That era is—or at least was, before the 2015 reboot of the official Star Wars "Extended Universe" continuity that accompanied the release of The Force Awakens movie—referred to as "The New Republic" era. So naturally I turned to Marvel's re-collections of the Dark Horse-published material, in the publisher's "Epic Collection" format, 500-ish page anthologies that collect the various eras of Star Wars comics in the order in which they are set, labeled The New Republic. (Do note the band along the bottom of the cover reading "Legends" along the bottom of the cover above; that designates these comics as no longer canonical.)
Marvel has published eight volumes in The New Republic series of Epic Collections.
When I sat down to read the first volume, I was expecting to read comics akin to those that Jo Duffy was writing in the final 20 or so issues of the original Marvel series, stories of the heroes of the Rebellion dealing with the remnants of the Empire, setting up the New Republic (it's right there in the title, after all) and embarking on new adventures that had little or nothing to do with the continuity of the films. Only perhaps a little bit more mature and sophisticated, as the Dark Horse comics of the '90s were compared to the Marvel comics of the early '80s.
Marvel has published eight volumes in The New Republic series of Epic Collections.
When I sat down to read the first volume, I was expecting to read comics akin to those that Jo Duffy was writing in the final 20 or so issues of the original Marvel series, stories of the heroes of the Rebellion dealing with the remnants of the Empire, setting up the New Republic (it's right there in the title, after all) and embarking on new adventures that had little or nothing to do with the continuity of the films. Only perhaps a little bit more mature and sophisticated, as the Dark Horse comics of the '90s were compared to the Marvel comics of the early '80s.
Basically, I was expecting a bunch of comics like Star Wars: Dark Empire.
What I found within the collection was...not that. Despite the fact that Marvel put the heroes of the original films on the cover, in a gorgeous but somewhat weird looking cover from the great Duncan Fegredo (It's taken from 1998's Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire—Evolution #3).
What I found within the collection was...not that. Despite the fact that Marvel put the heroes of the original films on the cover, in a gorgeous but somewhat weird looking cover from the great Duncan Fegredo (It's taken from 1998's Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire—Evolution #3).
The collection contains comics published between 1997 and 2005, organized not as they were originally published, but rather by the order in which their events occur along the old Star Wars timeline, which here means how close they are to the events of Return of the Jedi. And so sprinkled throughout the various series and one-shots are much shorter stories taken from the pages of Dark Horse's 1999-2005 anthology series Star Wars Tales, which was notable for occasionally offering straight comedy or parody shorts and for giving unlikely creators a chance to play with the franchise's toybox (How unlikely? I remember stories from the likes of Jason, Andi Watson and Tony Millionaire; trades of Tales are among the few Star Wars comics I ever actually bought trades of).
The longest stories collected within the first volume—1998's Mara Jade—By the Emperor's Hand and Shadows of the Empire—Evolution—are both quite closely tied to the events from Star Wars prose novels, and are, in fact, written by the novelists who introduced the characters they star in their previous work, Timothy Zahn and Steve Perry.
The "Star Warriors", as Roy Thomas used to call the films' heroes, technically appear in both. In the former, they are relegated to the background and, in Luke's case, a few psychic flashes. In the latter, they play much more substantial roles, even though the protagonist of the series is actually Guri, "The only assassin-programmed human replica droid (HRD) in the galaxy", apparently introduced in Perry's 1996 Shadows of The Empire novel...and/or the related "Shadows of the Empire" suite of media that the novel was a part of.
Our heroes do star in a couple of stories within this collection, although these tend to be the shorter Tales stories. Also featured in this first New Republic collection are side characters from the films, like Boba Fett, the late Jabba The Hutt, as well as the Ewoks, a Jawa and a retired Gamorreon guard.
I suppose the best way, or at least most thorough way, to review such anthologies is to go through them story by story, so let's do that.
I suppose the best way, or at least most thorough way, to review such anthologies is to go through them story by story, so let's do that.
•Star Wars: Mara Jade—By The Emperor's Hand This seven-part series from 1998, consisting of a four-page webcomic labeled issue #0 and then a six-issue comic series, stars the Imperial agent who was first introduced in writer Timothy Zahn's 1991 prose novel, Heir to the Empire (and who would go on to play a major role in the old post-Jedi "Extended Universe" continuity).
Zahn actually writes this series too, plotting the first half of the series while fellow Star Wars novelist Michael A. Stackpole handled the script, and then getting the only writer's credit on the second half of the series. The pair couldn't ask for a better collaborator, as the series was drawn by the great Carlos Ezquerra.
The events of the series are so close to those of Jedi that, after the zero issue prologue, it actually begins during the events of the film. Apparently Mara, a light saber-wielding Force user mysteriously given her abilities through The Emperor's own force mastery, was charged with assassinating Luke Skywalker, and, in an effort to do so, she sought employ as a dancer in Jabba's palace (It's here we see a chained and bikini-ed Leia in the background of a few panels, along with C-3PO).
From there, she moves onto her next assignment, the assassination of a criminal cartel leader, which seems to go easily enough, but then her life gets immensely harder. The Emperor sends her some kind of psychic message just before his death, which here shows her a different version of the events we saw in Jedi: Rather than Darth Vader pitching the Emperor over a railing to fall to his death, Mara sees Vader and Luke teaming up to kill the Emperor with their light sabers, and she gets a final entreaty from the Emperor to kill Skywalker.
From there, she moves onto her next assignment, the assassination of a criminal cartel leader, which seems to go easily enough, but then her life gets immensely harder. The Emperor sends her some kind of psychic message just before his death, which here shows her a different version of the events we saw in Jedi: Rather than Darth Vader pitching the Emperor over a railing to fall to his death, Mara sees Vader and Luke teaming up to kill the Emperor with their light sabers, and she gets a final entreaty from the Emperor to kill Skywalker.
The rest of the series details her attempts to navigate the immediate aftermath of the Emperor's death, which means she no longer has the favor of the Empire's leader (and she spends some time in an Imperial prison) nor access to her full force powers, and her attempts to re-assassinate the crime boss she targeted earlier, when she learns she had actually only beheaded a decoy.
Though Mara Jade is a character from the novels, Zahn and Stackpole do a fine job of introducing her here, and one need not know anything other than what is presented here to follow and enjoy the story (although I suppose having seen Return of the Jedi is something of a requirement).
Though Mara Jade is a character from the novels, Zahn and Stackpole do a fine job of introducing her here, and one need not know anything other than what is presented here to follow and enjoy the story (although I suppose having seen Return of the Jedi is something of a requirement).
Ezquerra's art is among some of the best I've seen in a Star Wars comic thus far. His Mara Jade is beautiful, statuesque and hard-faced, and his gift for faces is perfect for drawing the various arrogant and severe Imperial officers. He also draws some cool, weird-looking aliens; I particularly liked the skunk guy who hangs out at a bar Mara works in for a bit, and the strange, pointy-headed species that the crime boss apparently belongs to (Both seem to be original to this series).
•"Mara Jade: A Night on the Town" A 1999 16-pager from Tales by Zahn and artist Igor Kordey, this is a much less successful comic. The plot involves Mara hunting down an Imperial governor who had stolen from the Empire for his personal enrichment, a task that involves her crossing paths with the Alliance and its soldiers, as they currently hold her target captive.
Partially told as if through Mara's eyes and very heavy on her narration via thought cloud, it reads more like a short prose story clumsily adapted into a comic. I'm not sure what went wrong here, considering the relative strength of the Zahn comics series that this short follows, but it does seem to argue for the importance of Ezquerra's importance...and maybe that of Stackpole, as well.
•"Do or Do Not" This 2003 four-page Tale features the first real appearances by Luke and Leia in this collection, with the former feeling a little lost after the Battle of Endor and the sudden silence of the force ghosts, and the latter listening to him vent. Yoda's force ghost puts in a brief appearance, which is why the story is titled what it is. Jay Laird writes, and Timothy II provides the art, which is pretty cool in how different it is from so much of the franchise's comics art.
•"Do or Do Not" This 2003 four-page Tale features the first real appearances by Luke and Leia in this collection, with the former feeling a little lost after the Battle of Endor and the sudden silence of the force ghosts, and the latter listening to him vent. Yoda's force ghost puts in a brief appearance, which is why the story is titled what it is. Jay Laird writes, and Timothy II provides the art, which is pretty cool in how different it is from so much of the franchise's comics art.
I thugh the story in notable for Luke's line "And now I've got to rebuild the Jedi order all by myself!" That's something he will dedicate himself to in the '90s Extended Universe continuity, of course, but is in sharp contrast to his attitude in the Marvel comics, where he refused to teach anyone else his Jedi skills, fearing that they might be used for ill.
•"Free Memory" A 2001 Tale by Brett Matthews and Vatche Mavlian, in which R2-D2 shares with C-3PO the various holographic farewell messages that the original trilogy's heroes had him record, as well as the "You're my only hope" message from A New Hope and the group "photo" that accounts for the last image of Jedi.
•"Lando's Commandos: On Eagles' Wings" Wait, what's an eagle? Is that something like a falcon? Do they have these birds in the Star Wars galaxy...?
I have to assume this 2000 22-page Tale by Ian Edginton and Carlos Meglia started with its title. After a series of Alliance convoys are attacked and plundered by imperial TIE pilots gone pirate, leadership turns to Lando Calrissian for an "unconventional" approach to shut down the bad guys ("Send a thief to catch a thief, right?" Lando says).
He assembles a team to accompany the next convoy, a diverse team that includes a former officer of the Imperial navy who has since joined the Alliance. Through a couple of sneaky tricks, Lando manages to draw out a traitor and take down the pirates.
It's a nice enough character portrait of one of the more colorful characters from the films, but what really makes it sing is the angular lines and explosively cartoony faces of artist Meglia. I particularly liked his tiny-eyed, big-eyebrowed Lando with his permanently smirking face, and the severe, axe-shaped face of the former imp officer.
The story has more room to breathe than the other Tales, which might be another factor in why it is probably the best of these in this collection.
•Star Wars: Shadows of The Empire—Evolution As previously mentioned, this 1998 five-part miniseries is a Steve Perry-written sequel to the events of his own Shadows of The Empire novel (and its attendant video game and other related media). That was set between Empire and Jedi, so some time has passed between the events of the earlier story.
I found the story easy enough to follow without any prior knowledge of Shadows, but it doesn't read nearly as self-contained as the earlier Mara Jade miniseries, a fact highlighted by a character guide to nearly a dozen different players that is presented before the first page of the miniseries.
This story really cemented for me the fact that Dark Horse's Star Wars comics were going to some pains to fit into the emergent "Extended Universe" continuity, to the point that many of them seemed made more for the sorts of Star Wars super-fans who were reading the prose novels and playing the videogames, rather than more casual comics readers whose familiarity with the saga began and ended with the films.
Our protagonist is the human-looking assassin droid Guri, who was apparently a lieutenant for the criminal organization Black Sun's now dead leader, Xizor. She is on a quest to find someone able of stripping her memory of her own criminal career, allowing her to start over with a new life.
This story really cemented for me the fact that Dark Horse's Star Wars comics were going to some pains to fit into the emergent "Extended Universe" continuity, to the point that many of them seemed made more for the sorts of Star Wars super-fans who were reading the prose novels and playing the videogames, rather than more casual comics readers whose familiarity with the saga began and ended with the films.
Our protagonist is the human-looking assassin droid Guri, who was apparently a lieutenant for the criminal organization Black Sun's now dead leader, Xizor. She is on a quest to find someone able of stripping her memory of her own criminal career, allowing her to start over with a new life.
Others are on the hunt for her, though, including Xizor's niece and would-be successor, a rogue scientist, a pair of twin sister martial artist/mercenaries and, most colorfully, a bounty hunter named Kar Yang, who looks like a huge, humanoid rubber chicken and speaks in big, bold, jagged dialogue bubbles filled with all-caps dialogue (His entry in the opening character guide refers to him as "the second-most skilled and feared bounty hunter in the galaxy," with Boba Fett presumably being the first...?)
In the middle of all this are the heroes of the films, most of whom had some dealings with Xizor and Guru previously (as seen in flashbacks to her memories), and who are currently trying to stave off a gang war between various criminal factions. They first appear in the series' third issues and will appear intermittently throughout the rest of the series.
In the middle of all this are the heroes of the films, most of whom had some dealings with Xizor and Guru previously (as seen in flashbacks to her memories), and who are currently trying to stave off a gang war between various criminal factions. They first appear in the series' third issues and will appear intermittently throughout the rest of the series.
Perry seems to have a lot of fun writing them, paying special attention to the screwball comedy bickering between Han Solo and Leia, making a running joke out of Han's interest in (and to) other women. It's also interesting to see how other characters react to them in the course of the proceedings; when the twin mercenaries' employer dismisses Luke and company's many victories as a matter of luck rather than skill, they reply with, "Listen...they took out Jabba The Hutt, blew up two death stars, and destroyed The Emperor himself!" and, "With that kind of luck, they don't need any skill."
Pencil artist Ron Randall and inker Tom Simmons provide clean, smooth art, portraying a particularly sexy Guri (her outfit getting provocatively but strategically shredded in battle) and doing a quite striking job on the movies' heroes, pulling off an impressive balancing of celebrity likeness with vital and animated looking characters.
As alluded to above, Duncan Fegredo provides covers for the series, and these match realistic renderings of the characters (albeit with some somewhat awkward posing and a weird energy), with flat star and blast iconography.
As with the Emperor's Hand story that kicks off the collection, it's a quite solid graphic novel embedded within the collection.
•Star Wars: The Jabba Tape A 1998 one-shot from a creative team with a respectable pedigree (writer John Wagner and artist Killian Plunkett), this story stars a pair of low-level members of the now late Jabba's criminal organization, swoop riders Spiker and Big Gizz (A "swoop" is apparently the Star Wars answer to a motorcycle, making this colorfully designed pair essentially a couple of biker types).
Seeking to profit after Jabba's demise, they set out to acquire a luxury ship stocked with treasures that Jabba had hidden in a cave in case he ever needed to make a fast escape from Tatooine. The only problem? Jabba's greedy nephew Gorga has also heard of the ship and wants to get his slimy hands on it.
As with the Emperor's Hand story that kicks off the collection, it's a quite solid graphic novel embedded within the collection.
•Star Wars: The Jabba Tape A 1998 one-shot from a creative team with a respectable pedigree (writer John Wagner and artist Killian Plunkett), this story stars a pair of low-level members of the now late Jabba's criminal organization, swoop riders Spiker and Big Gizz (A "swoop" is apparently the Star Wars answer to a motorcycle, making this colorfully designed pair essentially a couple of biker types).
Seeking to profit after Jabba's demise, they set out to acquire a luxury ship stocked with treasures that Jabba had hidden in a cave in case he ever needed to make a fast escape from Tatooine. The only problem? Jabba's greedy nephew Gorga has also heard of the ship and wants to get his slimy hands on it.
Our "swoop scum" protagonists manage to wrest it away from Gorga's men and, along with the ship's sole guard Onoh, make it into space with it. The only problem? It's programmed with an "interactive security tape" of Jabba himself (thus the name of comic) which, without proper authorization, shuts down the ship and vents all of its oxygen. Oh, and Gorga's men also have a ship of their own in orbit to stop them from escaping with the treasure.
Plunkett draws the hell out of the book, and it's filled with lots of fun character designs, particularly that of the small, spindly Onoh, who, like many of the Star Wars aliens in the films (but too few in the comics) looks an awful lot like a Muppet.
I wasn't expecting much from this particular comic—and was wondering how there could be a Jabba comic set after Jabba's death—but it proved a lot of fun.
•"Sand Blasted" Killian Plunkett both writes and draws this 28-page story from a 2000 issue of Star Wars Tales, a direct sequel to his and John Wagner's The Jabba Tape. On the surface of Tatooine, where they crash-landed in the previous story, Spiker, Big Gizz and Onoh encounter a caravan of shot-up Jawa sandcrawlers...as well as what shot them up, an Imperial battle droid which had laid buried under the sand for years (This resembles a particularly big and brawny stormtrooper, one capable of flight and carrying a huge blaster rifle).
The story consists mostly of our heroes—well, our protagonists—and a surviving Jawa battling against it. They ultimately prevail, but in a twist ending, a group of those pop-up pit droids from Episode I discover its wreckage and start to reassemble the battle droid.
The story consists mostly of our heroes—well, our protagonists—and a surviving Jawa battling against it. They ultimately prevail, but in a twist ending, a group of those pop-up pit droids from Episode I discover its wreckage and start to reassemble the battle droid.
There's not a whole lot to the story, really, but it's another opportunity to enjoy Plunkett playing in the Star Wars sandbox.
•"Three Against the Galaxy" Another 2000 Tale, this Rich Hedden-written, Rick Leonardi and Mark Lipka-drawn 22-page story details a young aristocrat who chance leads to teaming up with a former Gamorrean guard and a Jawa. Together the three outlaws take on her corrupt uncle and avenge her father. The Jawa is given a name, Tek, and his dialogue is translated into Basic/English for the benefit of the reader. Me, I prefer when those little weirdoes just talk gibberish, like the one that appeared in the previous story did. The comic is fine, though unremarkable.
•"Apocalypse Endor" If the title of this 2002 short doesn't clue one into its filmic inspiration, the cover of the issue of Star Wars Tales it appeared in ought to. An old man drinking in a bar, a former stormtrooper, is questioned by some young punks about how it was the great Empire was defeated by "those cute, fuzzy widdle Ewoks."
"You guys had walkers, blasters, armor, speeder bikes, starships," one chimes in. "What did the Ewoks have? Pointy sticks and a happy song."
The old man, who actually seems way too old given how close to the Battle of Endor this story would seem to be set given its placement in this particular collection, responds by detailing what horrifying little monsters the Ewoks really were, and how they drove his fellow soldier mad with their stealth attacks, constant drumming and primitive death traps. We know, we saw Jedi; they clearly eat human flesh.
•"Apocalypse Endor" If the title of this 2002 short doesn't clue one into its filmic inspiration, the cover of the issue of Star Wars Tales it appeared in ought to. An old man drinking in a bar, a former stormtrooper, is questioned by some young punks about how it was the great Empire was defeated by "those cute, fuzzy widdle Ewoks."
"You guys had walkers, blasters, armor, speeder bikes, starships," one chimes in. "What did the Ewoks have? Pointy sticks and a happy song."
The old man, who actually seems way too old given how close to the Battle of Endor this story would seem to be set given its placement in this particular collection, responds by detailing what horrifying little monsters the Ewoks really were, and how they drove his fellow soldier mad with their stealth attacks, constant drumming and primitive death traps. We know, we saw Jedi; they clearly eat human flesh.
This one is by Christian Read and the art team of Clayton Henry and Jimmy Palmiotti.
•"Marooned" Another Tale set on Endor, this 2005 story written, drawn and colored by Lucas Marangon is set a little over a year after the climactic battle there in Jedi, and chronicles the meeting between an Imperial scout trooper and a rebel fighter and the uneasy friendship that develops between the pair. Both abandoned there by their respective armies, this odd couple proceed to bond with one another, hang out with the Ewoks, liberally smoke whatever it is that the Ewoks stuff their little pipes with and eventually send out a distress signal to be picked up from Endor. The former Imperial trooper opts to stay behind, worried a soldier like himself won't fit into the new galaxy...and maybe having developed a liking for those Ewok pipes...?
•Star Wars: Boba Fett—Twin Engines of Destruction Dark Horse reprinted this 32-page story in a 1997 one-shot, although it was apparently first published across four issues of Star Wars Galaxy Magazine in 1995 and 1996. Written by Andy Mangels and drawn by John Nadeau and Jordi Ensign, it seems to be another one of those stories that that picks up on plot points from somewhere other than the films themselves (If I understood what I read about him on Wookiepedia correctly, one of the main characters here seems to have originated in a souce book for a Star Wars role-playing game...?).
Someone who sure looks a lot like Boba Fett is bounty-hunting and eventually finds himself facing another bounty hunter briefly seen in The Empire Strikes Back, Dengar. After initially mistaking the guy with the jetpack and wearing the same armor as Boba Fett as Boba Fett himself, just as the reader was likely meant to, Dengar eventually recognizes this guy as Jodo Kast.
•"Marooned" Another Tale set on Endor, this 2005 story written, drawn and colored by Lucas Marangon is set a little over a year after the climactic battle there in Jedi, and chronicles the meeting between an Imperial scout trooper and a rebel fighter and the uneasy friendship that develops between the pair. Both abandoned there by their respective armies, this odd couple proceed to bond with one another, hang out with the Ewoks, liberally smoke whatever it is that the Ewoks stuff their little pipes with and eventually send out a distress signal to be picked up from Endor. The former Imperial trooper opts to stay behind, worried a soldier like himself won't fit into the new galaxy...and maybe having developed a liking for those Ewok pipes...?
•Star Wars: Boba Fett—Twin Engines of Destruction Dark Horse reprinted this 32-page story in a 1997 one-shot, although it was apparently first published across four issues of Star Wars Galaxy Magazine in 1995 and 1996. Written by Andy Mangels and drawn by John Nadeau and Jordi Ensign, it seems to be another one of those stories that that picks up on plot points from somewhere other than the films themselves (If I understood what I read about him on Wookiepedia correctly, one of the main characters here seems to have originated in a souce book for a Star Wars role-playing game...?).
Someone who sure looks a lot like Boba Fett is bounty-hunting and eventually finds himself facing another bounty hunter briefly seen in The Empire Strikes Back, Dengar. After initially mistaking the guy with the jetpack and wearing the same armor as Boba Fett as Boba Fett himself, just as the reader was likely meant to, Dengar eventually recognizes this guy as Jodo Kast.
Dengar tells his colleague Boba Fett about the encounter, as apparently the newcomer has been trading on his resemblance to Fett to further his bounty-hunting career. In order to deal with imposter, Boba Fett secretly hires him for a job and leads him into an elaborate trap, one that seems to end with Kast being killed in a kinda roundabout, indirect fashion.
Colorist Cary Porter isn't as consistent with the portrayal of the two guys in similar armor as I would like—sometimes Kast has a yellow and gray helmet which distinguishes him from Fett, sometimes they both have red and gray helms—and yeah, having never heard of Kast and his whole deal before, I was on somewhat unsure footing the first time through this story.
Still, it's a decent enough portrait of the taciturn Boba Fett as one of the galaxy's ultimate badasses, and it's certainly fun to see him battle a "twin" with the same weapons and accessories as him.
It was interesting to read this story in 2025, after having seen the new post-Jedi Fett onscreen in the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett (a series I actually managed to watch, before Disney started producing so damn may of the things that I couldn't keep up any longer and ultimately gave up on them).
Colorist Cary Porter isn't as consistent with the portrayal of the two guys in similar armor as I would like—sometimes Kast has a yellow and gray helmet which distinguishes him from Fett, sometimes they both have red and gray helms—and yeah, having never heard of Kast and his whole deal before, I was on somewhat unsure footing the first time through this story.
Still, it's a decent enough portrait of the taciturn Boba Fett as one of the galaxy's ultimate badasses, and it's certainly fun to see him battle a "twin" with the same weapons and accessories as him.
It was interesting to read this story in 2025, after having seen the new post-Jedi Fett onscreen in the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett (a series I actually managed to watch, before Disney started producing so damn may of the things that I couldn't keep up any longer and ultimately gave up on them).
While the live action Boba Fett, played by Temuera Morrison, was more or less healed from the Sarlacc pit thanks to his many long baths in a bacta tank, here he is apparently so scarred that when he's not in his Mandalorian armor, he's bandaged up like a mummy (Actually, he looked an awful lot like DC's old Unknown Soldier character).
•"A Wookie Scorned!" This fun 2001 Tale from Jason Hall and Christina Chen depicts the friction in the Han Solo/Chewbacca friendship caused by Leia, who keeps pulling Han away for various missions, so that it starts to seem that he's spending all his time with her, rather than doing stuff like repairing the Millennium Falcon with Chewie. And Chewie has noticed that Han returns from some of these missions with lipstick on his face.
Even when Chewbacca makes a special effort, like preparing an elaborate dinner for his best friend, Han seems to barely notice or appreciate it, instead piling up a plate and rushing off to see Leia again.
Talking to C-3PO and Luke doesn't help, but the neglected Chewie eventually gets a form of revenge when he takes Leia shopping, the two of them leaving Han all alone for a change.
Chen's art in this short story is quite delightful, as she gives Han and Luke a neat, dreamy, manga hero look.
•"Problem Solvers" The final story in this massive collection is one of those occasional stories from Star Wars Tales that is a piece of pure comedy, and a story that I don't think we were ever meant to take as canonical, even before the 2015 reboot. A 2004 four-page effort by Chris Eliopoulos of Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius fame, the strip's premise is that Leia asked Han to hire an I.T. crew to get the New Republic's computer systems up and running, and he delegated it to C-3PO, who apparently hired the Ewoks.
Over the course of two-pages, the Ewoks attack the computer problems the same way they attacked the stormtroopers: With logs, ropes and rocks. On the final page, there's another inappropriate-for-the-task gag, and a riff on an oft-repeated line of Star Wars dialogue.
Chen's art in this short story is quite delightful, as she gives Han and Luke a neat, dreamy, manga hero look.
•"Problem Solvers" The final story in this massive collection is one of those occasional stories from Star Wars Tales that is a piece of pure comedy, and a story that I don't think we were ever meant to take as canonical, even before the 2015 reboot. A 2004 four-page effort by Chris Eliopoulos of Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius fame, the strip's premise is that Leia asked Han to hire an I.T. crew to get the New Republic's computer systems up and running, and he delegated it to C-3PO, who apparently hired the Ewoks.
Over the course of two-pages, the Ewoks attack the computer problems the same way they attacked the stormtroopers: With logs, ropes and rocks. On the final page, there's another inappropriate-for-the-task gag, and a riff on an oft-repeated line of Star Wars dialogue.
It's an effective gag strip, and a lot of fun to see a handful of Star Wars characters rendered in Eliopoulos' distinctive style.
I imagine page count and chronology had more to do with its placement as the final story in this particular volume than anything else, but it proves a perfect capper for some 500 pages of Star Wars comics.
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