What do you think?
Rate this book
Star Wars Legends: Omnibus Collection
Star Wars Legends: The New Republic Omnibus, Vol. 2
The Thrawn Trilogy and the Dark Empire Trilogy - together! Years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the New Republic works to unite the galaxy - but the last of the Imperial warlords, Grand Admiral Thrawn, has returned from deep space ready to seize the galaxy for himself! Will the combined might of Luke, Leia, Han, and new allies Mara Jade and Talon Karrde be enough to stop Thrawn? Either way, the remnants of the Empire are gunning for them - including a mysteriously resurrected Emperor Palpatine! Luke will face his greatest test as he braves the dark side of the Force, but can he remain a hero in the process? Plus: The return of Boba Fett and more! Collecting STAR WARS: THE JABBA TAPE; STAR WARS: HEIR TO THE EMPIRE #1-6; STAR WARS: DARK FORCE RISING #1-6; STAR WARS: THE LAST COMMAND #1-6; STAR WARS: DARK EMPIRE #1-6; STAR WARS: DARK EMPIRE II #1-6; STAR WARS: EMPIRE'S END #1-2; STAR WARS: BOBA FETT - TWIN ENGINES OF DESTRUCTION, BOUNTY ON BAR-KOODA, WHEN THE FAT LADY SWINGS, MURDER MOST FOUL and AGENT OF DOOM; STAR WARS HANDBOOK #3; and material from STAR WARS TALES #1, #3-5, #10, #14, #20 and #22.
1312 pages, Hardcover
Published July 2, 2024
11 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
John Wagner
1,295 books190 followersJohn Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since. He is best known for his work on 2000 AD, for which he created Judge Dredd. He is noted for his taut, violent thrillers and his black humour. Among his pseudonyms are The best known are John Howard, T.B. Grover, Mike Stott, Keef Ripley, Rick Clark and Brian Skuter. (Wikipedia)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 22, 2025
What a mixed bag this Omnibus was...
The Thrawn trilogy is the star here. Things move fast, and there's a lot of text, but the story is very good, and the characters are handled excellently. Thrawn and the Dark Force are believable threats to the New Republic and never retread old ground from the movies. Great art as well 4.5/5
After that, we have the Dark Empire trilogy, and hoo boy, that is a completely different story. The characters talk and act nothing like the films. Luke is the worst offender, acting like a crazed villain with a god complex who is willing to throw in with the Dark side at the drop of a hat. 1/5
Dark Empire 2 and Empire's End are even worse. Much worse. So much worse, in fact, that it starts to loop back around into "so bad it's entertaining" territory. There's a jedi whose entire body has been replaced by a fat robotic floating orb, save for his original eyes and nose. the end result looks like humpty dumpty with killroy always peeking out over the top. Anytime the character was present, I was smiling. Silliness like that is why I can't hate these issues too much. but I can't call them good, either... 2/5
The rest of the contents are enjoyable, if inconsequential stories about various individual characters. The best of these is the Mara Jade stuff. 3/5
The Thrawn trilogy is the star here. Things move fast, and there's a lot of text, but the story is very good, and the characters are handled excellently. Thrawn and the Dark Force are believable threats to the New Republic and never retread old ground from the movies. Great art as well 4.5/5
After that, we have the Dark Empire trilogy, and hoo boy, that is a completely different story. The characters talk and act nothing like the films. Luke is the worst offender, acting like a crazed villain with a god complex who is willing to throw in with the Dark side at the drop of a hat. 1/5
Dark Empire 2 and Empire's End are even worse. Much worse. So much worse, in fact, that it starts to loop back around into "so bad it's entertaining" territory. There's a jedi whose entire body has been replaced by a fat robotic floating orb, save for his original eyes and nose. the end result looks like humpty dumpty with killroy always peeking out over the top. Anytime the character was present, I was smiling. Silliness like that is why I can't hate these issues too much. but I can't call them good, either... 2/5
The rest of the contents are enjoyable, if inconsequential stories about various individual characters. The best of these is the Mara Jade stuff. 3/5
December 30, 2024
I had high hopes for this edition, but was quite disappointed.
I loved Vol. 1, primarily because of the X-Wing & Mara Jade stories. The story of Mara Jade picks up in here, so I was very eager to read this omnibus.
This omnibus basically collects three chunks of stories: The Timothy Zahn trilogy of novels, adapted to comic books, the Dark Empire story & some Boba Fett adventures (and a few throwaway stories).
Timothy Zahn trilogy (18 issues): I read the novels as a teenager, roughly 20 years ago and I loved these stories. These are my episode 7-9, much superior to what the movies turned out to be. I still remember a lot of key moments and was very curious how they read in comic book form. Turns out, these stories don't work that well. It is incredibly wordy, scenes shift without any transition and the characters are not given any room to breathe. Internal struggles and motivations are never shown. Characters like Mara Jade, Thrawn or Captain Pellaeon are not allowed to shine. I wonder how readers like this story, who are not familiar with the novels. But I do like the artwork & colouring in here
Dark Empire (10 issues): Another take on a follow up story. It is placed after the Thrawn trilogy, but it barely acknowledges its existence, which is frustrating. Instead, this story basically tries to replicate the old trilogy again. The emperor is here, Luke & the Gang is here and lots of new ships, vehicles and fighters are introduced. Reviving the emperor, without any satisfying explanation is just as frustrating, as it was in Episode 9. Using the same characters, without introducing any new characters (worth mentioning) is also playing it very safe. It feels like more of the same. The new types of weapons and technology on the other hand, is super cool and feels like a natural extension, of what the movies introduced. The devastators, the galaxy weapon, the new death star, the E-Wings and the battle droids are all things, I'd have liked to see on the big screen. Unfortunately, the artwork and especially the colouring is a mess, making this a very ugly book.
Various Boba Fett stories (5 oversized issues) : Boba Fett survived, how cool. No explanation, he's just here, after the empire has been defeated. Yet, these stories are fun, but very inconsequential. There's some fun to be had with a trio of hutts. Boba Fett remains superior and undefeatable througout these stories. No need to read these more than once.
So in total, this book pales to Omnibus Vol. 1, and I'm going to sell it. It's worth reading once, but none of these stories hold any value for me, unfortunately.
I loved Vol. 1, primarily because of the X-Wing & Mara Jade stories. The story of Mara Jade picks up in here, so I was very eager to read this omnibus.
This omnibus basically collects three chunks of stories: The Timothy Zahn trilogy of novels, adapted to comic books, the Dark Empire story & some Boba Fett adventures (and a few throwaway stories).
Timothy Zahn trilogy (18 issues): I read the novels as a teenager, roughly 20 years ago and I loved these stories. These are my episode 7-9, much superior to what the movies turned out to be. I still remember a lot of key moments and was very curious how they read in comic book form. Turns out, these stories don't work that well. It is incredibly wordy, scenes shift without any transition and the characters are not given any room to breathe. Internal struggles and motivations are never shown. Characters like Mara Jade, Thrawn or Captain Pellaeon are not allowed to shine. I wonder how readers like this story, who are not familiar with the novels. But I do like the artwork & colouring in here
Dark Empire (10 issues): Another take on a follow up story. It is placed after the Thrawn trilogy, but it barely acknowledges its existence, which is frustrating. Instead, this story basically tries to replicate the old trilogy again. The emperor is here, Luke & the Gang is here and lots of new ships, vehicles and fighters are introduced. Reviving the emperor, without any satisfying explanation is just as frustrating, as it was in Episode 9. Using the same characters, without introducing any new characters (worth mentioning) is also playing it very safe. It feels like more of the same. The new types of weapons and technology on the other hand, is super cool and feels like a natural extension, of what the movies introduced. The devastators, the galaxy weapon, the new death star, the E-Wings and the battle droids are all things, I'd have liked to see on the big screen. Unfortunately, the artwork and especially the colouring is a mess, making this a very ugly book.
Various Boba Fett stories (5 oversized issues) : Boba Fett survived, how cool. No explanation, he's just here, after the empire has been defeated. Yet, these stories are fun, but very inconsequential. There's some fun to be had with a trio of hutts. Boba Fett remains superior and undefeatable througout these stories. No need to read these more than once.
So in total, this book pales to Omnibus Vol. 1, and I'm going to sell it. It's worth reading once, but none of these stories hold any value for me, unfortunately.
May 20, 2025
Happy to have this and to have read through it all!
The good:
The various short stories from SW Tales books are entertaining, and the backmatter of the book with sketches, art, BTS features, and more are all very interesting. The back of this book is, in essence, one large time capsule really crafted with love.
Past these, the adaptation of the Thrawn trilogy is solid. I read the novels a year or two ago, which I think helped with the comic reading. The comics are incredibly faithful, but obviously some stuff has to be cut, and in some moments it makes the storytelling a little jumbled. However, it never reaches a point the story is not-understandable, and the art is good. If you're unfamiliar with the story, these comics are worth reading (and/or the original novels or I highly recommend the newest audiobook productions complete with sound effects).
The not-so-good:
The Dark Empire duology and Empire's End is... rough. Conceptually it's ok (but a little repetitive), and it many cases I even don't mind the art which I've seen other reviewers take issue with. However, it puts much more of an emphasis on spectacle rather than story, has some questionable lettering at points (as does the Thrawn trilogy), and breaks a rather important rule of comics by routinely including narrative boxes that tell you what is happening on the very page/panel they occupy. With that in mind, the story seems to do a lot of telling, trying to convince you're experiencing an epic story, battle, or moment through text, rather than letting the art actually convey it. I think it starts well and has some promise here and there but ultimately isn't the best Star Wars experience.
The good:
The various short stories from SW Tales books are entertaining, and the backmatter of the book with sketches, art, BTS features, and more are all very interesting. The back of this book is, in essence, one large time capsule really crafted with love.
Past these, the adaptation of the Thrawn trilogy is solid. I read the novels a year or two ago, which I think helped with the comic reading. The comics are incredibly faithful, but obviously some stuff has to be cut, and in some moments it makes the storytelling a little jumbled. However, it never reaches a point the story is not-understandable, and the art is good. If you're unfamiliar with the story, these comics are worth reading (and/or the original novels or I highly recommend the newest audiobook productions complete with sound effects).
The not-so-good:
The Dark Empire duology and Empire's End is... rough. Conceptually it's ok (but a little repetitive), and it many cases I even don't mind the art which I've seen other reviewers take issue with. However, it puts much more of an emphasis on spectacle rather than story, has some questionable lettering at points (as does the Thrawn trilogy), and breaks a rather important rule of comics by routinely including narrative boxes that tell you what is happening on the very page/panel they occupy. With that in mind, the story seems to do a lot of telling, trying to convince you're experiencing an epic story, battle, or moment through text, rather than letting the art actually convey it. I think it starts well and has some promise here and there but ultimately isn't the best Star Wars experience.
January 19, 2025
This is probably my favorite omnibus other than the 1st empire one. Seeing the Thrawn trilogy depicted visually was quite neat, even though I still think the books are better.
The dark empire comics were something else. The art style took some getting used to, and as a whole, I think the story of them was a bit ridiculous. They're still quite enjoyable, though. I think their poor reputation isn't quite deserved.
I really enjoyed the 4 or 5 Boba Fett issues toward the end of the book. They didn't tie into too much, but they were quite entertaining.
For whatever reason, there are always two or three Star Wars tales comics tacked onto these omnibuses. There are the least of them this time, though, so I suppose that's the silver lining.
I don't have anything but good stuff to say about this omnibus, which is more than I can say for the rest of them. It was pretty alright.
The dark empire comics were something else. The art style took some getting used to, and as a whole, I think the story of them was a bit ridiculous. They're still quite enjoyable, though. I think their poor reputation isn't quite deserved.
I really enjoyed the 4 or 5 Boba Fett issues toward the end of the book. They didn't tie into too much, but they were quite entertaining.
For whatever reason, there are always two or three Star Wars tales comics tacked onto these omnibuses. There are the least of them this time, though, so I suppose that's the silver lining.
I don't have anything but good stuff to say about this omnibus, which is more than I can say for the rest of them. It was pretty alright.
August 6, 2024
A nice collection.
Heir of the empire is one of my favorite Star Wars book trilogies, and the comics do a great job imaging Timothy Zahn's world quite well. However the best part in my opinion was the Dark Empire storyline. It was really creative and had more complexity than movies 7-9 in my opinion, as well as really integrated well into the universe created in the 90s with all the authors and comic book writers really working together. The end couple of stories about Boba Fett were really good and I loved the art for them.
Heir of the empire is one of my favorite Star Wars book trilogies, and the comics do a great job imaging Timothy Zahn's world quite well. However the best part in my opinion was the Dark Empire storyline. It was really creative and had more complexity than movies 7-9 in my opinion, as well as really integrated well into the universe created in the 90s with all the authors and comic book writers really working together. The end couple of stories about Boba Fett were really good and I loved the art for them.
September 25, 2024
Rating: 3.7 to be precise. The various single tales/mini-series collected here are good or even great. The Thrawn-trilogy adaptation is inferior to the novels and I think it cuts short too many events. I think if I hadn’t read the books first, I wouldn’t understand much of the plot by the comic version alone. The Dark Empire trilogy is controversial to many, but personally I really like it and I think it’s kinda coherent with the EU lore and I see no continuity problems. The Boba Fett miniseries are great and the best part of the omnibus.
December 28, 2024
Aside from some weak stories at the start, this is a phenomenal collection containing the excellent adaptations of Timothy Zahn's novels, the Dark Empire trilogy which was a cornerstone of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and some pretty good Boba Fett stories. The writing is mostly great, Cam Kennedy's art and coloring are superb, there's very little to complain about here.
Held off on going five because those initial stories really aren't much and Dark Empire has some weird narrative stuff going on that always lower my enjoyment of it. But overall an excellent collection.
Held off on going five because those initial stories really aren't much and Dark Empire has some weird narrative stuff going on that always lower my enjoyment of it. But overall an excellent collection.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews