With the CIA-grade torture tool kit known as Disney Star Wars: The Acolyte behind us, I thought to myself “boy, if only there was a competent revenge story set in the Star Wars universe…?” Surely there wasn’t one since Kathleen Kennedy declared that they had a lack of source materials? Then I remembered a story from my youth. A story set in the old Expanded Universe. Before the dark times, before… Disney.
Sarcasm aside, I had very fond memories of Dark Horse Comics’ Crimson Empire. As a young Imperial fan boy I ate up everything I could involving the Empire and this story just did it. Taking place seven years after Return of the Jedi, and following the Dark Horse Comics Dark Empire series, Crimson Empire asks a great question: what happened to the Emperor’s royal guard now that they had no master? You gather up the boys and take out your boss’s murderer right? Unfortunately they was betrayed by one of their own, leaving our protagonist the only survivor of the encounter. Defeated, he falls into obscurity.
The story revolves around former Royal Guardsman Kir Kanos as he rises up in his quest to defeat his old rival and those of the Imperial remnant hoping to take the throne. For Kanos there was only one worthy of the Imperial throne. Crimson Empire is packed with political intrigue, a great quest for revenge, a budding romance, and some great action. Kir Kanos was not out to make friends. His work was dirty and brutal and his allies were allies of convenience in service to his goals. It’s a great call back to Kurosawa and the lone gunman tales of old. Yes, this came out before The Mandalorian, and I’ll bravely say that this executes those aforementioned tropes better. For as much as I enjoyed The Mandalorian, there was never any feeling that Mando was in any danger. Mando had literal plot armor. Kir Kanos gets battered, bruised, and bleeds. Will his loyalty falter in his quest for vengeance? Anyway, I won’t rob you of the opportunity to experience this gem for yourselves.
Written by Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley, with pencils by Paul Gulacy, inking by P. Craig Russell, and colors by Dave Stewart, I highly recommend this comic from the old Expanded Universe. It’s got great art, it’s well written by miles compared to The Acolyte, but I guess that’s not really a high bar to over come. It even has cover art from one of my favorite Star Wars artists Dave Dorman! According to lore, the Royal Guard were hardened and conditioned elite soldiers and body guards of the Emperor.
It was really nice to see that these guys were more than just set ornaments in the movies. It’s a shame, truly this one could have easily fit in the mini-series genre that Disney had been so focused on. Oh, well. First published in 2012, it’s still available via Comixology and Amazon. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do!
*****
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