Star Wars: Empire

The original-trilogy companion to Republic: forty issues told largely from the Imperial side of the line, where the interesting question is not who wins but what the uniform costs.

Ran monthly from 4 September 2002 to 1 March 2006, launched alongside Republic as the second half of Dark Horse’s two-flagship strategy. Its best-known arc, Darklighter, is a five-issue biography of Biggs Darklighter. Dates in the issue table are documented release dates — Dark Horse printed no cover date on these comics.

7.2

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Published: 4 September 2002 – 1 March 2006, monthly
Issues: 40 issues
Format: Ongoing
Continuity: Star Wars Legends
Era: Reign of the Empire
Writers: Welles Hartley, Ron Marz, Paul Chadwick, Scott Allie, Thomas Andrews, Jeremy Barlow, Randy Stradley, John Wagner, Dave Land, John Jackson Miller
Artists: Christian Dalla Vecchia, Davidé Fabbri, Adriana Melo, Tomás Giorello, Ryan Benjamin, Curtis P. Arnold, Douglas Wheatley, Brian Ching, Joe Corroney, Nicola Scott, Cam Kennedy, Patrick Blaine, Raúl Treviño, Brandon Badeaux
Cover artists: David Michael Beck, Kilian Plunkett, Brad Anderson, Tomás Giorello, Brian Horton, Tommy Lee Edwards, Brian Ching, Douglas Wheatley, Ryan Benjamin, Saleem Crawford, Francisco Ruiz Velasco, Jeff Johnson, Joe Corroney, Dan Jackson

The verdict

Uneven by design — an anthology wearing an ongoing’s numbering — but the Imperial-perspective issues are the most interesting thing anyone did with the original trilogy era in the 2000s.

Empire was pitched as the sister title to Republic, and the two books were announced in the same breath as the new flagships for Star Wars continuity. In practice they were opposites. Republic had one cast and one long argument. Empire had forty issues, a dozen writers, and a remit that amounted to "anything in the original trilogy era".

The Imperial perspective

What saves it is the angle. A surprising number of these issues are told from inside the Empire — a TIE pilot, a garrison commander, a stormtrooper who believes the briefings. The third collected volume is literally titled The Imperial Perspective, and those issues are the ones that still read well, because they take seriously the idea that most people serving a tyranny are not monsters but employees.

Darklighter

Darklighter (#8–12 and #15), written by Paul Chadwick, is the arc people remember: the life of Biggs Darklighter, a character who exists in the film for about ninety seconds and dies. Giving him a full biography — Tatooine, the Academy, the defection, Yavin — is exactly the kind of thing this era of comics could do that nothing else could, and Chadwick does not cheat the ending.

The rest of it

The remainder swings. Betrayal (#1–4) opens with a Death Star-era conspiracy that never quite pays off. Princess... Warrior and A Little Piece of Home are competent Leia stories. The final arc, The Wrong Side of the War (#35–40), sends Luke to a jungle war where the Rebellion is the outside power, and it is the strongest note the book ends on. Dark Horse folded the title into Rebellion immediately afterwards, continuing the same era with a tighter cast.

Reading it now

Do not read it front to back. Read Darklighter, read the Imperial-perspective issues, then decide whether you want the rest.

Structure

Story arcs

How the run divides, and where a reader can get on and off.

#1–4

Betrayal
#5–6

Princess... Warrior
#8, #9, #12, #15

Darklighter

Paul Chadwick’s five-part life of Biggs Darklighter, from Tatooine to Yavin.
#10–11

The Short, Happy Life of Roons Sewell
#16–18

To the Last Man
#20–21

A Little Piece of Home
#24–25

Idiot's Array
#26–27

"General" Skywalker
#29, #30, #32, #33, #34

In the Shadows of Their Fathers
#36–40

The Wrong Side of the War

Every issue

Issue list — 40 of 40 catalogued

Number, title, cover date and credits. A dash means the field is not verified — not that it is empty.

Issue list: number, title, cover date, credits, story arc and notes
#	Title	Cover date	Writer	Artist	Cover artist	Arc	Notes
1	Betrayal, Part 1	4 September 2002	Scott Allie	Ryan Benjamin (pencils), Curtis P. Arnold (inks)	Brian Horton	Betrayal
2	Betrayal, Part 2	2 October 2002	Scott Allie	Ryan Benjamin (pencils), Curtis P. Arnold (inks)	Brian Horton	Betrayal
3	Betrayal, Part 3	13 November 2002	Scott Allie	Ryan Benjamin (pencils), Curtis P. Arnold (inks)	Brian Horton	Betrayal
4	Betrayal, Part 4	2 January 2003	Scott Allie	Ryan Benjamin (pencils), Curtis P. Arnold (inks)	Brian Horton	Betrayal
5	Princess... Warrior, Part 1	5 February 2003	Randy Stradley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	Brian Ching	Princess... Warrior
6	Princess... Warrior, Part 2	5 March 2003	Randy Stradley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	Brian Ching	Princess... Warrior
7	Sacrifice	9 April 2003	John Wagner	Cam Kennedy	Ryan Benjamin, Saleem Crawford	—
8	Darklighter, Part 1	21 May 2003	Paul Chadwick	Douglas Wheatley (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	Kilian Plunkett	Darklighter
9	Darklighter, Part 2	2 July 2003	Paul Chadwick	Douglas Wheatley, Tomás Giorello	Kilian Plunkett	Darklighter
10	The Short, Happy Life of Roons Sewell, Part 1	23 July 2003	Paul Chadwick	Tomás Giorello	Kilian Plunkett	The Short, Happy Life of Roons Sewell
11	The Short, Happy Life of Roons Sewell, Part 2	10 September 2003	Paul Chadwick	Tomás Giorello	Kilian Plunkett	The Short, Happy Life of Roons Sewell
12	Darklighter, Part 3	22 October 2003	Paul Chadwick	Douglas Wheatley	Kilian Plunkett	Darklighter
13	What Sin Loyalty?	26 November 2003	Jeremy Barlow	Patrick Blaine	David Michael Beck (Pencils), Brad Anderson (Colors)	—
14	The Savage Heart	10 December 2003	Dave Land	Raúl Treviño	Francisco Ruiz Velasco	—
15	Darklighter, Part 4	24 December 2003	Paul Chadwick	Douglas Wheatley (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	Kilian Plunkett, Brad Anderson	Darklighter
16	To the Last Man, Part 1	28 January 2004	Welles Hartley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	David Michael Beck	To the Last Man
17	To the Last Man, Part 2	3 March 2004	Welles Hartley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	David Michael Beck	To the Last Man
18	To the Last Man, Part 3	21 April 2004	Welles Hartley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	David Michael Beck	To the Last Man
19	Target: Vader	12 May 2004	Ron Marz	Brian Ching	Douglas Wheatley	—
20	A Little Piece of Home, Part 1	26 May 2004	Ron Marz	Tomás Giorello	Douglas Wheatley	A Little Piece of Home
21	A Little Piece of Home, Part 2	30 June 2004	Ron Marz	Tomás Giorello	David Michael Beck	A Little Piece of Home
22	Alone Together	14 July 2004	Welles Hartley	Adriana Melo	David Michael Beck	—
23	The Bravery of Being Out of Range	18 August 2004	Jeremy Barlow	Brandon Badeaux	Kilian Plunkett	—
24	Idiot's Array, Part 1	8 September 2004	Ron Marz	Jeff Johnson	Jeff Johnson, Brad Anderson	Idiot's Array
25	Idiot's Array, Part 2	20 October 2004	Ron Marz	Joe Corroney	David Michael Beck	Idiot's Array
26	"General" Skywalker, Part 1	10 November 2004	Ron Marz	Adriana Melo, Nicola Scott	Tommy Lee Edwards, Brad Anderson	"General" Skywalker
27	"General" Skywalker, Part 2	15 December 2004	Ron Marz	Nicola Scott	Tommy Lee Edwards, Brad Anderson	"General" Skywalker
28	Wreckage	29 December 2004	Ron Marz	Adriana Melo	Tommy Lee Edwards	—
29	In the Shadows of Their Fathers, Part 1	23 February 2005	Thomas Andrews	Adriana Melo	Tomás Giorello	In the Shadows of Their Fathers
30	In the Shadows of Their Fathers, Part 2	27 April 2005	Jeremy Barlow	Adriana Melo	Tomás Giorello	In the Shadows of Their Fathers	Sources conflict on the writing credit: Wookieepedia credits Jeremy Barlow, Marvel.com credits Thomas Andrews.
31	The Price of Power	18 May 2005	Scott Allie	Joe Corroney	Joe Corroney, Dan Jackson	—
32	In the Shadows of Their Fathers, Part 3	29 June 2005	Thomas Andrews	Adriana Melo	Tomás Giorello	In the Shadows of Their Fathers
33	In the Shadows of Their Fathers, Part 4	20 July 2005	Thomas Andrews	Adriana Melo	Tomás Giorello	In the Shadows of Their Fathers
34	In the Shadows of Their Fathers, Part 5	10 August 2005	Thomas Andrews	Michel Lacombe	Tomás Giorello	In the Shadows of Their Fathers
35	A Model Officer	14 September 2005	John Jackson Miller	Brian Ching	Michael Sutfin	—
36	The Wrong Side of the War, Part 1	12 October 2005	Welles Hartley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	David Michael Beck	The Wrong Side of the War
37	The Wrong Side of the War, Part 2	9 November 2005	Welles Hartley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	David Michael Beck, Brad Anderson	The Wrong Side of the War
38	The Wrong Side of the War, Part 3	21 December 2005	Welles Hartley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	David Michael Beck, Brad Anderson	The Wrong Side of the War
39	The Wrong Side of the War, Part 4	8 February 2006	Welles Hartley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	David Michael Beck	The Wrong Side of the War
40	The Wrong Side of the War, Part 5	1 March 2006	Welles Hartley	Davidé Fabbri (pencils), Christian Dalla Vecchia (inks)	David Michael Beck	The Wrong Side of the War

In print

Collected editions — 7

Trades, omnibuses and Epic Collections. ISBNs appear only where verified.

Collected editions of Star Wars: Empire
Edition	Format	Publisher	Year	Collects	ISBN
Star Wars: Empire Volume 1: Betrayal	TPB	Dark Horse Comics	2003	Star Wars: Empire #1-4	1569719640
Star Wars: Empire Volume 2: Darklighter	TPB	Dark Horse Comics	2004	Star Wars: Empire #8-12 and #15	1569719756
Star Wars: Empire Volume 3: The Imperial Perspective	TPB	Dark Horse Comics	2004	Star Wars: Empire #13-14 and #16-19	1593071280
Star Wars: Empire Volume 4: The Heart of the Rebellion	TPB	Dark Horse Comics	2005	Star Wars: Empire #5-6 and #20-22, and A Valentine Story	1593073089
Star Wars: Empire Volume 5: Allies and Adversaries	TPB	Dark Horse Comics	2006	Star Wars: Empire #23-27	1593074662
Star Wars: Empire Volume 6: In the Shadows of Their Fathers	TPB	Dark Horse Comics	2006	Star Wars: Empire #29-34	1593076274
Star Wars: Empire Volume 7: The Wrong Side of the War	TPB	Dark Horse Comics	2007	Star Wars: Empire #35-40	1593077092

Star Wars: Empire Volume 1: Betrayal — 104 pages.
Star Wars: Empire Volume 2: Darklighter — Paul Chadwick’s biography of Biggs Darklighter, and the volume most often recommended out of the whole run.
Star Wars: Empire Volume 3: The Imperial Perspective — The volume that gathers the issues told from inside the Imperial military.
Star Wars: Empire Volume 6: In the Shadows of Their Fathers — Cover art by Tomás Giorello.
Star Wars: Empire Volume 7: The Wrong Side of the War — The final Empire collection, with a cover by David Michael Beck.

Dossiers

Who is in it

Encyclopedia entries for the figures this run develops.

Full dossier
Darth Vader
Human · Galactic Empire / Sith
Two characters in one suit, and the publishing programme has spent fifty years arguing about the seam.
Full dossier
Leia Organa
Human · Rebel Alliance / New Republic / Resistance
A politician first, a fighter by necessity, and the character the novels have served best.
Full dossier
Luke Skywalker
Human · Rebel Alliance / New Jedi Order
The farm boy the whole shelf is built around — and the character the two continuities disagree about most.

Star Wars: Empire

The Imperial perspective

Darklighter

The rest of it

Reading it now

Darth Vader

Leia Organa

Luke Skywalker