What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection #44
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The New Republic Vol. 5
The Dark Empire trilogy! Six years after the Battle of Endor, the heroes of the Rebellion work to unite the galaxy. But a new Empire has risen from the chaos to strike back at the former Rebel Alliance, reclaiming its capital of Coruscant and building massive new World Devastators to ravage entire planets. And Jabba the Hutt's ruthless heirs have placed a monumental price on the heads of Princess Leia and Han Solo! Together with Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO, Han and Leia must fi ght to protect the future for their children - but the greatest threat may come from the last of the Jedi: Luke Skywalker!COLLECTING: STAR WARS: DARK EMPIRE (1991) 1-6; STAR WARS: DARK EMPIRE II (1994) 1-6; STAR WARS: EMPIRE'S END (1995) 1-2; STAR WARS HANDBOOK (1998) 1, 3; MATERIAL FROM STAR WARS TALES (1999) 8, 11, 16-17
476 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 10, 2021
12 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Tom Veitch
160 books52 followersTom Veitch was an American writer, known for his work in the comic book industry. He was also a novelist and a poet. He was the brother of comics writer and artist Rick Veitch.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 29, 2023
I FINALLY read this series and I’m glad I did! Very cool to see how much was taken from this series. A lot of over the top concepts but a fun ride nonetheless.
April 18, 2021
If you are my age and grew up with the original trilogy then this is everything you would have dreamed of and so much more.
The Dark Empire trilogy is set a few years after the fall of Emperor Palpatine (Return of the Jedi). Leia and Han have twins and expect another, Luke is broody and mysterious Jedi master on a quest to rebuild the order to fight for freedom on last time. The rebellion is a success, a failure and constantly struggling against an even more powerful and brutal power than before.
All the while, Kennedy’s delightful artwork add poise, drama, melancholy to the the breath-taking pace of storytelling. There is so much in these stories and art to saviour that I guarantees many more reads. There is a lot of world-building material at the end which is worth the cover price of the book and is an additional marvel.
This really is a must read.
Enjoy and may the force be with you!
The Dark Empire trilogy is set a few years after the fall of Emperor Palpatine (Return of the Jedi). Leia and Han have twins and expect another, Luke is broody and mysterious Jedi master on a quest to rebuild the order to fight for freedom on last time. The rebellion is a success, a failure and constantly struggling against an even more powerful and brutal power than before.
All the while, Kennedy’s delightful artwork add poise, drama, melancholy to the the breath-taking pace of storytelling. There is so much in these stories and art to saviour that I guarantees many more reads. There is a lot of world-building material at the end which is worth the cover price of the book and is an additional marvel.
This really is a must read.
Enjoy and may the force be with you!
July 19, 2021
This is what Star Wars would be like if directed by Andy Warhol. Colors are straight out of the 70’s for a very retro feel.
Fun little story about the future of the Jedi and remnants of the Empire. Books 1 and 3 were fine but book 2 was a big miss for me. Oddly enough the art in the back excerpt stories was more enjoyable than the main books.
Fun little story about the future of the Jedi and remnants of the Empire. Books 1 and 3 were fine but book 2 was a big miss for me. Oddly enough the art in the back excerpt stories was more enjoyable than the main books.
November 10, 2021
Well—what a rollercoaster of low expectations, surprising enjoyment, and ultimate inconsequentiality that was!
I’d avoided reading this one since the Nineties—partially because I was never a big comic/graphic novel reader, but mostly because a story about a resurrected Palpatine and Dark Side Luke seemed utterly ludicrous to me—but I recently felt that it was an significant piece of Classic Star Wars EU that I should really familarise myself with despite my scepticism of the subject matter given how influential it appears to have been on the Disney “Star Wars” sequel movies. I did not have high hopes!
The story includes Dark Jedi, rhe Emperor reincarnated by cloning, Palpatine’s shade seeking to possess a new host, inexplicably overpowerful Force abilities, and a whole bunch of new superweapons, at least one of which can destroy planets via hyperspace projectiles. This is clearly daft as all heck, but I can’t help but love the hokey dialogue straight out of the Marvel Golden Age, and the lovely ship designs and beautiful new worlds it depicts. Pinnacle base, for example, has more imagination in its few panels in this comic book than the entire Disney sequel trilogy directed by JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson.
Plotwise, its clear that JJ Abrams cribbed all of the least compelling aspects of this story, chopped them into senseless pieces, and assembled them into a clumsy pastiche of Star Wars: Dark Empire that loses even the limited coherence that the comic book has.
I wouldn’t say this story is good per se, yet I shall forgive this comic book where I don’t feel anywhere near as magnanimous towards those films. Why? Because (1) it is many, many times more fun than the hateful “sequel” trilogy, (2) it provides much more plausible reasoning for the main villain’s actions, and (3) we get to see Luke, Han and Leia (and also Chewie and the droids) in action together, something that JJ Abrams denied movie fans.
Ultimately, though, this story is still much more of a wide than a wicket for me—the characters aren’t quite themselves, there are too many Jedi survivors that are conveniently dispatched by the end, the Force powers are comically overpotent, and the story of the ghost of an evil sorcerer trying to possess a baby to gain reincarnation is pretty clichéd at this point. Plus points are awarded for giving Luke Skywalker a collar as large and pointy as Ming the Merciless.
And that is probably my final thought on this story—it is more Flash Gordon than Star Wars, has no place in anyone’s canon if they care about worldbuilding or continuity, but it is surprisingly entertaining if you switch off your critical faculties and just go with the flow.
I’d avoided reading this one since the Nineties—partially because I was never a big comic/graphic novel reader, but mostly because a story about a resurrected Palpatine and Dark Side Luke seemed utterly ludicrous to me—but I recently felt that it was an significant piece of Classic Star Wars EU that I should really familarise myself with despite my scepticism of the subject matter given how influential it appears to have been on the Disney “Star Wars” sequel movies. I did not have high hopes!
The story includes Dark Jedi, rhe Emperor reincarnated by cloning, Palpatine’s shade seeking to possess a new host, inexplicably overpowerful Force abilities, and a whole bunch of new superweapons, at least one of which can destroy planets via hyperspace projectiles. This is clearly daft as all heck, but I can’t help but love the hokey dialogue straight out of the Marvel Golden Age, and the lovely ship designs and beautiful new worlds it depicts. Pinnacle base, for example, has more imagination in its few panels in this comic book than the entire Disney sequel trilogy directed by JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson.
Plotwise, its clear that JJ Abrams cribbed all of the least compelling aspects of this story, chopped them into senseless pieces, and assembled them into a clumsy pastiche of Star Wars: Dark Empire that loses even the limited coherence that the comic book has.
I wouldn’t say this story is good per se, yet I shall forgive this comic book where I don’t feel anywhere near as magnanimous towards those films. Why? Because (1) it is many, many times more fun than the hateful “sequel” trilogy, (2) it provides much more plausible reasoning for the main villain’s actions, and (3) we get to see Luke, Han and Leia (and also Chewie and the droids) in action together, something that JJ Abrams denied movie fans.
Ultimately, though, this story is still much more of a wide than a wicket for me—the characters aren’t quite themselves, there are too many Jedi survivors that are conveniently dispatched by the end, the Force powers are comically overpotent, and the story of the ghost of an evil sorcerer trying to possess a baby to gain reincarnation is pretty clichéd at this point. Plus points are awarded for giving Luke Skywalker a collar as large and pointy as Ming the Merciless.
And that is probably my final thought on this story—it is more Flash Gordon than Star Wars, has no place in anyone’s canon if they care about worldbuilding or continuity, but it is surprisingly entertaining if you switch off your critical faculties and just go with the flow.
September 5, 2025
3.5 stars
Every now and then, Star Wars accidentally produces something that isn’t complete nonsense, and Star Wars: New Republic Vol. 5 (which is the entirety of the "Dark Empire run) is proof. In the Legends timeline, this thing actually matters. It was one of the first truly successful comics to come out after Return of the Jedi, and—shockingly—it didn’t implode under the weight of its own ambition. People like to treat Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy as mandatory homework for Expanded Universe credibility, but honestly, the original Dark Empire comic should be sitting right there on the “serious fan” reading list too. This volume makes a decent case for why.
The story itself swings wildly between brilliant and bonkers. On the one hand, you’ve got some surprisingly mature themes: rebuilding after war, the crushing uncertainty of victory, and the very real possibility that things might actually get worse before they get better. On the other hand, you’ve got your fair share of “did they really just write that?” moments, where it feels like the creative team pulled plot points out of a hat marked Space Wizard Nonsense. But hey, that’s Star Wars for ya. You take your philosophical musings about the Force with a side of melodramatic soap opera.
Now, let’s talk about Cam Kennedy. This is the part where the comic really struts. If you know his Judge Dredd work, you’ll recognize the bold lines and raw energy instantly. But here? He adds this surreal, moody color palette: greens, purples, strange hues that don’t belong in a galaxy “far, far away” but somehow fit perfectly. The result is a retro, pulpy vibe that still manages to hit emotional beats harder than it has any right to. Even when the script edges into silliness, the art slaps you with enough atmosphere to make you forget you just read something that sounded like bad fanfiction.
Tone-wise, this is no Saturday morning cartoon. Despite the occasional absurdity (and believe me, there’s plenty), the arc is overwhelmingly bleak. The longer you read, the more it feels like Star Wars decided to borrow some nihilism from 1980s cyberpunk. By the time Part 2 arrives, you might be wondering if the creative team had a bet going about how much existential dread they could cram into one comic run. Spoiler: the answer is a lot.
So where does that leave us? Star Wars: New Republic Vol. 5 is important, ambitious, often ridiculous, and surprisingly effective. It’s not a flawless masterpiece, but it earns its scars. Three and a half stars feels about right—because while it won’t change your life, it will remind you that Star Wars, at its best, is equal parts myth, pulp, and “wait, did that just happen?”
Every now and then, Star Wars accidentally produces something that isn’t complete nonsense, and Star Wars: New Republic Vol. 5 (which is the entirety of the "Dark Empire run) is proof. In the Legends timeline, this thing actually matters. It was one of the first truly successful comics to come out after Return of the Jedi, and—shockingly—it didn’t implode under the weight of its own ambition. People like to treat Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy as mandatory homework for Expanded Universe credibility, but honestly, the original Dark Empire comic should be sitting right there on the “serious fan” reading list too. This volume makes a decent case for why.
The story itself swings wildly between brilliant and bonkers. On the one hand, you’ve got some surprisingly mature themes: rebuilding after war, the crushing uncertainty of victory, and the very real possibility that things might actually get worse before they get better. On the other hand, you’ve got your fair share of “did they really just write that?” moments, where it feels like the creative team pulled plot points out of a hat marked Space Wizard Nonsense. But hey, that’s Star Wars for ya. You take your philosophical musings about the Force with a side of melodramatic soap opera.
Now, let’s talk about Cam Kennedy. This is the part where the comic really struts. If you know his Judge Dredd work, you’ll recognize the bold lines and raw energy instantly. But here? He adds this surreal, moody color palette: greens, purples, strange hues that don’t belong in a galaxy “far, far away” but somehow fit perfectly. The result is a retro, pulpy vibe that still manages to hit emotional beats harder than it has any right to. Even when the script edges into silliness, the art slaps you with enough atmosphere to make you forget you just read something that sounded like bad fanfiction.
Tone-wise, this is no Saturday morning cartoon. Despite the occasional absurdity (and believe me, there’s plenty), the arc is overwhelmingly bleak. The longer you read, the more it feels like Star Wars decided to borrow some nihilism from 1980s cyberpunk. By the time Part 2 arrives, you might be wondering if the creative team had a bet going about how much existential dread they could cram into one comic run. Spoiler: the answer is a lot.
So where does that leave us? Star Wars: New Republic Vol. 5 is important, ambitious, often ridiculous, and surprisingly effective. It’s not a flawless masterpiece, but it earns its scars. Three and a half stars feels about right—because while it won’t change your life, it will remind you that Star Wars, at its best, is equal parts myth, pulp, and “wait, did that just happen?”
August 17, 2021
I really want to like these more. Like a lot. But I had this checked out from my local public library since around late April of this year and just couldn’t get through it for the longest time. I’m pretty familiar with the arc of the Dark Empire series thanks to reading several of the Essential Guides as a child, but what I’ve never felt as comfortable with was a) the bad dialogue where most of the characters rarely sound like their film counterparts and b) the art between covers (stunning) and interiors (borderline Heavy Metal cartoonish) being so vastly different. I will say, the abundance of cover art and sketches and additional information collected from other volumes and Star Wars magazines is definitely a really neat reason to own this volume. I’m just not sold in the stories.
How they stack against the new trilogy is maybe a matter of personal taste. I think these start off in a similarly interesting direction with Luke capitulating to the Emperor (who at the time, really was only the emergent antagonist of RotJ and not yet the major figure in the prequels and other content) so while it feels like retreading, it makes sense. But the stuff with Luke basically falling to the dark side and then not and some of his behaviors around Leia and Jem just feel bad and poorly written and a touch fridge-y. The bad guys introduced in this series are highly disposable, Han has little to do, and most of the interesting characters like Brand die within the series and aren’t mentioned much in the Legends canon thereafter.
I do really wish they’d adapted (with some heavy adaptation) this to the big screen, since I think there are a lot of fascinating kernels and some of the political wheeling inside the Empire feels like a nod to the prequels of today. Thanks, JJ.
How they stack against the new trilogy is maybe a matter of personal taste. I think these start off in a similarly interesting direction with Luke capitulating to the Emperor (who at the time, really was only the emergent antagonist of RotJ and not yet the major figure in the prequels and other content) so while it feels like retreading, it makes sense. But the stuff with Luke basically falling to the dark side and then not and some of his behaviors around Leia and Jem just feel bad and poorly written and a touch fridge-y. The bad guys introduced in this series are highly disposable, Han has little to do, and most of the interesting characters like Brand die within the series and aren’t mentioned much in the Legends canon thereafter.
I do really wish they’d adapted (with some heavy adaptation) this to the big screen, since I think there are a lot of fascinating kernels and some of the political wheeling inside the Empire feels like a nod to the prequels of today. Thanks, JJ.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2024
I'm glad I finally read this one. It's a mixed bag, but more good than bad. I really like the moody, monochrome art for the tone of the story. It was very expressive. On the other hand, as sequential art, I found the flow lacking and had difficulty identifying individual characters.
The JJ Abrams movies owe more to this book than I realized. He basically played telephone with Dark Empire to get TROS.
Palpatine returning to life still cheapens Anakin's sacrifice in any timeline, but so it goes. At least the mechanism is explained here. And while I'm still fond of The Last Jedi, I prefer Legends Luke. He's wise and powerful, but still flawed, and unwavering in his efforts to restore the Jedi.
Luke willingly going dark to try and stop the Emperor was kind of weak sauce, considering how close he got to losing himself to darkness in RotJ, but it was an interesting take, and he learned his lesson at least.
The narrative itself is very derivative of the OT: superweapons, rebels on the back foot, smugglers, Boba Fett being a jobber, and so on. But it was fun and mostly well told. 4.5 stars.
The JJ Abrams movies owe more to this book than I realized. He basically played telephone with Dark Empire to get TROS.
Palpatine returning to life still cheapens Anakin's sacrifice in any timeline, but so it goes. At least the mechanism is explained here. And while I'm still fond of The Last Jedi, I prefer Legends Luke. He's wise and powerful, but still flawed, and unwavering in his efforts to restore the Jedi.
Luke willingly going dark to try and stop the Emperor was kind of weak sauce, considering how close he got to losing himself to darkness in RotJ, but it was an interesting take, and he learned his lesson at least.
The narrative itself is very derivative of the OT: superweapons, rebels on the back foot, smugglers, Boba Fett being a jobber, and so on. But it was fun and mostly well told. 4.5 stars.
April 20, 2022
I really wanted to give it more, but the art and especially the way they did the coloring on this one was just so bad. I could barely tell people's faces apart for the ones with Cam Kennedy as the artist. Like, distractingly so, where I had a hard time following the dialogue because the monochrome colors and little features made it so I couldn't tell Han apart from Luke or Lando, even Leia at times. I get the story being an interesting one for Star Wars lore, but that was not great. And it wasn't just the style of the time, because there's only a year or so between part two of the Dark Empire and the sequel Empire's End one, and for that last set I could actually tell things apart and enjoyed that one -- which, no surprise here, was the only one done by a different artist.
April 11, 2024
Believe it or not, the opening crawl to this makes zero (0) references to limited-time Fortnite events...
And to be fair to Dark Empire, this was pretty much the first EU comic outside of the original Marvel run, which is probably why it's sometimes a bit wacky.
Storyline is... inexplicable at times though, and the art quality is pretty inconsistent, particularly with the colouring which does shift to a more realistic style come Empire's End. This might also be guilty of kick-starting the trend of Luke having a different girlfriend every 2 minutes.
But I did love to see Leia get an opportunity to be the hero of the story! And this gave us Anakin Solo as well!
And to be fair to Dark Empire, this was pretty much the first EU comic outside of the original Marvel run, which is probably why it's sometimes a bit wacky.
Storyline is... inexplicable at times though, and the art quality is pretty inconsistent, particularly with the colouring which does shift to a more realistic style come Empire's End. This might also be guilty of kick-starting the trend of Luke having a different girlfriend every 2 minutes.
But I did love to see Leia get an opportunity to be the hero of the story! And this gave us Anakin Solo as well!
April 5, 2022
All due respect to the late Mr. Veitch...this one still really isn't for me. While I greatly appreciate many of the elements he introduces to the galaxy, there's just so much here that doesn't align with my taste, nor my perspective on Star Wars. But hey, glad some people still love it!
3/5
3/5
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews