together to amplify the storm beyond the Emperor's power and turn it against him. The siblings escape the doomed warship, and as Luke sees the last remnants of the Eclipse being vaporized, he declares the Jedi Knights will rise again.

Dark Empire II

With Emperor Palpatine apparently perishing aboard the Eclipse, more worlds defy Imperial edicts, especially those that have been recently reconquered. One of these is the arms manufacturing planet Balmorra, whose planetary governor, Beltane, has begun supplying the Rebels with the latest military vehicles, such as the Viper X1 Automadon, a war droid designed to convert energy from enemy laser fire into power for its own turbolaser cannons. The Emperor's Dark Side Executor Sedriss leads a force to subdue the planet, but Beltane's troops hold the line and Sedriss is compelled to negotiate a supply agreement with him. Sedriss returns to Byss, where he kills two Dark Side Adepts who've been killing other clones of Emperor Palpatine that Luke missed. Palpatine possesses one clone to Sedriss' surprise and orders the Imperial offensive to continue.

Having pledged to reestablish the Jedi Order by finding any surviving Jedi in the galaxy, Luke Skywalker returns to Pinnacle Base on the moon Da Soocha V (orbiting Da Soocha in the Cyax System of Hutt Space of the Outer Rim) with Kam Solusar, a former Dark Jedi. Beltane tips the Rebel Alliance of a shipment of new Vipers bound for the Empire's Deep Core stronghold of Byss, and Alliance commanders accept Wedge Antilles' suggestion of intercepting the shipment for a surgical strike using the droids, with Rebel commandos in the attack. Although Luke presses for liberating more worlds to provide more staging areas for an all-out strike on Byss, Mon Mothma asks him to concentrate on rebuilding the Jedi Order instead. The Jedi Holocron educates Luke about the planet Ossus, a former Jedi-populated world destroyed by the Sith thousands of years earlier.

Han, Leia and Chewie fly back to Nar Shaddaa to find Vima-da-Boda, at least where Leia last saw her. However, Vima has disappeared and every bounty hunter on the moon is still out for them, including Boba Fett, as well as an Imperial force led by two Dark Side Elites. Leia successfully fetches Vima after flying into the deeper reaches of Nar Shaddaa. Aboard Nar Shaddaa's traffic control tower, Mako Spince sees Han and guides an Imperial Star Destroyer's tractor beam on him. Han turns the tables by flying close to the tower, forcing the tractor beam to lock onto the structure and pull it instead at full power. The tower impales the Star Destroyer and it crashes into Nar Shaddaa. Fett, back in his old ship Slave I, chases the Millennium Falcon into a nearby acidic gas cloud. Han takes the risk and flies into the cloud, surprisingly appearing on the other side and stumbling onto the long-lost world of Ganath. Ganathan engineers repair the Falcon and equip it with a lightning cannon while the team meets Ganath's ruler, Empatojayos Brand, a veteran Jedi who survived the Empire's Jedi Purge. Inspired by the possibility of a Jedi rebirth, Brand joins Han's party while leaving Ganath in the hands of a military officer. Han takes out Fett and heads to a secret hideout on New Alderaan, where Han and Leia's twin children are under care.

Luke and Kam fly to Ossus and chances upon the Ysanna, a warrior tribe which has rudimentary Force powers. They fight off the Ysanna attacks and sensing they are indeed Jedi, the Ysanna chief welcomes them. Having known about the trip, Palpatine orders Sedriss and fellow Dark Side Elite Vill Goir to capture them. Solusar kills Goir, but Sedriss takes one of the Ysanna hostage and leans against a tree. To everybody's surprise, the tree is a millennia-old Neti Jedi Master named Ood Bnar, who wraps Sedriss in a fatal embrace and they die in an explosion of Force energy. Bnar's heroic sacrifice leaves a part of him in the soil and a hole underneath his location reveals an old cache of lightsabers; Luke successfully discovers an old Jedi library. Two Ysanna tribe members, siblings Ralf and Jem, join Luke and Kam in leaving the planet with their elders' blessing.

Lando leads the Rebel infiltration into Byss and start the attack when the Viper droids are offloaded. The droids prove superior to existing Imperial defenses until Palpatine releases an army of dark side-mutated monsters on the attackers. The Vipers, which are attuned against energy attacks, are cut to shreds under the monsters' mauling. Salla Zend and Shug Ninx mobilizes fellow smugglers nearby to rescue the Rebel strike group and escape Byss.

On New Alderaan, Leia prepares for the birth of her third child as Han and Chewie attempt to rendezvous with Lando's group. Luke's party arrives with grim news: he had reached Da Soocha to see a large missile appear and destroy the planet, with the Rebel Alliance command presumably killed. He uses the time to train the Ysanna siblings as Kam and Empatojayos practice their Jedi skills as well. Unknown to them, Palpatine's Dark Side Elites have tortured a Rebel pilot into revealing the location of New Alderaan. Palpatine sees this as an opportunity to capture the Skywalker siblings and Leia's offspring in one fell swoop. The Darksiders attempt to poison Luke, but Vima saves him as the entire settlement goes into action to fight the Imperials, who have deployed AT-ATs as backup. In the course of the fighting, Jem is killed and Rayf saves Leia's twins from being kidnapped. The Millennium Falcon and Lando's forces arrive and defeat the Imperial assault, then evacuate the New Alderaan survivors.

The Rebels relocate to the space stations of Nespis VIII, where they discover that the Alliance had evacuated Pinnacle Base before it was destroyed. On Nespis VIII, Han and Leia's son Anakin (named after his deceased grandfather) is born and the Alliance plots the final destruction of the Empire.

Empire's End

After perishing in battle with Luke and Leia Skywalker in Dark Empire I, Emperor Palpatine is forced to occupy an inferior clone body, since it was the last clone body that remained. Unknown to him, his personal physician had been corrupted by Carnor Jax, backed by a number of other high-ranking Imperial personnel. The physician had deliberately inserted genetic material and contaminants into all stored samples of the Emperor's original body, to the effect that the resulting bodies would be nowhere as resistant to the ravaging effects of the dark side as the original.

The last clone body not destroyed by Skywalker or traitorous Imperials is now aging rapidly, and Palpatine's final end is near, unless he can either fix his genetic material (an impossibility since no unaltered samples remain) or insert his spirit into another body. After consulting with ancient Sith Lords on the mausoleum planet Korriban, Palpatine learns that Han and Leia's youngest child, Anakin, has the only workable body.

Palpatine follows the Solos to Onderon in order to gain a new body, to ensure the future of his rule. A fierce duel occurs between Luke Skywalker and his Jedi team and Palpatine; finally, Han Solo wrongly shoots the Emperor, allowing him to be out of his physical form and get what he wanted: Anakin's body. He desperately tries to send his spirit into the infant Anakin, but he is blocked by the soul of the dying Jedi Empatojayos Brand, who makes the ultimate sacrifice in willingly sending his eternal soul into the "madness beyond death" that is the dark side, to ensure Palpatine would go as well and can never return. Luke then vows to revive the Jedi Order. After the death of Palpatine, a projectile from the Galaxy Gun is shot into Byss (since the crew were frightened by the potential collision, and also misfired), utterly destroying Byss, and destroying the second Eclipse-class Star Destroyer, Eclipse II, which was steered into a collision course with the Galaxy Gun by R2-D2, thus ending the Empire's harsh rule.

Adaptations

In 1994 and 1995 respectively, Time Warner Audio Publishing released audio dramas of the first and second volumes of Dark Empire. The cast was:

Later in 1995, a Dark Empire: Collector's Edition CD set was released that collected the two Dark Empire audio dramas as well as an exclusive adaptation of Empire's End.

Impact

Along with Timothy Zahn's books, Dark Empire has been credited with sustaining the profitability of Star Wars during the 1990s. [12] By the end of the decade, it had sold over 100,000 copies. [13]

Kenner released four action figures based on the series in 1998: Luke, Leia, Palpatine, and an Imperial sentinel (originally intended to be a new character called 'Atha Prime' for Kenner's aborted 1984 'Power of the Force' line of toys); the cases for each of the figures folded out into 3-D backdrops based on the comic. [14] [15] [16] [17] In 2008, figures of Luke and Palpatine from Dark Empire II were released. [18] [19]

Dark Empire has appeared on a number of lists of best Expanded Universe works. [20] [21] In a review for The Sci-Fi Block, Robert Ring called the series "an essential Star Wars classic" but commented that the ending was rushed. [22] Writing for Tor.com , Ryan Britt stated that the first Dark Empire miniseries was superior to its sequels and praised it for taking stylistic departures from other works. [23]

The later Dark Horse comic Crimson Empire trilogy takes place after and references events from the Dark Empire trilogy.

Following its 2012 acquisition by Disney, in April 2014 Lucasfilm branded most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film as non-canonical 'Legends' to create a clean slate for the sequel trilogy. [24]

Following the release of the final sequel trilogy film, The Rise of Skywalker (2019), several critics interpreted the circumstances of Palpatine's return as amounting to a tribute to Dark Empire. [25] [26] [27] The film's novelization reveals that Palpatine returned using a clone body, much like his return in the comic. [28] Additionally, both the comic and film invoke the spirits of past Jedi to defeat Palpatine permanently. [29]

Although first glimpsed prior to Dark Empire in Marvel's Star Wars comic, [30] Boba Fett's survival was canonically depicted in the second season of The Mandalorian (2020) and its spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett (2022).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Leia</span> Fictional character in the Star Wars franchise

Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed in films by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the original Star Wars film in 1977, Leia is princess of the planet Alderaan, a member of the Imperial Senate and an agent of the Rebel Alliance. She thwarts the sinister Sith Lord Darth Vader and helps bring about the destruction of the Empire's cataclysmic superweapon, the Death Star. In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Leia commands a Rebel base and evades Vader as she falls in love with the smuggler Han Solo. In Return of the Jedi (1983), Leia helps in the operation to rescue Han from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt and is revealed to be Vader's daughter and the twin sister of Luke Skywalker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boba Fett</span> Fictional character in the Star Wars franchise

Boba Fett is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. First appearing in the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), where he was voiced by Don Francks, he is an armored bounty hunter featured in both the original and prequel film trilogies. In the original trilogy, the character is a supporting antagonist and was mainly portrayed by Jeremy Bulloch and voiced by Jason Wingreen. Notable for his taciturn demeanor and for never removing his helmet, Fett appears in both The Empire Strikes Back (1980), employed by the Galactic Empire, and Return of the Jedi (1983), serving the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. While seemingly killed in Return of the Jedi after falling into a sarlacc, he has since appeared in Star Wars media set after the film, confirming his survival, portrayed by Temuera Morrison. Daniel Logan plays a preteen Boba in the prequel film Attack of the Clones (2002), which reveals the character's origins as the genetic clone and adoptive son of Jango Fett, also a famous bounty hunter. Morrison appeared first in Star Wars media playing Jango. The animated series The Bad Batch further reveals Boba to have been born Alpha, and to have a biological twin sister, Omega. The series also reveals that he has another sister named Emerie Karr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Skywalker</span> Character in Star Wars

Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in Star Wars (1977), and he returned in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Over three decades later, Hamill returned as Luke in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, cameoing in The Force Awakens (2015) before playing a major role in The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He later played a digitally de-aged version of the character in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, appearing in the second-season finale, which premiered in 2020, and The Book of Boba Fett, in the sixth episode, released in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darth Vader</span> Fictional character in the Star Wars franchise

Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. Star Wars creator George Lucas has collectively referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader". Darth Vader has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and has been listed among the greatest villains and fictional characters ever. His masked face and helmet, in particular, is one of the most iconic character designs of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C-3PO</span> Robot character from the Star Wars universe

C-3PO or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the Star Wars franchise who appears in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. Built by Anakin Skywalker, C-3PO was designed as a protocol droid intended to assist in etiquette, customs, and translation, boasting that he is "fluent in over six million forms of communication". Along with his astromech droid counterpart and friend R2-D2, C-3PO provides comic relief within the narrative structure of the films, and serves as a foil. Anthony Daniels has portrayed the character in eleven of the twelve theatrical Star Wars films released to date, with the exception of Solo: A Star Wars Story, where the character does not appear.

Galactic Empire (<i>Star Wars</i>) Fictional state in the "Star Wars" galaxy

The Galactic Empire is a fictional autocracy featured in the Star Wars franchise. It was first introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars and appears in its two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). It is the main antagonistic faction of the original trilogy. An oppressive, autocratic regime with a complicated bureaucracy, the Galactic Empire seeks to ensure singular rule and social control over every planet and civilization within the galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mara Jade</span> Fictional character in Star Wars

Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. She appears in the now non-canon Legends series as the wife of Luke Skywalker and mother of Ben Skywalker. She has been voiced by Heidi Shannon, Edie Mirman and Kath Soucie in various Star Wars video games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skywalker family</span> Fictional family in the Star Wars series

The Skywalker family is a fictional legendary human family in the Star Wars franchise. Within the series' fictional universe, the Skywalkers are presented as a bloodline with strong inherent capabilities related to the Force and sometimes lightsaber skills. Luke Skywalker, his twin sister Princess Leia Organa, and their father Darth Vader are central characters in the original Star Wars film trilogy. Darth Vader, in his previous identity as Anakin Skywalker, is a lead character in the prequel film trilogy and so is his wife and the twins' mother Padmé Amidala; while his mother Shmi is a minor character in the first and second films respectively. Leia and Han Solo's son, Ben Solo, renamed himself Kylo Ren and is the main antagonist in the sequel film trilogy, while they and Luke serve as supporting characters. Shmi, Padmé, and Han are the only members who are not Force-sensitive. The Skywalker bloodline, alongside the Palpatine bloodline, are the two bloodlines that are the strongest with the Force.

<i>Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire</i> 1996 multimedia project created by Lucasfilm

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a 1996 multimedia project created by Lucasfilm. The idea was to create a story set between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and to explore all commercial possibilities of a full motion picture release without actually making a film. The venture was intended to reinvigorate interest in the franchise ahead of the theatrical Special Editions of the Star Wars trilogy released the following year.

Star Wars Infinities is a graphic novel trilogy published by Dark Horse Comics from 2002 to 2004. It tells a non-canon alternate version of each film in the original Star Wars trilogy in which a point of divergence occurs and changes the outcome of the story. Each individual Infinities story is unrelated to the others and is set within the timeline of their original film.

Young Jedi Knights is a Star Wars young adult fiction series by science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. It was published from 1995 to 1998. It covers the Jedi training of Jacen and Jaina Solo, the twin children of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. The series begins 23 years ABY, when the twins are fourteen years old.

<i>The Han Solo Trilogy</i>

The Han Solo Trilogy is a trilogy of now non-canon ('Legends') science-fiction novels set in the Star Wars galaxy. It follows Han Solo's origins and life before the events depicted in the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983). The trilogy was written by Ann C. Crispin, and released in June 1997, October 1997, and March 1998, respectively. The author stated that "Per Lucasfilm's request, I did not cover Han's time in the Imperial Academy, or his first meeting with Chewbacca"; these events were eventually depicted in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tag and Bink</span> Fictional character

Tag and Bink are the main characters in a Star Wars spoof series of comic books that parody the films. The characters were created by writer Kevin Rubio and artist Lucas Marangon. They are a pair of minor characters who deliberately or accidentally influence the events in the first and second film trilogies, whose activities explain some of the implausible events of the series. The title of their initial appearance—Tag & Bink Are Dead—is a reference to the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, itself titled after a line from Hamlet.

<i>Star Wars</i> comics Various comic books based on the Star Wars franchise

Star Wars comics have been produced by various comic book publishers since the debut of the 1977 film Star Wars. Marvel Comics launched its original series in 1977, beginning with a six-issue comic adaptation of the film and running for 107 issues, including an adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. Marvel also released an adaptation of Return of the Jedi and spin-offs based on Droids and Ewoks. A self-titled comic strip ran in American newspapers between 1979 and 1984. Blackthorne Publishing released a three-issue run of 3-D comics from 1987 to 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palpatine</span> Fictional character and Star Wars antagonist

Sheev Palpatine, also known by his Sith name Darth Sidious, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. Initially credited as the Emperor in the original trilogy films, he serves as the main antagonist of the nine-film Skywalker saga, in which he is portrayed by Ian McDiarmid. In creating Palpatine, Lucas was inspired by real-world examples of democratic backsliding during the rise and rule of dictators such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler.

<i>Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II</i> American TV series or program

"Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II" is a 2008 episode of the television comedy series Robot Chicken, and the sequel to the Annie Award winning "Robot Chicken Star Wars", which aired as a one-off special during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block on November 16, 2008. Like "Robot Chicken: Star Wars" it has been released on its own DVD, on July 21, 2009, and will not be part of a season box set. The DVD contains the original broadcast version, and the "Extended Version", which features an additional 15 minutes of footage cut from the broadcast version. It was nominated for a 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It's a Trap!</span> 18th episode of the 9th season of Family Guy

"It's a Trap!" is a direct-to-video special of the animated series Family Guy which later served as the double-episode season finale of the ninth season and is the final part of the series' Star Wars parody trilogy Laugh It Up, Fuzzball. It is named after the phrase uttered by Admiral Ackbar in the Star Wars film Return of the Jedi. The home video was first released on December 21, 2010, and later aired on Fox in the United States on May 22, 2011.

<i>Star Wars</i> (1977 comic book) Comic book series

Star Wars is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 12, 1977 to May 27, 1986. Featuring classic Star Wars characters Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2, the first six issues adapt the May 1977 film Star Wars. The series chronicled their subsequent adventures for 107 issues and three annuals, including a six-issue adaptation of the 1980 sequel film The Empire Strikes Back in 1980–1981. In 2019, the series was revived for a single issue.

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (1998) explains that while he was on Byss, Luke Skywalker read all three completed volumes of the hundreds the Emperor had planned. These are titled The Book of Anger, The Weakness of Inferiors, and The Creation of Monsters. [10]

Citations

  1. ↑ The Dark Empire Sourcebook , West End Games, 1st edition, 1993. Horne, Michael, ISBN   0-87431-194-2
  2. ↑ The Dark Side Sourcebook, Wizards of the Coast, 1st printing, 2001. Bill Slavicsek, J. D. Wiker, ISBN   0-7869-1849-7
  3. ↑ Cronin, Brian (November 29, 2007). "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #131". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 26, 2015.
  4. ↑ Bacon, Thomas (November 1, 2022). "Palpatine's Star Wars Resurrection Was George Lucas' Idea". Screen Rant . Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  5. ↑ Star Wars Insider 157. Titan Magazines. April 21, 2015.
  6. ↑ Star Wars Insider 158. Titan Magazines. June 9, 2015.
  7. ↑ Star Wars Insider 159. Titan Magazines. July 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Lucy Autrey Wilson: Director of the Expanded Universe and First Employee of Lucasfilm". March 30, 2022.
  9. ↑ Trent, John F. (November 4, 2022). "Former Lucasfilm Director Of Publishing Lucy Autrey Wilson Reveals George Lucas Informed Her 'The Emperor Would Never Have Been Cloned'". Bounding Into Comics. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Slavicsek 1994, p. 115.
  11. ↑ Windham, Ryder; Wallace, Daniel (2006). Allie, Scott; Simpson, Robert (eds.). Star Wars: The Comics Companion. Dark Horse Comics.
  12. ↑ Greene, Jamie (February 26, 2018). "How Dark Empire kickstarted Star Wars comics for a new generation". StarWars.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  13. ↑ "The Dark Empire Saga". StarWars.com. April 5, 2000. Archived from the original on April 8, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Luke Skywalker (The Power Of The Force)". Jedi Business. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Princess Leia Organa (The Power Of The Force)". Jedi Business. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Palpatine (The Power Of The Force)". Jedi Business. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Imperial Sentinel (The Power Of The Force)". Jedi Business. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Luke Skywalker (Dark Empire II)". Jedi Business. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Palpatine (Dark Empire II)". Jedi Business. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  20. ↑ Andersen, Andy (May 5, 2017). "Star Wars: 15 best stories that are no longer canon". ScreenRant. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  21. ↑ Martin, Tim (December 18, 2015). "Luke goes Dark: The 10 best Star Wars Expanded Universe stories". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  22. ↑ Ring, Robert (September 16, 2010). "Star Wars: Dark Empire Trilogy". The Sci-Fi Block. Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  23. ↑ Britt, Ryan (April 4, 2013). "Star Wars: Dark Empire is all about addiction". Tor. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  24. ↑ "The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns a New Page". StarWars.com. April 25, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  25. ↑ Nero, Dom (September 5, 2019). "Star Wars the Rise of Skywalker Palpatine twist might be spoiled in the Dark Empire comics". Esquire. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  26. ↑ Gonzales, Dave (December 19, 2019). "Answering the biggest questions about Palpatine's return to Star Wars". Polygon. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  27. ↑ Britt, Ryan (December 20, 2019). "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker easter eggs & references". Vulture. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  28. ↑ Bacon, Thomas (February 29, 2020). "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Book Confirms Palpatine Was A Clone!". ScreenRant. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  29. ↑ Miller, David (January 24, 2023). "All 5 Ways Emperor Palpatine Has Died In Star Wars Canon & Legends". ScreenRant. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Fett, Boba". Star Wars Databank . Lucasfilm. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved February 7, 2022.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.