Star Wars Comics. Where to begin?

[Soubhagya]

I have two questions actually. First is where to begin reading Star Wars. Second is what are the best Star Wars comics.

I would prefer the best to begin with. I started with All Star Superman for Superman and Dark Knight Returns with Batman. Something which catches one's attention and brings to focus some of the best aspects. But i am fine with anything: ongoing titles or older runs as long as its good.

Thanks in advance.

[KOSLOX]

My absolute favorites are the Tales of the Jedi. They are "legends" now so it's strictly non-canon but they are great and are set in The Old Republic era 4-5K years before A New Hope. I think you can get the entire series in two omnibuses for pretty cheap.

If you want current continuity stuff the Darth Vader series have both been pretty good, and the main Star Wars series is ok, if not a bit predictable and safe.

[ChrisIII]

If you're looking for prequel-era stuff, there were a lot of pretty good Clone Wars comics published in the 1999-2007 Star Wars ongoing-some featuring Quinlan Vos, others focusing on other Jedi or the Anakin/Obi-Wan duo. They present a somewhat darker version of the war than the canonical TV series did, as well.

OT-wise I've always been fond of the X-wing Rogue Squadron comic series, which also tied in with the novels released around the same time. In particular, they introduced the Baron Fel character, who would play a major role in future novels and comics.

"Dark Empire" is pretty much their inaugural work, basically ressurecting Palpatine and Boba Fett, and having Luke fall to the dark side for a brief time. The art and coloring is a bit unusual-especially compared to today's Star Wars comics-but it's an interesting read. It also laid much of the foundation for the Tales of the Jedi series mentioned above.

Dark Horse also did a few adaptations of the novels-The much-loved Thrawn trilogy was adapted into comic format, although with some artistic licence that didn't sit well with some fans. (Although their re-design of Mara Jade pretty much became her default look from that point on). There was also an adaptation of the somewhat oddball early novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

Before the end of the Licence, they also had some strong titles such as the various Darth Vader miniseries, Agent of the Empire Etc.


Since Marvel took control, the strongest work I think has come from Kiren Gillen's initital Darth Vader series, which deals with Darth Vader's fall from favor and attempt to rebuild his standing in the Empire after the destruction of the Death Star (The current title deals mainly with his 'early years'). It also introduces the fun side-character Doctor Aphra, who has her own comic now.



If you're looking for novels, current canon-wise the best novels IMO are Bloodline and Lost Stars. Lost Stars is a sort of rebel/imperial love story (and actually has a manga adaptation too!) while Bloodline is sort of a prequel to the Force Awakens, with Leia uncovering clues about the first Order....but also her biggest secret is about to be revealed. New Dawn-which is a sort of a prequel to the Rebels show-is pretty good as well although it takes a while to get going and the villain is pretty much a Vader substitute, although one focused more on business efficiency than the Empire or the force.


As for the older novels, the Thrawn trilogy is largely considered the best by many (Along with the X-wing novels)...so much so that the character was brought back pretty much as one of the antagonists in Rebels (although with some adjustments to his continuity, and the Thrawn trilogy stuff pretty much out the window).

[WebLurker]

For canon comics I'd say start with the main Star Wars series and alternate with the first Darth Vader one (the two overlap). That's the basic ___. The Doctor Aphra series spins off of that, if you're interested in the character. Beyond that, most of the other series and miniseries are pretty much stand-alone adventures, so you can drift in and out of the ones that interest you without worrying about reading order.

For my money, the best comics are the original Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra, the Poe series, and the Han Solo miniseries, although a lot of the others are also enjoyable. (Princess Leia, Obi-Wan & Anakin and Shattered Empire are the only ones I'm disappointed with overall, although Obi-Wan... does have some great bits with Anakin and Palpatine.)

I'm not into Legends comics, but I do love the Knight Errant series and tie-in novel (it's about a Jedi trapped in a region of space ruled by Sith Lord kingdoms thousands of years before Phantom Menace.

[Elmo]

Okay so I don't read any of the Marvel stuff. I read some of it and I didn't like it. That's a personal preference but I honestly prefer the Dark Horse stuff.

Therefore, you should check out the Dark Empire trilogy. It is what I feel the sequel trilogy should have been based on. It's a really entertaining and action packed storyline featuring Luke being corrupted by the Dark Side among many other things. I loved it.

After that you should check out Crimson Empire. It follows a member of the emperor's Royal Guard after ROTJ fighting one of his allies who is trying to take the throne. He becomes a bounty hunter and teams up with the rebels in order to fight those he once called brothers. It's such a wild and badass adventure that gets a little ridiculous but stays entertaining all the way through. If you're like me and are always wondering what's going on in the background of different Star Wars movies, that's the book for you. It truly takes advantage of the vast and expansive SW galaxy.

After that all I have to suggest is John Ostrander's Star Wars Legacy. It's a 50 issue series following Luke's descendant hundreds of years into the future attempting to prevent the rise of the Sith. There's a sequel series also titled Star Wars Legacy that I feel is even better which follows a young female descendant of Han Solo named Ania Solo who discovers a lightsaber and an imperial droid and suddenly becomes a target for death. This saga never got to properly end due to the EU being wiped from canon but I still highly recommend it.

[Carabas]

Therefore, you should check out the Dark Empire trilogy. It is what I feel the sequel trilogy should have been based on. It's a really entertaining and action packed storyline featuring Luke being corrupted by the Dark Side among many other things. I loved it.

There's a bunch of reasons why this doesn't work.

- You don't spend a couple of billions of bucks just to go adapt some 20 year old comics.
- It's a 20 year old story. You already know how movie 3 will end before movie 1 goes into production.
- You need a Harrison Ford, Carrie fisher etcetera who are like 1 or 2 years older than they were in 1983.

[ChrisIII]

While the first Dark Empire was pretty good (and introduced some elements that are still canon such as Holocrons and Nar Shadda), I think the sequels sort of lost a step....DEII largely rehashed a lot of the first (Nar Shadda, cloned Emperor, superweapon etc.) and Empire's End, both in writing and artwork, seemed incredibly rushed. The series as a whole also seems a bit weird in continuity at times between Zahn's works and (a bit less so) Kevin J. Anderson's, since it was originally intended to be a seperate continuation from the Thrawn trilogy, although in many ways it sort of anticipates the state of the sequel trilogy at this point: The New Republic pretty much gone, The Empire regaining much of it's former territory, and the Rebellion now in pretty bad shape. (I don't think there ever was a transition novel showing how the Rebels pretty much regained all of their territory so fast). Legacy also seems to follow a similar path, although as stated, much further into the future.

Crimson Empire II is kind of interesting in a few ways; it was originally intended to foreshadow a major Dark Horse storyline featuring an alien invasion of the galaxy; this storyline eventually evolved into the New Jedi Order novels, with Crimson Empire II's shadowy villain Nom Anor becoming one of the major antagonists of that series. (Of course, Dark Horse would eventually get to do their own NJO comics later on).

[WebLurker]

While the first Dark Empire was pretty good (and introduced some elements that are still canon such as Holocrons and Nar Shadda), I think the sequels sort of lost a step....DEII largely rehashed a lot of the first (Nar Shadda, cloned Emperor, superweapon etc.) and Empire's End, both in writing and artwork, seemed incredibly rushed. The series as a whole also seems a bit weird in continuity at times between Zahn's works and (a bit less so) Kevin J. Anderson's, since it was originally intended to be a seperate continuation from the Thrawn trilogy, although in many ways it sort of anticipates the state of the sequel trilogy at this point: The New Republic pretty much gone, The Empire regaining much of it's former territory, and the Rebellion now in pretty bad shape. (I don't think there ever was a transition novel showing how the Rebels pretty much regained all of their territory so fast). Legacy also seems to follow a similar path, although as stated, much further into the future.

As I understood it Dark Empire 1 was originally supposed to be a direct sequel to ROTJ. When Timothy Zahn didn't want to write his Thrawn books to take the comics into account, a "title craw" was tacked on the beginning of Dark Empire to retroactively set it after Zahn's books.

[Elmo]

There's a bunch of reasons why this doesn't work.

- You don't spend a couple of billions of bucks just to go adapt some 20 year old comics.
- It's a 20 year old story. You already know how movie 3 will end before movie 1 goes into production.
- You need a Harrison Ford, Carrie fisher etcetera who are like 1 or 2 years older than they were in 1983.

I honestly just meant the story was good and feel it would translate well to film. it wouldn't have to be an exact adaptation or anything.

[sirmarkus]

I have two questions actually. First is where to begin reading Star Wars. Second is what are the best Star Wars comics.

I would prefer the best to begin with. I started with All Star Superman for Superman and Dark Knight Returns with Batman. Something which catches one's attention and brings to focus some of the best aspects. But i am fine with anything: ongoing titles or older runs as long as its good.

Thanks in advance.

Honestly, just dive in and have fun. I've been picking up issues I thought looked cool and been going from there. Anything with SCAR squadron is a treat.

https://wp.me/p81uZL-iH
https://wp.me/p81uZL-5r

[ChrisIII]

^They also appear in the "Last Jedi" tie-in comic Storms of Crait (Basically an OT-era comic explaining the base in the movie),

[WebLurker]

^They also appear in the "Last Jedi" tie-in comic Storms of Crait (Basically an OT-era comic explaining the base in the movie),

The TLJ character JD is also apparently getting a one-shot as well, explaining how he got to the place we meet him in the movie.

[The Whovian]

I would recommend the Vader omnibus that was just released. You'll love it

[sirmarkus]

I picked up Star Wars #50 earlier this week. Holy crap. Phenomenal issue. The standard cover is freaking beautiful, and the whole thing just transports you to a galaxy far, far away. It's also the first issue in a new arc, so it's perfect if you've been away for a while.

https://sirmarkussite.wordpress.com/...e-dies-part-1/

[sirmarkus]

Darth Vader Annual #2 is awesome! It ties in to parts of both Rebels and Rogue One, and does so in a masterful manner. The art could be better, but it's worth it for the story alone. Just wow. I especially enjoyed the portrayals of both Tarkin and Krennic.

Still, Chuck Wendig hit it out of the park on this one.


https://sirmarkussite.wordpress.com/...ader-annual-2/