Trade Paperback Reviews- Empire

Written by Chris Fluit

Friday, 03 August 2007

Licensed properties can be a really bad thing.  The writer that translates the concept to another media might fail to get the characters right.  Those characters may act wildly out of character from how they were portrayed in the original movie or television show.  Even if most of the characters are portrayed correctly, there’s usually at least one that isn’t quite right.  The writer might fail to capture the tone of the original.  Some shows feature odd alien patter or sharp witty dialogue and not every one writing an adaptation is able to mimic the phrasing of the original.  As for the art, the characters may not look like themselves.  Or the artist could follow photos so closely that the characters on the page feel stiff and lifeless.  There are a lot of ways for licensed properties to go wrong. However, licensed properties can also be a really good thing.  When done right, they can add depth to the characters and the world they inhabit.  They can expand the boundaries, explore beyond the edges and extrapolate into the future.  They can tell the stories that come before, that come after and even sometimes the stories that come in between.  And for fans of certain concepts, licensed properties are sometimes the only way to get new stories about the characters they love.   This article is focused on a series that got it right… most of the time: Dark Horse’s Star Wars: Empire.   Volume Two: Darklighter   One of the things that a licensed property can do well is to take a deeper look at minor characters from the parent property.  This is one area in which Star Wars has excelled.  There have been cartoons for Ewoks and Droids.  There’s an entire series of novels following the exploits of the Rogue Squadron of X-Wing pilots.  And this is one of the things that Empire does well.    This particular volume tells the story of Biggs Darklighter.  Biggs was a minor character from the first Star Wars film.  He was an X-Wing fighter pilot.  He apparently knew Luke Skywalker and was surprised to see him as part of the rebellion.  So there was a hint that he and Luke had grown up together on Tatooine.  Biggs then entered the fight against the first Death Star.  And while the major heroes- Luke, Han and Chewbacca- survived, Biggs was one of the many minor characters who died in that battle.   This volume takes a relatively minor character, one who had only a couple of lines in the film, and turns him into the hero of his own story.  We begin with Biggs back on Tatooine.  We get to see him hanging out with Luke, working on speeders together and talking about their mutual dreams.  Those early scenes build the friendship between Biggs and Luke.  They make the scene in Star Wars more important.  It’s not just some random character who happens to know Luke.  It’s a real friend.  Those early scenes also help us to understand Luke Skywalker better as we begin to understand the hopes and dreams that he shared with his friend.   Biggs eventually signs up for the Imperial Academy, one of the few ways to escape the edge of the Empire middle-of-nowhere backwater planet of Tatooine.   However, the Imperial Armed Forces aren’t the escape that Biggs thought they would be.  He quickly learns that the Empire isn’t an inefficient yet harmless bureaucracy.  It really does contain true evil in its core.  Biggs gravitates towards like-minded cadets, while avoiding those he fears truly love the evil Empire.  Eventually, Biggs mutinies, along with his friends.  They fly away, hoping to join the rebellion.  And much to their surprise, the brown-noser that they thought they needed to avoid, led a mutiny of his own and became their introduction to the Rebel Alliance.  For fans of the larger Star Wars Universe, that was a nice little tip of the cap.  Biggs’ rival was Hobbie Klivan, someone we have come to know through the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series.   The third and final stage of Biggs’ journey takes place as part of the rebellion.  We see him participate in a couple of missions, “liberating” experimental Imperial aircraft and weapons for their own use.  Finally, we catch up to the original movie.  We see the battle planning session from Biggs’ perspective.  We see the scene in which he welcomes Luke to the rebellion.  And we live through the battle of Yavin again, this time through Biggs’ eyes instead of Luke’s.   Paul Chadwick, the author of this tale, does a great job of fleshing out Biggs as a character.  He gives him a thorough background that doesn’t contradict anything that we know from the movie.  He shows us the movie from another angle. All of this goes to making the characters deeper and the universe richer.  It’s great stuff.  Biggs’ death, always a noble sacrifice in the film, finally has the kind of impact on us as an audience as it had on Luke.  And that’s what a great licensed property can accomplish.   Volume Three: The Imperial Perspective   The next volume does more of the same.  However, this time Empire fleshes out the other side of the conflict.  The stories collected in this volume all focus on members of the Empire.  Two of the stories focus on minor characters; the other two on one of the biggest characters of all.   The two minor characters can’t even be said to have appeared in the original Star Wars.  In that movie, few of the villains were given names.  They were faceless stormtroopers and nameless soldiers.  These stories give a face and a name to a few of the enemy.  The first story, by Jeremy Barlow and Patrick Blaine, introduces us to one of the stormtroopers. He goes by the designation TK-622 and he serves directly under Commander Akobi.  Through this story, we learn of the utter devotion and loyalty that stromtroopers are capable of showing to each other and their commanders.  The head of the Empire may be evil, but many of the people who make up the armed forces are filled with qualities that we consider virtuous.  Not that I’m saying TK-622 is a good guy.  He’s so fiercely loyal that he fails to notice the corruption around him.  Or at least, that’s the case for most of the story.  By the end of his arc, he comes to doubt the justice of an Empire that is capable of building a weapon that can destroy an entire planet and willing to use it.   One of the other stories, the longest in this volume, introduces us to Lt. Janek Sunber.  He’s in the army, commanding stormtroopers and cadets during the occupation of Carida.  Sunber is a very likable protagonist (which is probably why he’s brought back for the first arc of Star Wars: Rebellion).  Although he clashes with some of his immediate supervisors, those clashes are due to Sunber’s compassion for the men under his command and his creativity when faced with new challenges.  And those qualities of compassion and creativity are what make Sunber so likable to us as readers.  Plus, Welles Hartley, the writer of this story, has the general overseeing the entire operation notice the same qualities.  There’s actually reason to hope.  Sunber is recognized as a good leader by those in authority over him and by his enemies.  Yet since this is a tale of the Empire, there can’t be a happy ending.  Most of Sunber’s men are killed despite his heroic efforts to save them.  The general who looked upon Sunber favorably dies in the battle, but not the colonel who was jealous of Sunber’s ability.  And Sunber goes on as a efficient, capable and compassionate officer in the employ of an inefficient, uncompassionate and evil Empire.   Just as Darklighter added perspective to a minor character on the side of the rebellion, The Imperial Perspective adds depth to those on the side of the Empire.  They aren’t all evil.  Some are part of the Empire because of their loyalty.  Some are quite capable and compassionate.  Suddenly, the story of Star Wars becomes more than the simplistic clash between good and evil.  It’s still an epic clash, but it’s a deeper, richer one.  However, that’s only half of The Imperial Perspective.  The other two stories focus on the baddest of the bad guys: Darth Vader.  One, by Paul Alden, shows how Darth Vader escaped from the battle of Yavin and what he needed to do in order to get home.  The other, by Ron Marz, is set a little bit later as Vader confronts an informant only to fall prey to an assassination attempt.  The escape story is okay.  The second story is much better.  The first one gives us a little bit of insight into Vader, showing his ruthlessness with those under his authority as he allows the men who operate one station to be devoured by wild dogs.  However, it also tries to draw Vader out in a way that seems inconsistent with his standard portrayal.  He comes to see himself in the wild dogs and agrees to be the leader of their pack.  And while Vader may share their viciousness, he’s generally shown to be inhuman in his evil rather than animalistic.  The Ron Marz story is much better.  We get to see the Vader we’re used to seeing.  He’s ruthless with his informant, relying on threats and violence to get what he wants.  Marz also tries to give us a new angle on Vader, but he does it in a way that is consistent with other portrayals.  He coldly foils the assassination attempt.  When one of the assassins accuses him of war crimes, he doesn’t even bother to deny it.  She insists that he remember his past.  She tells him, “You can’t run from your past.”  Vader replies that he has no other choice. And when he kills her, his final words to her are “I don’t like to be reminded of the past.”  That’s the inhuman Vader we’ve come to fear.  He’s completely displaced himself from his emotion, from his past, from anything that ties him to other people.  And that’s a great story which again shows the potential of licensed properties.  Minor characters become the stars of their own stories.  Villains are given new spotlights that confirm their villainy, while also casting them in an almost sympathetic light.  And again, the fictional world becomes richer and deeper.   Volume Four: The Heart of the Rebellion  Which brings us to volume four.  Volume Two focused on the minor character of Biggs Darklighter.  Volume Three split time between minor characters in the Empire and the major villain Darth Vader.  Volume Four focuses squarely on one of the major characters: Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.   The first story takes place before the events of Star Wars IV: A New Hope.  Princess Leia is involved in covert missions on behalf of the Rebel Alliance, delivering information as well as much-needed medical supplies.  At this point, she’s certainly sympathetic to the rebel cause.  She’s certainly going out of her way to help the Alliance.  But it’s hard to call her a rebel.  This is the story that changes that.  She’s confronted with the ruthlessness of the Empire.   And she’s thrust into a situation in which she’s forced to lead a battle.  She discovers skills she wasn’t sure she had.  She’s able to make quick decisions under pressure.  She’s able to make the hard choices- the kind that get people killed.  And she picks up a blaster rifle for the first time.  It’s a strong story showing an important moment in the development of Princess Leia.  She’s no longer a debutante.  She’s truly a rebel, even if her status as a princess allows her to hide under a cloak of deception.   The second story takes place some time later.  Leia has been through a lot in the interim.  She’s been captured and imprisoned by the Empire.  She’s been forced to watch the destruction of her homeworld, Alderaan.  Without a home or any illusions, she has become a vocal and visible leader of the rebellion.  In this story, Leia is looking for a home for a new rebel base.  She reaches out to an old friend from Alderaan.  Well, that’s understating the situation a little.  She reaches out to an old love interest from Alderaan.  Just as the earlier story depicted a dramatic change for Leia, this story illustrates her new priorities.  The expatriates from Alderaan invite her to go into hiding with them, but they refuse to host a base for the rebellion.  They refuse to stand up to the evil of the empire.  They prefer to stay out of it.  For Leia, that’s not even a choice.  The Empire has become so corrupt, the Emperor so evil, that it must be resisted.  This story does much to show her strength.  The Alderaanians think that they’re offering her her heart’s desire- a place to live in Alderaanian customs with a man she can love- but they’re not.  As the title of this volume suggests, Leia’s heart is with the rebellion even as she’s become the heart of the rebellion.  Finally, there’s one more story.  This time, Leia and the Rebel Alliance have found a new home for their base: the frost planet of Hoth.  This third story takes place during the building of the base and the unloading of supplies.  However, the real story isn’t about the military details; it’s about a relationship.  Han Solo is part of the rebellion now and Leia joins him on a trip down to the planet.  Yet the trip doesn’t go as planned.  They fly into a snowstorm and crash land.  Throughout the flight, they bicker and fight. After the crash, they help each other and work well together.  They even snuggle together for warmth.  It’s the same relationship that we’ll see in The Empire Strikes Back.  Whenever they’re in the same room, they can’t help but insult and belittle each other.  Yet as much as Han and Leia can’t stand to be near each other, they can’t stand to be apart even more.  They know they have feelings for each other.  That’s part of why they push each other way.  Han Solo can’t believe he’s falling for a princess.  Princess Leia can’t believe she’s falling for a smuggler and a rogue.  The third story of this volume doesn’t tell us anything new about that relationship.  It’s simply a nice foreshadowing of things we already know.  And for fans of Star Wars, especially those who like to see Han and Leia together, sometimes that’s enough.   That’s what a license property can do.  It can remind us of what we liked in the first place.  It can show us stories around the edges and in-between what we already know.  It can expand the boundaries of the fictional universe, making it richer and deeper, making it more real.  And it can feed our imagination as it gives us what we want and a little bit of what we didn’t know we wanted until we got it.  A licensed property can be great.  And it this case, it was.

Last Updated ( Friday, 03 August 2007 )

Comments

[Ana]

Captain Comics Message Board

Columns => Fluit Notes => Topic started by: anacoqui on August 03, 2007, 08:59:37 AM

Title: Trade Paperback Reviews Empire

Post by: anacoqui on August 03, 2007, 08:59:37 AM

Have you read Empire? (http://www.captaincomics.us/Fluit-Notes/Trade-Paperback-Reviews-Empire.html)

Title: Re: Trade Paperback Reviews Empire

Post by: Dagwan on August 03, 2007, 02:54:39 PM

Good article.

One question. Was there a reason you skipped Vol. 1? Have you reviewed it already, and I've forgotten?

Title: Re: Trade Paperback Reviews Empire

Post by: Chris Fluit on August 07, 2007, 02:21:44 PM

I'm not sure if I reviewed the first one or not. If I did, it would be in the "Trade Paperback Reviews" thread and not in one of the columns. I read it a while back and enjoyed it at the time. However, I waited to order these for several more months. That's why I just reviewed trades two through four. Those were the ones that I had read recently. I also skipped the material collected in trades five and six though I have most of those issues as singles.