A Crisis of Chronology: Star Wars

Since childhood I’ve had a love of Star Wars, and I’m sure it is a love that will never go away. Today I bring you a slightly different column, wherein I highlight various series (certainly not all) spread out across the Star Wars timeline. Those series that need to be read in a specific order are all collected in that order, so just read each series by their publication dates and you should be fine. If you’re ready to go to a galaxy far, far away, follow the jump (note: this list is restricted to those comics published by Dark Horse Comics).

Tales of the Jedi

One of my personal favorite series, Tales of the Jedi tells the most ancient history of the Star Wars universe. The Old Republic is always an interesting period to read about because it’s one of the few time periods where there are both lots of Jedi and lots of Sith. The first two stories, The Golden Age of the Sith and The Fall of the Sith Empire, are rather mediocre, but from that point on Tales of the Jedi contains the best stories in the expanded universe. If you were a fan of the game Knights of the Old Republic (as you should be), this is where most of the backstory comes from. While each individual story has been collected into separate (mostly out of print) trades, you can save a bunch of money by getting the series in two $25 omnibuses.

Knights of the Old Republic

Recently finished at 50 issues, Knights of the Old Republic follows the story of Zayne Carrick, a Padawan who has been wrongly accused of murder. What started out with a bang ended with a whimper, and while the first few arcs of this series were rather gripping, the last few meandered on into a mediocre ending. The book is set a few years before Knights of the Old Republic (the video game), so you get to learn more about Revan and Malak before their fall. If you’re a fan of the era due to the video games, I recommend this, otherwise it’s safe to pass by. You can find it in seven (soon to be eight) trade paperbacks.

Star Wars: Republic

Originally simply titled Star Wars, Republic was a series that contained different tales from shortly before and during the movie prequel trilogy. As such, the series as a whole can’t be judged uniformly, but I would say that there are much more good stories than bad. Just look for any stories with the name John Ostrander attached to it and you’re good to go (this is pretty much the case for any Star Wars comic). Of particular note are those stories set during the Clone Wars, which are spread out over nine trade paperbacks, along with other miniseries and one-shots. I highly recommend these trades if nothing else.

Star Wars: Dark Times

I’ll admit, I’ve only read some of the first issues of this series, but the premise is very engaging. Officially a continuation of Republic, the series is made up of separate story arcs following different characters in the aftermath of the Jedi purge. Still in an ongoing series, the book has been notoriously plagued by delays in the past; however, it appears we have seen the last of those delays, so I urge you to start picking it up (or at least wait for this arc to finally finish in May).

Droids

A slightly silly series, Droids follows everyones favorite astromech and protocol droids R2-D2 and C-3PO between Episodes III and IV. The various arcs are alright, but not great, and really are just included to take up space in that time period. If you really like the two droids (I know some people love them), there’s no reason to pass this up. If you could care less, don’t bother. Every series is again collected in one cheap omnibus.

Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion

Empire was more or less the original trilogy era version of Republic, containing stories set a few years before the Battle of Yavin. Each arc was pretty good for the most part, but the second in particular, Darklighter, is one that no Star Wars fan should miss out on. As Republic did with Dark Times, Empire eventually became Rebellion, an unfortunately short-lived series set during the Rebellion era (if you couldn’t guess). Empire is spread out over seven trades, while Rebellion only makes up three.

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Shadows of the Empire

Part of a multimedia project to fill the gaps left in between Episodes V and VI, the Shadows of the Empire comic follows the cast of the films as they try to recover Han Solo, the construction of Luke’s new lightsaber and other tales. While the main story was given in the novel, enough information is told in this series so as to not confuse the reader or leave it feeling incomplete. The sequel is written by Steve Perry, author of the Shadows of the Empire novel, and while it’s still good it falls a bit short of the original. Also included in the omnibus is the miniseries Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand, which introduces a character highly important to the post-movie canon.

X-Wing: Rogue Squadron

Set shortly after the Battle of Endor, Rogue Squadron follows Wedge Antilles and other fighter pilots in the early New Galactic Republic Era. Though it can be a tad formulaic, the series is still fun enough to keep you interested, especially if you’re interested in space fighter battles (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?). The entire series is collected over three omnibuses at a great value.

The Thrawn Trilogy

Originally a series of novels, The Thrawn Trilogy was adapted from Timothy Zahn’s books in the mid 90’s. Probably the most beloved segment of the Expanded Universe, the Thrawn Trilogy is often compared to the original movies in terms of the dynamic storytelling and excellent characterization in each, and the comic adaptation is just as excellent. Sometimes the art has its flops (more a matter of consistency than actual quality), but the transfer of the writing from novel to the sequential art format is nearly flawless. I highly suggest this series to anyone interested in learning more about the Expanded Universe of Star Wars, as it requires little familiarity with anything other than the movies themselves. As of last year the whole trilogy has been collected in a single hardcover.

Dark Empire

Sometimes you stumble across a story in serial fiction that is so awful yet so important to the canon. Dark Empire is that story. Another trilogy, Dark Empire’s first volume was alright, but the second was awful and the third was somehow even worse. Palpatine’s otherwise amazing character was pretty much tied to a car and dragged through the street, leaving I’m not sure what behind. And yes, it is set after the movies, but Palpatine is back because of the old comic cliche of cloning. Ugh. Unless you need to figure out what happened here, I would avoid it like the plague.

Star Wars: Legacy

As Tales of the Jedi contains the most ancient history of the Jedi, Legacy is set the farthest in the future. Over one hundred years after the original trilogy, John Ostrander was pretty much given the authority to do whatever he wanted in a completely different time period, so you know it has to be good. The Jedi have recently been toppled by a new Sith order, and the fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of an ex-Jedi who just happens to be the descendant of Luke Skywalker. A great series that is still ongoing, a new story arc begins next month (though it might not be the best place to just jump in). Of note is the not-quite-a-crossover Vector, which went through the various different time periods of Dark Horses currently ongoing comics, Knights of the Old Republic, Dark Times, Rebellion and Legacy. As it had the most effect on Legacy, I would read it in between trades five and six, though it couldn’t hurt to read it while reading the other series as well.

Since not all of what I listed above is completely available in trade paperback, today’s list has heavy use of Dark Horse Comics’ amazing yet cheap omnibuses (though the size is slightly smaller), which contain some of those mentioned above, but not all. Also included in these omnibuses are one-shots that I didn’t mention, but none of them are particularly bad. Plus, you’re making a killing on savings. Without further delay, we have:

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