Collects Star Dark Times - Fire Carrier (2013) #1-5, Star Dark Times - A Spark Remains (2013) #1-5, Star Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin (2013) #1-5, Star Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows (2013) #1-5, Star Droids Special (1995) #1, Star Droids (1994) #1-6, Star Droids (1995) #1-8, Star The Protocol Offensive (1997) #1; material from Star Wars Visionaries (2005); Star Wars Tales (1999) #11-12, 15, 20; Dark Horse Presents Annual '99; Star Wars Galaxy Magazine (1994) #1. The galaxy's darkest days are here! In the months after Revenge of the Sith, Darth Vader continues his relentless pursuit of the surviving Jedi. But between Dass Jennir's smuggling crew, a veritable army of assassins and the Emperor's own sinister plans, will Vader's ruthlessness be enough to keep him intact? Then join C-3PO and R2-D2's search for a new master as they face pirates, monsters and evil droids! the earliest adventures of young Han Solo and Lando Calrissian (including the acquisition of a certain starship), and Obi-Wan Kenobi's time on Tatooine!
While still an enjoyable venture to a galaxy far far away, this volume feels to be a clear step down from the first.
The excellent Dark Times series concludes here, but feels far too open ended for how long it was. It was never able to truly conclude either due to the Disney Acquisition, and these characters make their last appearances right as they were coming into their own.
The additional Vader miniseries are far weaker than they were in the first volume. Vader and the Ninth Assassin may be the most underwhelming of any Vader material in the Dark Horse era.
The make or break material for whether you should purchase this Omnibus comes in the second half, which focuses on the wacky adventures of C-3PO and R2.
While these series initially appear to be intended for children, it leans into a YA approach that makes it accessible for all ages IMHO. It deals with some serious topics, has a good level of internal continuity, and has artists that clearly wanted this to be a good product. It’s pretty much what would happen if the “Droids” series from the 1980s was given proper care and wasn’t a clear cash grab.
I enjoyed them a lot, and both character become more 3 dimensional. However, I can see why many many people dislike the material. If you’re not a fan after sampling some on Marvel Unlimited, I’d recommend not purchasing.
Well, that was surely something. I suppose you can't treat an omnibus like it was one whole story; you have to treat those within according to their individual merit. The first half or so was very good. I liked seeing more post order 66 stories and for Dass Jennir and his crew to get more attention. It's a shame that those characters were never used again before Disney bought the property. The other stories were also fairly good, with the ninth assassin, the scarred clone trooper, and the K'Kruhk issues all being fun to read. My issues are with the latter half of the omnibus. It shifts from connected stories, or at the very least, conceptually related stories, to one issue nonsense and C-3P0 and R2 adventures. This is so wildy different from the other issues in both empire omnibuses that I thought it might have been a mistake somehow. They're nowhere near the worst star wars comics I've read, but I didn't particularly enjoy them. I think they really hold an otherwise good collection back quite considerably.
Good continuation of Vol. 1. Sadly the story feels open ended and you can tell that Dark Horse wasn't done yet, when they lost the SW license. Some nice Darth Vader standalone stories as well in here. The art is still amazing as well.
But then there's the droids comics in the back half of the book and they are as tedious and boring, as I have feared. These stories were written in the 90s, where there weren't any Prequels around. And while reading you can tell this and spot inconsistencies to the Prequels.
This omnibus as a whole is a really weird collection. In the Darth Vader stories, the tone is very dark and the stories are very mature. And the back half features the droids in very goofy tales, clearly aimed at children.
As a whole, I can't really recommend this unfortunately.
Not as good as the previous volume, but an enjoyable read nevertheless. The second half with the androids' adventures is the weakest part, while the first part has some good, and some even great, stories about Darth Vader and its hunt for the surving Jedi.