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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Comics Dark Empire Trilogy

Discussion in 'Literature' started by DarthDeviousTX, Jun 3, 2011.

  1. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2012
    I believe this was also the first thing depicted that actually linked Palpatine to the Sith.
     
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  2. AV-6R7

    AV-6R7 Jedi Knight star 2

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    Dec 9, 2014
    I’ve just started down the Dark Empire rabbit hole again after listening to the audios years ago.

    Luckily, those late EU reference books have helped make sense of the madness.
     
  3. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Do you know Empire's End also got an audio version?
     
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  4. AV-6R7

    AV-6R7 Jedi Knight star 2

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    Dec 9, 2014
    Yeah, I got all, and I mean all, the Star Wars audio dramas through a Humble Bundle years ago. I listened to all three.
     
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  5. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

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    Jul 19, 1999
    Neat that they managed to include then, it had quite a low-profile.
     
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  6. vong333

    vong333 Force Ghost star 5

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    Oct 18, 2003
    That was an awesome comic book series and one of the best all timers. I'm going to read them this weekend just to remind myself how awesome they were when they first came out. Bi-monthly issues, couldn't wait for the two months to pass to get the next issue.
     
  7. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2007
    I'm still amazed at how well Dark Empire Palpatine fits with the prequels (and I doubt Lucas was thinking about Dark Empire much when he wrote them). Honestly Palpatine being thrown off the edge by Anakin on the second Death Star is a bit pathetic. DE had it that he survived through a clone, and it ties into his "promise" of immortality to Anakin in RotS, and that fits better with the scheming chessmaster he was during the prequel era.

    I also like how it shifts the trials Luke has to go through. Luke resisted at Endor and his father finished off Palpatine, but now Palpatine openly announces that death doesn't bother him much anymore, so Luke has to pretend to work for him to get to the clones. Palpatine doesn't care that Luke sabotages the Battle of Mon Calamari, he's got plenty more ships and weapons in reserve, wearing down Luke is the more important thing.

    Dark Empire had some regular sequel problems (Boba Fett coming back, Han still on the run from Hutts, etc.), and they really should've stopped with just Dark Empire (I), but well, success sells and all that. I don't care about the current Marvel comics is because most of them are boring. A main Star Wars series that focus on the big three post-Yavin, been there, done that. And with all of Marvel's resources, we're stuck looking at tracing?

    Dark Empire was unique, and I don't think anyone can (or even should try) to recreate that success. Not the early 90s', but even up until the reboot, it felt like other big things could happen outside of the movies (even during the prequel era), now most tie-in media is just stalling for time until the next sequel (or spin-off or whatever).
     
  8. Darth Invictus

    Darth Invictus Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Aug 8, 2016
    Also Dark Empire and the Darth Plagueis novel work together as well.

    Palpatine's innate evilness and darkness, the use of clones and essence transfer as a short of shortcut to immortality, among other similiarities.
     
  9. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Sep 7, 2012
    I doubt that Lucas was directly thinking about Dark Empire when writing the prequels but I am sure they were rattling around in the back of his mind, especially for ROTS when we know he was having a hard time writing the script and directly referenced later Dark Horse comics.

    Speaking of Luceno books, he actually tied Dark Empire into ROTS through Labyrinth of Evil, when it's implied that Grievous's sneak attack on Coruscant was possible because Sidious gave him the same secret hyperspace charts of the Deep Core that let him later launch Shadow Hand in the DE era.

    And then in the Tarkin novel Luceno also brought the Deep Core Security Zone and Palpatine's secret mapping of the Deep Core hyper-routes back into the Disney Canon.
     
  10. TheAvengerButton

    TheAvengerButton Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 11, 2011
    Does anyone know where I can find a copy of the Dark Empire trilogy hardcover that isn't ridiculously expensive? I have them all in their original TPB form but I thought the hardcover would be nicer.
     
  11. sidv88

    sidv88 Force Ghost star 5

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    Aug 22, 2005
    I have the hardcopy--it would be almost perfect except there is a grievous dating error in the pages that says DE takes place 10 years after ROTJ.... :( Enjoy your TPB's, they don't have this error...
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2018
  12. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    How important are dimensions to you? As your TPBs will be a bit larger than the collected HC in all likelihood.

    Plus, I don't know if it has the DE1 endnotes too.
     
  13. sidv88

    sidv88 Force Ghost star 5

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    Aug 22, 2005
    I'll have to check, but I don't remember the trilogy having the DE1 endnotes. It has the DE handbook though.
     
  14. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Damn, that'd be a good news / bad news set-up if so - you get this, you don't get that.
     
  15. TheAvengerButton

    TheAvengerButton Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 11, 2011
    Well that's a shame. I like the endnotes.

    I think the main draw for me with the hardcover is just having a new copy that's not going to fall apart as easily as the TPBs do. And it will look nicer.
     
  16. Dr. Steve Brule

    Dr. Steve Brule Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Sep 7, 2012
    It's a shame the DE endnotes aren't still on the official site. That being said, they're mainly of interest for the sneak peak at the early ideas of Tales of the Jedi more than anything - the stuff that actually sets up the post-ROTJ era was kind of padding, even back in the early 90s. The TOTJ references from the endnotes actually get worked into the DE audio adaptations, as I recall.

    Another bit of note - the DE endnotes not only work stuff from the Thrawn Trilogy into the DE backstory, they also reference the events of Glove of Darth Vader, including a reference to Zorba prior to him actually appearing in the Glove books.

    Actually on that topic, the DE Handbook came out only a few months after TPM and it's one of the early works to integrate stuff from the prequels into the post-ROTJ continuity (it mentions how the Trade Federation built up the Duros Sector on Nar Shaddaa prior to the Clone Wars and after the fall of the Federation, many Neimoidians moved there and claimed to be Duros to escape the stigma).
     
  17. AV-6R7

    AV-6R7 Jedi Knight star 2

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    Dec 9, 2014
    Just finished reading through the first Dark Empire miniseries. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but from what I’ve heard, its all down hill from here.
     
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  18. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

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    Jul 19, 1999
    DE2 is a pretty damn good sequel, with one of the strongest openings you'll ever read - it's nuts and brilliant.
     
  19. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

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    Feb 9, 2007
    Yeah, I loved the DE2 opening. I wish more comics and stories had scenes like that, that feels like what post-Empire should feel like. I know the art style is like it or not, and I still wish they had just stopped with the first Dark Empire, but DE2 isn't really bad, at least by itself. Just more... unnecessary. The fact that the conclusion, Empire's End, fell apart (different artist and really really rushed) is a separate matter from DE2.
     
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  20. TheAvengerButton

    TheAvengerButton Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 11, 2011
    One of the things I dislike about DE2 was that the Nar Shaddaa stuff was kind of rehash-y. But other than that everything was golden.
     
  21. AV-6R7

    AV-6R7 Jedi Knight star 2

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    Dec 9, 2014
    I have some difficulty separating the events of the three series in my head, since I listened to the audios in one go. Turns out that bundle didn’t have Empire’s End after all, so I must have resorted to dubious methods to obtain it.
     
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  22. AV-6R7

    AV-6R7 Jedi Knight star 2

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    Dec 9, 2014
    Just finished Dark Empire II; it started strong, but really started losing steam early on. The Dark Side Elite were squandered, as were the dark troopers. Steampunk aliens, spacefaring fruit bats, this series was just too out there.

    I felt NOTHING when Jem died, and I struggle to see what, if anything, she brought to the story other than another girl Luke knew for an hour and got killed off by a random mook. I also don't like how we're tripping over Jedi at this point, though at least the audio thought to actually explain where in Malachor Solusar came from. Also, how did the Alliance know to evacuate the Pinnacle Moon? It just seems really lazy all around.

    Well, at least Empire's End is only two issues long.

    EDIT: And that's Empire's End. I actually like Cam Kennedy's art style, so I did not care for the art shift. At least Palpatine kills some Jedi before he died. Also, they never did revive those Ossus elders, did they?

    Overall, Dark Empire started strong but really just became dumb. I still liked the first miniseries though, and there are some elements of Dark Empire II that were interesting. It may be nostalgia talking, but I think the audio dramas did it better.

    Also, thank god for sourcebooks being able to hammer this mess into continuity.

    Long live the New Republic.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2018
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  23. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

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    Jul 19, 1999
    This is what the fabled story of Lightsider would have covered.

    I... er.... know a guy. Honest dude. Been, er, "brokering" copies for years.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2018
  24. AV-6R7

    AV-6R7 Jedi Knight star 2

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    Dec 9, 2014
    I've heard rumors that it could come out this year; it there any truth to this?

    Also, just realized that our heroes totally biffed the whole saving the Ysanna elders from carbonite thing.
     
  25. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Not that I know of. I have MP3 copies of EE from the CD and I've shared that with people over the years.