Lit Star Wars must-read novels or comics?

So beyond the obvious Thrawn Trilogy (and i guess NJO, and Dark Empire for the art, the story is just awful but Cam Kennedy really captures star wars well in his style) what are your top must-reads for Star Wars

 

Novels
Shatterpoint
X-Wing Series including I, Jedi
Kenobi
Shadows of Mindor
Cloak of Deception
Knight Errant
Lost Tribe of the Sith Collection
Hand of Thrawn

Comics
X-Wing
Crossbones
Republic
Dark Times
Legacy
KOTOR
Knight Errant
Empire and Rebellion

 

Since you've already covered the obvious in the OP (but I do love the Dark Empire art, dagnabit!) my must read is "Tag and Bink Are Dead" because it's meta-goodness and super-funny. Manny Both Hans 4 evah.

And I flat out love the first two issues of Marvel's "Star Wars" so far. Great comic-booking that also has Star Wars characters in it!

 

The X-wing comics story just isnt interesting at all to me. It pretty much takes a nose dive after Fel, Empire and Rebellion were a bit campy at times but they are worth reading.

Never even heard of crossbones until now

 

This. I'd add Darth Plagueis, A new dawn, the dark lord trilogy, yoda dark randezvous for novels; agent of the empire and star wara tales for comics.

 

Agent is sadly too short to be consider "must read" for me though it really is very good, the others also a little weaker than "must read"

 

Novels
1. Kenobi
2. Knight Errant
3. Lost Tribe of the Sith Omnibus
4. A New Dawn
5. Darth Plagueis
6. Revenge of the Sith novel
7. Han Solo Adventures
8. Han Solo Trilogy
9. Survivor's Quest
10. Outbound Flight
11. Hand of Thrawn
12. Cloak of Deception
13. Tales of the Bounty Hunters
14. Tales of the New Republic

Comics

1. Knights of the Old Republic
2. Knight Errant
3. Legacy v.1 and v.2
4. Republic (especially The Clone Wars)
5. Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction
6. Tales of the Jedi

 

A few things I'd add:
-Shadows of the Empire. It isn't the best written book ever, but it is a great story that integrates much better than most novels into the Saga.
-Classic Star Wars graphic novels. These bridge the gap between ANH and ESB better than anything else, in my opinion. Poke around for the special issues not included in the trades either (specifically, a few of the Russ Manning strips).

I'd second pretty much everything else on here that I've read, but I'm going to add a plug to the NEU. If you do it as an all or nothing sort of thing, it's very rewarding. That means...
-Star Wars Rebels
-A New Dawn
-Tarkin
-Star Wars comic series
-Darth Vader comic series
As well as following upcoming material like the Princess Leia and Kanan comics, and all the new novels. I'm not sure if youre interested in the NEU though.

 

Dark Empire.
Tales Of The Jedi.
ANH novel
ROTJ novel
ROTS novel
Solo Trilogy
Splinter of the Mind's Eye despite the creepy "we did not make them siblings yet" thing.
Kenobi by JJ Miller
Plagueis

Everything else is ok to horrid.

 

The must-reads are as follows:

Knights of the Old Republic (the comic series . . . the games are must-play, too)
Jedi vs. Sith
Darth Plagueis
Cloak of Deception
Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
Republic: Twilight, Darkness, The Stark Hyperspace War, Rite of Passage, Honor and Duty, and the entire Clone Wars run, including the Jedi issues and Obsession (essentially the whole series . . . just go ahead and get all the prequel Omnibuses)
Jango Fett: Open Seasons
Rogue Planet
Outbound Flight
Shatterpoint
Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
Labyrinth of Evil
Revenge of the Sith novelization
The Han Solo Trilogy
The Han Solo Adventures
Empire (I could pick out standout arcs but basically all of the series)
Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
The Marvel Star Wars comic series
The Goodwin/Williamson newspaper strip run, collected under the "Classic Star Wars" title (not Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures, the Russ Manning run -- the rest of them)
Rebellion
Tales of the Bounty Hunters
Shadows of the Empire (the novel; the comic is ultimately not essential)
Tales from Jabba's Palace
Tales from the Empire
Tales from the New Republic
X-wing Rogue Squadron (the X-wing comic series)
Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction
Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
X-wing novel series
The Thrawn Trilogy
Dark Empire series
I, Jedi
The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy
The Hand of Thrawn Duology
Survivor's Quest
The New Jedi Order series
Chewbacca
Legacy
Tales (the comic anthology)


And if you think that's long, you should see the recommended list.

 

Worthless list without the Lando Adventures Havac Especially if the mess that is Black Fleet somehow made it on there, where the only good part actually is Lando.

 

They'd make the recommended list.

 

How can comics and books not yet released be "must reads"?

 

The Daley novels are all you need (not really, but they are impressive).

 

I was simply saying that if he wanted to delve into the NEU, my suggestion would be to do it on all fronts, without excluding anything. So, to that end I included upcoming releases to help guide him, if he was so inclined.

 

I shall echo the Republic comics, Labyrinth of Evil, Kenobi, and I'll throw in the Clone Wars Adventures comics as well. They're a good light-hearted complement to the more serious Republic comics, and they have great little character stories. But they also pack huge emotional punches (especially about the Clones).

 

There are several eu stories that i think are essential. Here's some of my favorites.

Books.
1. Darth Plageius
2. Kenobi
3. Labyrinth of Evil
4. Thrawn Trilogy
5. Shatterpoint
6. Darth Bane: Path of Destruction

Comics.
1. Republic comics
2. Jango Fett Open Season
3. Empire: Betrayal
4. Crimson Empire
5. Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison
6. Star Wars: Darth Maul

This is just what I read so far, as I'm reading through a good chunk of the EU.

 

There aren't any. The old stuff is meaningless now, and nothing in the new canon has been what I've considered a "must-read" so far.

 

Okay I've given this some thought and I have a short list of things that aren't on every fan's list:

Jedi V.s Sith (Essential Guide)
Path of the Jedi
Book of Sith
Knights of the Old Republic Companion
Lost Tribe of the Sith
Tales of the Jedi (Veitch/Anderson)

These books represent a vast store of legend and mythology that is really fun to dive into.

The Star Wars (based on GL's first draft from 1974)

Crossbones (Really fun comic that doesn't fit into any major arcs)

Classic Star Wars (Al Williams)

Marvel SW Vol 1 #100-#107 (An aborted arc but great art & fun storyline)

Ezra's Gamble (Surprisingly gritty Bounty Hunter storyline and mature tone)

Servants of the Empire (Also surprisingly serious for a YA book.)


The Force Unleashed (Fun easy to read novel that strongly recalls ADF's novelization of ANH)

 

For old comics, you gotta have the old stuff such as Freedon Nadd, anything with Nomi Sunrider. Also the original 1977-1980s Marvel Comics Star Wars

 

Plagueis, Cloak of Deception, Labyrinth of Evil, ROTS novelization