No.28927 [Last50 Posts]
Written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Cam Kennedy
>Six years after the Battle of Endor, the fight for freedom rages on. Darth Vader is dead, but a reborn Empire—under a mysterious new leader—strikes back at the struggling Rebel Alliance. Massive World Devastators, more powerful and unstoppable than the Death Star, ravage entire planets, while the ruthless heirs of Jabba the Hutt place a monumental price on the heads of Princess Leia and her husband, Han Solo. Along with Lando, Chewbacca, Artoo, Threepio, and other old allies, Han and Leia struggle to protect the future for their unborn child. But their greatest foe may be their closest friend: Luke Skywalker…
This will be a storytime of six issues from 1992. I will refrain from commenting on the story in the same posts as the pages themselves as since I probably wont like them, that would distract from people reading the pages and forming their own opinions. Hopefully with the actual comic being present, we can have a better conversation about this series.
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No.28928
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No.28929
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No.28930
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No.28931
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No.28932
>>28931
End of Issue #1 of 6
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No.28934
>>28928
>>28929
>>28930
>>28931
>>28932
My first criticism lies with the art. Although I know that the art is not the same thing as the story, comics are a visual medium just like film, so I think that the visuals matter. The coloring of this comic truly baffles me. I don't understand what they were trying to convey aside from perhaps nausea. Blues, oranges, violets, greens, reds randomly seem to act as filters through which we see the characters and the settings. On one page Han's face is orange, on the next it's green. For seemingly no reason. The actual penciling isn't terrible, while the characters look a bit off, I can at least recognize them, but the coloring itself automatically makes me less sympathetic to the narrative that is being told. I'd rather read a novel than look at this art.
As for the story it starts out with a familar scene, which I find tedious. Han and Leia and 3PO, and all the usual banter that comes from such a pairing, including the inevitable, "Shut up/sit-down/kill yourself, 3PO" Which I've seen in the movies, in the novels, in the comics, and probably even in my dreams. I never need to see this scenario ever again.
So anyways, we have our movie characters coming out of hyperspace and flying through a lot of wreckage, all ships from the movies. They're here to rescue Luke and Lando because their ship crashed while fighting parts of the Imperial remnant or something. The premise is inherently boring to me, movie characters, movie factions, movie plots. We've seen this before, and seen it in a much more visually appealing way.
There's some new imperial fighters instead of ties I guess, I can't really tell what they look like.
We're given glimpses of a battle where everyone blends together, rebel and imperial alike, they're all blue on a brown and pink background.
The comic tells me Leia is a Jedi Warrior, I don't buy it.
>Wedge Antilles
More movie characters, cool.
Luke has apparently gone AWAL, and was muttering something about the Dark Side to Lando, Lando and the Rebels are of course fine. Some scavengers that are horrible looking, like everything else in this comic, attack. Green dogs too. Leia abuses animals with the force. Luke shows up and saves the day, for some reason he's cosplaying as Darth Vader. He tells us that evil is coming, then a giant storm comes out of hyperspace or something. Luke tells everyone that the storm just wants him, so this is a sentient storm. Everyone leaves except for R2 and Luke. The storm engulfs Luke and sucks him up. That's it for the first issue.
There's not much to discuss plotwise.
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No.28936
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No.28937
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No.28938
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No.28939
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No.28940
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No.28941
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No.28946
>>28936
>>28937
>>28938
>>28939
>>28940
>>28941
In the second issue the art is just as unbearable as before. The opening scene is more unoriginal movie shit, Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar discussing Luke, Leia, Han, and Lando. Maybe this read differently i the early 90s, and people were starving for content showing these characters, but reading it now, it's awful and uninteresting. I don't need to see the same characters from the movies doing the same things they were doing in the movies, I could just watch the movies if I wanted to see that.
The Ixlls, alien carrier pigeons are alright. I like those.
We then get info about some new "Dark Side Genius" who is making new super weapons. World Devastators, they crush stuff. I don't actually have any problem with this concept, I just don't find it interesting either, we get quite a few pages showing these things off. I'm not impressed, it takes little effort to make up a new super weapon, what gets me to care about super weapons is what impact they have on the plot or on characters we care about. They seem to just exist so there will be things to blow up. I know Ackbar is saying they're even more dangerous than the Death Star, but so was Starkiller and that shit sucked. Bigger and badder super weapons just aren't that compelling.
Luke is obviously still alive and he's in an "Imperial Dungeon ship, the kind they used to transport Jedi Knights during the clone wars" lol, too bad that doesn't make any sense at all in the context of the Prequels. Luke gets put in a Jedi cage. As he is transported through this strange place, he feels the dark side growing, and then we have the big reveal. The Emperor is back.
According to the Emperor he has died and revived himself many times. The dark side apparently destroys his body so he has to keep on replacing it with clones. So he's basically immortal, that sure makes the ending of Return of the Jedi pretty anti-climatic. The Empire is back, and the Emperor is back, and nothing has changed from the OT, guess it's okay so long as it's not Disney doing it.
The Emperor tells Luke to join him now that his dad is dead and he needs a new apprentice. He tells Luke that Luke can't do shit to stop him since he's immortal, so Luke kneels down and says, "My father's destiny is my own." Now as stupid as this is, I'm not going to bitch about it because we all know it's not gonna last and it's just a dumb plot contrivance so this stupid story can take place.
That's it for Issue 2.
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No.28947
>>28946
>unbearable art
Right from the outset. Really? What's the problem, color palette too exotic for you?
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No.28950
>>28947
You could read the posts in this thread before responding and then maybe you'd understand. The color palette isn't exotic, it's nonsensical. You can claim that I'm just too much of a pleb to understand why randomly filtering everything through green and orange is brilliant visual storytelling, but I'm not going to be too moved by such an argument.
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No.28952
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No.28953
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No.28954
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No.28955
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No.28956
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No.28958
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No.28959
>>28950
I'll admit I'm okay with the trippy visuals presented here- but they do have their issues, like the characters not contrasting quite enough with the background and such and it looking like they just drew over a tie-dye shirt in some scenes. Luckily it seems like they gradually fixed those faults with the artwork as the series went on, and by Dark Empire 2 they more or less figured it out.
As for my opinion on the story itself, I found the first few issues satisfactory. I suppose I'll go into more detail as to what I think once I've read the whole thing. after I've finished with plagueis of course
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No.28960
>>28952
>>28953
>>28954
>>28955
>>28956
>>28958
The first few pages of the third issue are a battle sequence. In a movie, or in a comic with art that is pleasant to look at, this would be a kinetic and action packed scene there mainly as eye candy. Here, I don't know what it is.
We're finally treated to our first original named character, a Commander Klev of the Empire. I don't remember this character from the last time I read this, so I imagine that means he's just canon fodder. He seems very arrogant, so I guess he's another discount Tarkin without the charisma.
>Supreme Commander Skywalker
How edgy. I guess J. J. was a fan of this comic and this is where he got the Supreme Leader thing from.
I do like this scene of the Mon Calamari defending their planet, shame we didn't actually get any decent world building for them or the planet itself, we're just told we should care about it in the same way we're told we should care about those three planets getting blown up in The Farce Awakens, instead of being shown why we should care. At least Mon Calamari are automatically more likeable than that random Black woman senator we see in that movie, though.
Leia has a conversation without appears to be a ghost of Vader, but is actually Luke. What a twist. He's decided to beat the dark side by becoming the dark side, very compelling philosophy. Right up there with, "if you kill your enemies, they win!" Oh wait, that is the philosophy of this comic as the Emperor is now immortal.
I like the ship you see in the panel where Han is talking about new fighters, can't tell which one is which, tho.
Millennium Falcon goes to Nar Shadda and for some reason the Slave 1 is floating up in space there. There's another new character named Ninx who has shit on his face or something. A little bit of action.
Oh wow, Han seems to have a black ex-girlfriend in this comic. Looks like Disney was heavily inspired by Dark Empire.
A homeless ex-Jedi named Vima gives Leia something. Maybe Vima will be interesting? I don't know, I don't remember her at all. Re-reading this comic is making me realize how forgettable this whole series was.
Oh, and a droid tells Han that a Mr. Fett wants to see him. Is Boba Fett in this series? I genuinely don't remember any of this.
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No.28963
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No.28964
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No.28965
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No.28966
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No.28967
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No.28968
>>28967
End of Issue #4 of 6
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No.28969
>>28963
>>28964
>>28965
>>28966
>>28967
>>28968
So Boba Fett is in this comic, and he's repeating his plotline from Empire Strikes Back. This is exactly what I'm talking about with the boring movie shit. This story is more like a remake of the movies than a sequel to the movies, all the characters are acting the same, doing the same stuff, and following the same acts, just with slight variations. Luke is now both himself and Vader this time. This sort of stuff is the least interesting aspect of the EU to me. The EU excels when it is expanding the universe and telling new stories, not when it is cannibalizing the films.
Anyways, Boba is hunting Han for some Hutts and he completely blows at his job, so much so that he's working with fucking Dengar, lol. (Yeah, I know Dengar and Fett interacted in that Bounty Hunter trilogy or whatever, I remember that series being bad as well, but that's a thread for another day) Fett accidentally kills one of the Hutts because he's a retard now. Fett is also flying the Slave II which is one ugly goddamn ship, and getting chastised by Dengar.
Leia's gift from the Jedi was a lightsaber, guess she's gonna do some fighting in this comic. Cool?
The Imperial fleet over Calamari is getting shut down remotely from Byss, the planet where Luke is at. Gee, I wonder what's going on with that.
Lmao, Fett is taking orders from Dengar and getting called an idiot. I guess Boba Fett is the new comic relief character. What a wonderful addition to the plot.
Han and Leia get captured by the Empire, and Luke is a prick to them. Leia swings her new lightsaber around a bit and the Emperor disintegrates it? The Emperor monologues about his immortality and repeats a lot of the same shit he said in Return of the Jedi. Leia gets force zapped
Luke talks ambiguously about saving the galaxy as Han rages at him. This is really bad storytelling, anyone who isn't a toddler can understand that Luke is playing the long game and he hasn't actually turned evil. I genuinely don't get what you all like about this story. This thread would be the perfect place to elaborate on what you believe is good about this comic.
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No.28971
>boring movie shit
You mean like what was in the good movies, but done with some interesting variation, as opposed to the Disney tripe? I'm getting the feeling that you don't actually like Star Wars that much if material that's like Star Wars earns a thread full of complaint.
>Boba Fett actually does something
>this is "boring movie shit"
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No.28972
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No.28973
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No.28974
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No.28975
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No.28976
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No.28977
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No.28978
>>28971
>I'm getting the feeling that you don't actually like Star Wars that much
If I didn't like Star Wars I wouldn't post on this board so much and I certainly wouldn't waste my time making this thread. I love Star Wars, and it's because I love Star Wars, that I love when it's good. I want it to be good. I want every comic to be great. I don't go into any Star Wars book, or comic, or video game wanting to hate it, I look for what I like about it, that's why even in my posts hating on this comic, I point out the small bits I like, like the Mon Calamari defending their planet. I like that bit because it's something we haven't seen before.
>You mean like what was in the good movies, but done with some interesting variation, as opposed to the Disney tripe?
What variation? Han and Leia and Lando are all acting exactly the same as they do in the movies, they are doing the same things. The only character that you could argue does anything different is Luke, but he's really just sucking up Vader's part in the movies since they can't use Vader anymore because Lucas told them no. The Emperor is still pure evil and he still wants to convert Luke, and Leia as well, to his cause. Boba Fett is back and doing the same thing he was before with no variation except he's worse at his job.
>as opposed to the Disney tripe?
To me, in spirit, this is the exact same thing as The Farce Awakens. It doesn't have to overt political agenda that Disney Wars has, but from a storytelling and artistic perspective, it's just like The Farce Awakens. You may not realize this because you've seen Star Wars so many times, but when Lucas made those movies they were fresh. We were seeing Luke, Han, Leia, and Vader all for the first time. We were hearing original dialogue, original music, seeing original space ships, and experiencing original set pieces, the millennium falcon turret scene was playing off nostalgia, it was brand new! That's why I like the Prequels, because they were also new. Instead of remaking the narrative of the OT, Lucas decided to tell a classical tragedy. We got new characters (everyone who appeared in the OT was now in a different stage of their life and acted originally, Palpatine for example was incredibly fresh and fun to watch) new vehicles, new music, new factions, new everything. Star Wars should be that, it should be fresh. It shouldn't just be a gimmick where we see stormtroopers and x-wings and familiar faces, it should take us to new places in this galaxy far far away. It should spark your imagination, not tickle your old memories.
To me, Dark Empire is unoriginal, and that's its biggest crime.
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No.28979
>>28978
wasn't playing off nostalgia, I should say. There are a few typos in this post.
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No.28980
>>28972
>>28973
>>28974
>>28975
>>28976
>>28977
There are a few things I like in this conversation between Leia and the Emperor, his line about entering the mind of the child in her womb is creepy and disturbing and I think it works in the context of the story. It's a good bit, but it's not so great that it justifies this whole story existing.
Also, the Emperor is apparently retarded as he seems to be shocked that Leia stole the Holocron.
Luke then reveals the obvious, that this is all an elaborate plan to destroy the Empire for good. I'm sure no one reading this comic saw that coming.
The end of the comic is Palpatine changing bodies and being reborn in a clone. He then has a duel with Luke, and wins. For what it's worth, the visuals here of the naked clone are good. It's one of the few spots in this comic where the coloring works for me as the green gives an eerie feeling to a scene which is obviously unnatural and disturbing.
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No.28981
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No.28982
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No.28983
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No.28984
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No.28985
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No.28986
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No.28987
>>28981
>>28982
>>28983
>>28984
>>28985
>>28986
And the comic ends where Return of the Jedi ended. The Emperor is dead, although by this comic's own logic he could return at any point in the future, and Luke now wants to create a new Jedi Order. Honestly, there's nothing more for me to say as I think my reasons for disliking this series are very clear. It adds nothing to the greater universe (except maybe holocrons, is this the first appearance of holocrons?) and it makes the ending of ROTJ less impactful if you take this story seriously. Thankfully, everything in story can easily be ignored as none of the characters underwent any actual change and the entire narrative changed nothing. If you were to remove this story from existence, no one reading the EU would actually be confused, as everything that happens here can be summed up as, "The Emperor came back, and then we killed him again, the end." What a wonderful and worthwhile story.
I look forward to hearing what people say they liked about it.
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No.29006
>>28987
I like the story mostly for the narrative it establishes for the Imperial Remnant. Granted much of this story had to be worked into the EU timeline after the fact so it is understandable why it is poorly received. I like the Imperial Civil War and I love the tone of Palpatine's Dark Empire. I have a big soft spot for all the super weapons in Dark Empire as well. World Devastators, the Eclipse, that huge HK probe droid, and the assorted star dreadnoughts really catch my fancy. I'm not saying that because a bunch of them got better looking representations later either. I thought they were cool back when I first read this. I'd also point out that thanks to the story developed by Dark Empire, Crimson Empire happened. The art style is pretty shit in my opinion but I've seen worse. All and all I like Dark Empire mostly because I'm an imperial fanboy, but I'm not under any impressions that its a flawless star wars comic.
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No.29007
>>29006
>crimson empire
Haven't read that one yet. Will check it out.
>All and all I like Dark Empire mostly because I'm an imperial fanboy
Was Dark Empire what first established that Imperial Remnants were a thing?
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No.29021
What about Dark Empire II?
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No.29022
I think that Dark Empire is very disjointed compared to the rest of the EU. It's supposed to take place a year after Thrawn yet we see in the opening that the Imperials are still fighting over Coruscant like they just had it. It's like the Thrawn trilogy and the Dark Empire books were both made at the same time, and then when both of them came out as the "official sequel trilogy" to Star Wars, they kinda just kept going with it. Personally, I like Zahn's books better than this, but at least Dark Empire introduced some new and neat concepts that were expanded upon by later works so it's not all bad
I also don't like the art very much as well. I get that it's a unique style, but I don't think it fits for a proper sequel to Star Wars. In a Visionary or a Tales comic, sure but not a main book.
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No.29023
>>28987
>by this comic's own logic he could return at any point in the future
He does. Dark Empire is a trilogy. However, DE II and Empire's End are pretty weak, even by my fanboyish standards.
>If you were to remove this story from existence, no one reading the EU would actually be confused
That applies to a lot of the early EU. Stories were rather self contained before the NJO books came out. DE is in a particularly difficult spot since most stories that pushed the timeline forward (I mean the ones starring Luke, Han and Leia) were covered by novels while Dark Horse comics tended to focus on side characters (X-Wing, Boba Fett) or original characters (Tales of the Jedi, Crimson Empire). It's kind of an anomaly that was originally going to be part of the Marvel comic line (the wacky pre-EU one with the green rabbit man and other crazy shit) but was delayed until it fell into the mainline pool of EU stores. In other words, this could have been an S-canon story. It's one of favs tho, so I'm thankful it's not
>It adds nothing to the greater universe
The story is much better integrated into the EU than most people give it credit. KJA's (equally maligned) Jedi Academy trilogy (which takes place after this) acknowledges the damages done Coruscant and Mon Calamari. It is also established that Luke's struggle with the dark side was what elevated him from Jedi Knight to Jedi Master. And some of the new Jedi characters carry over.
Dark Empire and the Jedi Academy Trilogy also introduced ideas that were used in the Tales of the Jedi comics (it was a collab between the authors of both stories). These three storylines cover pretty much the entirety of the pre-Prequel Jedi and Sith lore. As far as the writing goes, TOTJ is easily the best of the three.
Also, Nar Shaddaa and Han's old smuggler friends play a big part in the Han Solo Trilogy (they're turned into much more interesting characters there too, especially Mako Spince).
>>29022
>It's like the Thrawn trilogy and the Dark Empire books were both made at the same time, and then when both of them came out as the "official sequel trilogy" to Star Wars, they kinda just kept going with it.
That's pretty much what happened. Originally DE would have taken place directly after ROTJ. I mean, there's even Ewoks here >>28929 (5th page)
>>29007
>Was Dark Empire what first established that Imperial Remnants were a thing?
In a way. It established the concept of the Empire fracturing. From that idea, splinter factions and warlords were introduced.
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No.29030
Well OP, did you get what you wanted? /sw/ seems to have just shrugged its shoulders and declared "some good, some bad," nowhere near "REEEEEE, FUCK THIS COMIC!"
Now are you going to post the rest, or just sit there? Because this storytime is not complete until the abrupt end.
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No.29038
>>28987
You know its not over right? There's like two more parts.
>>29030
>Now are you going to post the rest, or just sit there? Because this storytime is not complete until the abrupt end.
He won't…
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No.29043
>>29030
>>29038
>Did you get what you want?
From the posters who are actually discussing it, yes.
>Hurrr, are you gonna post the two sequel comics that were published 3 years later and we're never actually intended to be part of the original story
Sure, why not? I imagine they'll be more of the same, especially as someone says the Emperor comes back in them, how exciting. But I'm not going to do it right now as I can't spend every day of my life storytiming Star Wars comics.
>He won't do it! *Passive aggressive sage*
As you continue to act like this it reminds me that the only thing I did wrong in previous threads was allow myself to be baited. I tried to argue with retards and they turned me retarded and then beat me in the retard Olympics. Big mistake.
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No.29044
>>29023
It may have been integrated, but that doesn't make its own story worth reading. The most positive elements I'm seeing from it are small details like holocrons, so at best small parts of the comic work in the same way that concept art does. But just like concept art this story is not needed to enjoy the high quality stuff which lifts the concepts and refines them. Actually, I don't like that comparison because I greatly enjoy looking at concept art.
>Kevin J Anderson
>Much maligned
I imagine the reason for that is because he tries to artificially inflate his own stories by trying to tie them into the moments and histories of the movies without earning such significance. His IG-88 story certainly doesn't earn it's Death Star moment (the reason I bring up this story so much is because the only Anderson stuff I've read is Darrksaber and the three Tales from anthologies that he edited, of which his short stories and Zahn's short stories are all the weakest)
I plan on continuing to explore the EU, but I'm going to focus on reading the stuff I've actually liked or might like, before sipping back into Anderson's nonsense. The fact that this comic was originally intended to be part of the Marvel comics explains a lot, and that's probably why the modern Disney Jason Aaron comics seem compatiable with this story as well. All of those comics are focused on repeating and regirtiating movie moments and movie characters. To them Star Wars is more about Luke and Han than it is about the themes and greater vision Lucas was going for. I think the obssesion with the Original Trilogy is due to a stunted imagination on the part of many Star Wars fans. Rian Johnson did it in a horrible and shitty way, but at least he attempted to bury the shadow of the OT that looked over everything. J. J. will no doubt reverse all of that and go back to trodding out characters like Lando and maybe Mon Mothma.
The Luke I found interesting in the EU was the Luke training new Jedi and mainting his own Jedi Temple and organization as it was his character doing something new. I imagine that Dark Empire 2 and 3 will hopefully actually show some of this as well since the first ends on him talking about training new Jedi Knights?
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No.29062
>>29044
>It may have been integrated, but that doesn't make its own story worth reading
I didn’t say the story was getting better because of that. I was addressing the claim that DE wasn’t adding anything to the setting beyond holocrons or was skippable.
>I plan on continuing to explore the EU, but I'm going to focus on reading the stuff I've actually liked or might like, before sipping back into Anderson's nonsense
I take it you’re the same guy who liked Dawn of the Jedi and “criticized” (didn’t read any criticism that wasn’t "lol JSW" bait in that thread) the Thrawn books. If even Zahn doesn’t do it for you, then I think the issue here is that the main stories from the New Republic/Bantam Books era just aren’t for you.
Luke, Han and Leia, aka The Big Three, are pretty much untouchable after ROTJ and they don’t undergo any major character arcs after the movies. It’s not just Dark Empire or KJA’s books – most of these “main” stories draw heavily from the OT (they tend to come in trilogies too) and feature permutations of familiar concepts (*another* dark side user or super weapon or Jedi survivor and *always* the type of character interaction you mentioned here >>28934) rather than go to new places like the Prequels did. Mind you, at the beginning the EU was less of an interconnected universe and just regular tie-in fiction with a shared timeline as a gimmick.
Personally, I like DE simply because it’s so laser focused on extending ideas from the movies. And I dig the art. It's a flawed gem to me but I don't think I can change anyone's mind on that if they don't like it.
Since you're still exploring, as you said, mind if I recommend you some stuff instead? You could try the X-Wing comics and novels which focus on new and underexplored characters. They fill out the gap between ROTJ and Thrawn/Dark Empire and do a lot of worldbuilding on how the Empire gradually lost ground and fractured. It helps that Stackpole and Allston are counted among the EU’s better writers. There’s even a spin-off novel "I, Jedi" which is about one of the Rogues Squadron pilots joining Luke’s Jedi academy at the same time as the events from KJA’s books. It even follows the same plotline for a good third of its own story. That way you can skip the Jedi Academy Trilogy.
Or how about more from the Old Republic setting: Tales of the Jedi, Knights of the Old Republic, Knight Errant. Like Dawn of the Jedi , these stories are so far removed from the movies that authors were able to create their own protagonists, conflicts and stakes, and even interpretations of the force.
>I imagine that Dark Empire 2 and 3 will hopefully actually show some of this as well since the first ends on him talking about training new Jedi Knights?
There's no Dark Empire III. The third part was canceled and they had to wrap it up in a measly two parter called Empire's End.
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No.29067
>>29062
>The third part was canceled
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No.29068
>>29067
Not to mention the art took a nosedive with Cam Kennedy leaving.
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No.29069
>>29068
>>29067
We just can't seem to get things.
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No.29070
>>29044
Forgot to address this:
>The fact that this comic was originally intended to be part of the Marvel comics explains a lot, and that's probably why the modern Disney Jason Aaron comics seem compatiable with this story as well. All of those comics are focused on repeating and regirtiating movie moments and movie characters.
Nah, the pre-EU Marvel comics are nothing like the current ones. The old ones were often crazy and all over the place, but that's because SW was still new and there were no guidelines for the setting. It also had some really gems because of that freedom. Modern Marvel (and not just them) is on the other side of the spectrum.
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No.29072
>>29070
Arrogantus was a true charmer unlike Enfys Nest.
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No.29073
>>28950
It just looks good. I like it.
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No.29077
>>29073
I respect that. I don't mind people liking Dark Empire so long as they don't pretend that it's objectively good.
>>29062
Thank you for the recomendations. I'll definitely check out I, Jedi and those X-Wong books.
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No.29078
>>29077
>X-Wong
Phone posting.
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No.29098
>>29007
Crimson Empire is awesome. The plot isn't rocket science but the fact it centers around post Dark Empire Imperials and Royal Guards is cool. It got taken down, but there was a video of the comic panels edited up to fit with the audio book version. I really liked the voice acting because it was a nice medium quality that made it feel genuine, without the characters sounding like they were overacting. Maybe it is still floating around somewhere.
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No.29104
>>29077
>objectively good comic book colouring
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No.29105
Sorry for being a pleb but I never knew when was this. Can I read it before the Thrawn trilogy? has it ever been just a comics?
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No.29106
>>29105
Apparently it was originally intended to come between RotJ and Thrawn, but Zahn, already being in the middle of writing those books, didn't want to have to alter the plot to account for this, so it was placed shortly after Thrawn.
What I gather is they're pretty much alternative follow-ups to the OT, and don't have much influence on each other (but both are considered canon in later EU works?).
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No.29107
>>29105
Thrawn Trilogy -> Dark Empire -> Crimson Empire
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No.29108
>>29104
>>objectively good comic book colouring
Yes. It exists.
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No.29109
>>29108
Don't really like it.
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No.29110
>>29107
The correct order.
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No.29112
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No.29113
>>29112
That just looks bland to me. Nothing about it really pops, and it has that soft digital colouring look.
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No.29114
>>29112
It's not too bad, but it's a bit boring.
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No.29115
>>29114
*meant to say in comparison to some of the other stuff
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No.29117
>>29113
>That just looks bland to me
If you really believe this, I don't know what to tell you. I'm guessing you don't, though. You just want to disagree.
>>29114
It's boring because it properly colors things depending on the scenes taking place? In open Seasons all the different planets have different lighting that makes sense, and in the other page I posted, you see the sunlight change from day, to afternoon, to the golden hour, to night. Whoever colored Open Seasons is one of the best.
I don't know why you're posting some other random comic right now. That page looks fine to me, the Stormtroopers are actually WHite and the green is emanating from the planet. The problem with Dark Empire is that all the random colors that filter the art make no sense, and serve no purpose, they are neither realistic, nor do they enhance the mood of the comic, unless the story is meant to make you want to vomit.
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No.29118
>>29117
I can respect technical skill when I see it, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure what makes uncreative block colouring objectively good.
I think you just like boring art, to be honest.
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No.29121
>>29118
>hurrr, i'm gonna post a picture from a Euro comic that was made over the length of a year in a totally different environment than American comics
You're completely full of shit. You're trying to bait me now by saying I like boring art, all you want to do is perpetuate e-drama because your ass is sore from last time. Dark Empire looks absolutely nothing like the page you just posted. You can go and post a bunch of random good comic art, but it's not going to change the fact that the coloring in Dark Empire is terrible.
But since you're so focused on diverting the conversation off of the actual topic, okay. Lets bring up examples from Euro comics. Here are two pages from Wake. One of them is filtered through blue, while the other isn't, do you know what the blue represents? It represents night time. When you filter an entire scene through one color, it is to represent a change in lighting, lighting is one of the biggest factors in mood. Color in visual mediums is part of the storytelling, it's not just random bullshit that you can change whenever you want without consequence like some Andy Warhol bullshit.
I think you just like post-modern art, to be honest.
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No.29122
>>29121
I like post-modern art if it's interesting to look at. I dislike boring art, because it's boring. I'm more than happy with style for the sake of style. Just make your shit look good.
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No.29123
>>29122
>I dislike boring art, because it's boring.
>muh boring
Boring is the worst criticism one can ever have for art of any kind.
"I didn't like Crime and Punishment because it was boring! I didn't like Stalker because it was boring! I didn't like the Prequels because they were boring!"
Boring is a subjective descriptor, it says nothing about the art, and everything about you. Of these two pieces of art, which one do you like more? Is the one on the left too boring for you? Congratulations, your brain has been fried by Nicki Minaj music videos and you're a moron.
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No.29124
>>29123
the first painting's pretty lame. Wouldn't hang it on my wall. The second one's alright, because you can see her tits.
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No.29125
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No.29126
>>29125
Go on then. What about some bint with a basket on her head speaks to you?
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No.29127
>>29117
No, it's bland because it looks flat and the colors are bit boring- though admittedly that could be due to the scan. I'd call it competent, but nothing too special. The faces of the characters is a strong point though.
I posted that page from Agent of Doom because the artist from Dark Empire also did a fair number of the Boba Fett comics, and I feel it represents what he was attempting to do with the original Dark Empire but improved and tightened up a bit. Though I think the art in Dark Empire 2 is probably the ideal middle ground between the surreal style he was experimenting with and more traditional comic art. I'd be okay with a full return of the trippy shit if it was used say for Waru or some of the more reality warping stuff in SW.
>>29121
Funny you should mention euro comics, because that's the background Cam Kennedy worked in before getting Lucasfilm to let him work on his Dark Empire pitch. If anyone has a copy of the Light and Darkness War on their drive, it'd be interesting to see for comparison.
>>29123
Nah, the one on the right is boring. As bizarre as it to draw.photoshop a clothes iron onto a woman's head. it's pretty mediocre on as an art piece since it's clear they just took a nude picture of a model and changed one aspect for shock value. Seen better porn anyways. The one on the right is a pretty good piece of art though. Wall-worthy for sure.
As for boring being used as a criticism- it doesn't really offer much detail as to why, but it's effective at getting the point across. Asking the reasons is fine, but I see no point in splitting hairs about the specific words uses in somebody's criticism unless you're looking to justify the expense you paid for an art/philosophy degree or something.
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No.29128
>>29126
I could talk about the value of forest settings and how romantic art that portrays natural settings resonates with people on a spiritual level, but I'm sure you don't give a shit. What I really love about Girl with Goat is that it's beautiful, it's idyllic, it's charming. It's a portal into a world I want to be a part of, and it reminds me why I love hiking. And the goat is cute.
>>29127
>I posted that page from Agent of Doom because the artist from Dark Empire also did a fair number of the Boba Fett comics, and I feel it represents what he was attempting to do with the original Dark Empire but improved and tightened up a bit.
Lmao, it's a different colorist. Cam Kennedy didn't color Agent of Doom. Nice attempt, though.
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No.29130
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No.29131
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No.29133
>>29128
Scratch that then. The rest of my post talking about Dark Empire 2 still stands though. Especially since with the coloring tightened up, it looks a bit less like somebody spilled watercolors onto the page- while still keeping a lot of the somewhat surreal feel to the artwork.
Glad to see your passive-aggressive shitposting is manifesting in ways other than mindless spam and attempting to irreparably fuck the board. You may be on a streak of contrarianism and trying to bait people into anger, but at least you're doing it a way that's more productive for the board than detrimental after the entire aldersperg-out.
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No.29137
>art discussion
lmao
>>29105
>has it ever been just a comics?
There's a fancy audiobook version with voice actors and special effects for the whole trilogy:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlKJO4D2BftX2tFV2z-i_29EcdugVh0pr
There's also a fan novelization for DE 1 called Test of the Wills. I heard good things about it, but never bothered with it since I prefer the comic version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwK-WpnKI3w4U1FxTzZxMzNXbmM/view
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No.29140
>>28932
>eldritch threat
>we get a sense of Luke's growing power
>Luke doesn't run and hide on an island but faces the horror head on
>the gang is back together, and Leia is also a Jedi with two children whom Luke wants to train to bring about a new and better Jedi order
>the political situation the galaxy finds itself in makes total sense post the collapse of the Empire
This comic is already ten times better than what we got from Disney. It's honestly astounding to see just how much they fucked up when you look back on what could have been.
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No.29141
>>28934
>unbearable art
Fuck off. The art is great and is clearly meant to evoke the glow you might get from a computer screen, emergency lights, control panels etc. It gives the product this whole air of 80's sci-fi mysticism. I love it.
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No.29142
>>29141
It reminds me of vintage horror movie posters.
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No.29146
>>29117
I hate the way it looks.
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No.29147
>>29142
Is Maitresses de Dracula worth a watch?
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No.29149
>>29142
>>29141
Now that you mention it, the entire situation of the Emperor Reborn and all the skunkworks projects unleashed is pretty much a waking nightmare for the NR and the Galaxy at large. Thus, the comic constantly goes into unsettling, dreamlike colors and spreads.
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No.29150
>>28987
I personally love the art style.
The introduction of the dark side of the force as this eldritch, yet strangely beautiful, power in the galaxy was welcome (I am thinking of the aesthetics of the planet Byss and some of what Palpatine had to say).
Some of the new technology is pretty awe inspiring in its own way (much better than star killer).
It's great to see the gang actually working together again, and to see Leia progress as a Jedi and Luke as a master.
I have always liked the trope of taking on an aspect of the dark in order to truly overcome it only to wind up going too far.
The idea that the Empire could enter into a civil war is interesting.
——-
I am in overall agreement that the story is sadly too much of a rehash (it didn't need to be).
I would have liked to see more panels dealing with the mysticism of the dark side as this was easily the comic's most interesting angle.
Whilst the idea of using fire to fight fire is always interesting, I don't feel as if the writers were competent enough to do the idea justice. Luke's internal battle with the dark and the light comes across as a bit corny and underdeveloped, when it should have been ground breaking.
This constant and slavish devotion to the Jedi as these perfect higher beings is very off putting - particularly as the writers have Han of all people showing repeated deference as a mere "ordinary being." The whole point of Luke's New Jedi Order is that it does away with a lot of the pomp and dogma of the past. This comic seems to want to elevate it more than anything else, which is a mistake.
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No.29151
>>29147
It's kinda generic and goofy at times, except when Cushing's on screen. He almost makes you take the movie serious.
>>29117
Surprised at the reaction Open Season is getting. I agree with you about the way it used coloring.
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No.29162
>>29077
>so long as they don't pretend that it's objectively good.
so long as we don't pretend it's objectively bad either
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No.29192
>>29162
I don't really believe in objective quality in art. Yeah yeah, I'm an awful Commie. Get it out.
What you have is objective quality within certain frameworks. If your goal is a realistic landscape painting then you can objectively do that well, or objectively do that poorly. But you can just as easily discard that framework.
If this makes you angry, explain to me how it doesn't make sense.
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No.29204
>>29192
Art generally has a purpose. To tell a certain story, to depict a certain setting or person, whatever. The less able a piece of art is to fulfill its intended purpose the worse it is as art.
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No.29207
>>29204
The comic tells it's story, while tantalising us with interesting imagery. I don't see what's wrong with that, unless you think everything should serve a utilitarian purpose, and there's no room for stylistic flare.
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No.31078
>>29117
>he thinks that looks good
found the newbie pleb on visual arts
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No.31079
>>29121
But the images you posted are mediocre even for old standards of artistry that shit is painfully average.
>I think you just like post-modern art,
If that means that I like the exceptional instead of the average and the mediocre then by all means
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