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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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Joined: 07 Apr 2017
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 Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:17 am Post subject: Star Wars DARK EMPIRE |
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The best extended story, post Jedi, that I've ever experienced, is Dark Empire. I think it's amazing--exactly what I want. I like that comic series as much as I like TESB.
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garhkal
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Joined: 17 Jul 2005
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Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:33 am Post subject: |
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I disliked the galay gun, those funky robots in the intro, and the crab walker/robot thinggies.. BUT I did like other aspects of DE.
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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Joined: 07 Apr 2017
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| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 1:46 am Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | | I disliked the galay gun, those funky robots in the intro, and the crab walker/robot thinggies.. BUT I did like other aspects of DE. |
The galaxy gun: it makes a lot more sense than the weapon on Starkiller base, firing a torpedo/ship that enters hyperspace and takes out a planet from a distance.
The Word Devastators: If you've ever played an old style strategy game, you had units that would suck up resources, break that down to useful molecule building parts, and then spit out units right there on the battlefield. These are the Star Wars version of that idea. I dug them.
Both ideas, at the time that Dark Empire came out, felt fresh and new and different enough from what we'd seen before.
At least it wasn't another Death Star or an even bigger star destroyer (and DE had on of those too!)
World Devastator with legs retracted
The Eclipse, Super Star Destroyer (Very Cool Ship). Has a spinal mount super laser, akin to the Death Star's weapon.
Galaxy Gun
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Solo4114
Commander
Joined: 18 May 2017
Posts: 256
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| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 11:44 am Post subject: |
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I never read Empire's End, so I don't know how it all concluded, but while I loved it when it first came out, I've never felt like Dark Empire aged all that well.
The clone emperor thing didn't sit that well with me, trying to get into Leia's kids was weird, too. And some of the artwork, looknig back on it, just isn't my thing.
To my way of thinking, the best post-ROTJ material was the original Zahn trilogy. That has always felt like the true sequel trilogy for the OT heroes, and the best part is that it didn't rely on superweapons or a nasty, evil badguy. Instead, you had a charismatic, brilliant strategist, backed by a loony-toons Jedi clone, a morally ambiguous character brainwashed to kill Luke, and the main trilogy characters acting like their old selves, but in a new situation.
It made me wish that Lucas had made that trilogy, even though I pretty much dislike or feel only "meh...it's ok, I guess" about pretty much everything from the EU that came after. |
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Wajeb Deb Kaadeb
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| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Solo4114 wrote: | | I never read Empire's End, so I don't know how it all concluded, but while I loved it when it first came out, I've never felt like Dark Empire aged all that well. |
I don't know if its been flat out copied, but a lot of the ideas have been used in other works since then. When it came out, we hadn't seen a lot of superweapons--just the two Death Stars. There weren't any in the Marvel Comics that had ended its run several years before (you could count The Tarkin, but that was a two or three issue arc from a decade before).
This was 1991, and Zahn's trilogy had just come out (which didn't feature a superweapon).
So, to see a new superweapon--one that made sense and wasn't that much of a stretch from the Death Star (but much different in design and look)--was welcome.
Since, we've had tons of superweapons in Star Wars (in the novels, mainly) which, I think, might diminish the impact that the Galaxy Gun had.
| Quote: | | The clone emperor thing didn't sit that well with me, trying to get into Leia's kids was weird, too. |
Leia's kids was the second Dark Empire story, which I don't think is as strong as the first one.
My favorite is Dark Empire I. II is meh.
I really liked the clone Emperor aspect. Zahn had just set up this whole thing of cloning in his trilogy. I felt that Dark Empire took the next step.
Again, this has been diminished, too, with Attack of the Clones.
| Quote: | | And some of the artwork, looknig back on it, just isn't my thing. |
Hmmm. I quite like it. It's got it's own vibe, with the Dave Dorman covers, and interesting use of color on the inside.
| Quote: | | To my way of thinking, the best post-ROTJ material was the original Zahn trilogy. |
No doubt, he did a great job on that. It's still some of the best Star Wars reading.
I get a little bored with it, though, especially in the third book. The story seems a little stretched to fill pages in a trilogy, to me.
But, I still love it. |
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garhkal
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Joined: 17 Jul 2005
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Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Wajeb Deb Kaadeb wrote: |
The Eclipse, Super Star Destroyer (Very Cool Ship). Has a spinal mount super laser, akin to the Death Star's weapon.
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THe idea behind the Eclipse i loved.. The flagship for the Emperor himself.. But how easily it seemed to get destroyed was just stupid..
| Quote: | I don't know if its been flat out copied, but a lot of the ideas have been used in other works since then. When it came out, we hadn't seen a lot of superweapons--just the two Death Stars. There weren't any in the Marvel Comics that had ended its run several years before (you could count The Tarkin, but that was a two or three issue arc from a decade before).
This was 1991, and Zahn's trilogy had just come out (which didn't feature a superweapon).
So, to see a new superweapon--one that made sense and wasn't that much of a stretch from the Death Star (but much different in design and look)--was welcome.
Since, we've had tons of superweapons in Star Wars (in the novels, mainly) which, I think, might diminish the impact that the Galaxy Gun had. |
True, we had what, the darksaber project, center point station, sun crusher.. AND the novels also made links TO the world devastators from the DE novels, plus the devastation to Mon-cal (Jedi academy)..
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I really liked the clone Emperor aspect. Zahn had just set up this whole thing of cloning in his trilogy. I felt that Dark Empire took the next step.
Again, this has been diminished, too, with Attack of the Clones.
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I agree. I loved the whole idea of the Emperor having clones he could 'force travel' into. Kind of ties into a # of spells ADND had, such as Magic Jar, Similicrum and the like..
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Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
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Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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Falconer
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Joined: 08 Dec 2014
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| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2018 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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I think the idea of it makes a lot of sense. Leia gets her chance to shine. Since clones were established in SW and force ghosts were established in SW it made sense that Palpatine would make a play for immortality in this way. The Prequels actually reinforced this by talking of Palpatine’s master and his attempts to cheat death; also showing the physical ravages of dark side use on Palpatine. I like Nar Shaddaa and Mon Calamari and Byss and Boba Fett and holocrons and so on… lots of cool ideas.
Overall, though, it’s just not my favorite view of SW. The Force is over the top. The characters are shallow. I didn’t think this would be the case, but Zahn’s books turned out to be the ones that felt truest, the ones that had the most meaning to me.
I will say, though, I do listen from time to time to the Dark Empire I audio drama. I recently found a fan edit in which the fan added a soundtrack to the whole thing (from preexisting official Star Wars music), and it really elevates it a lot. Han and Leia have some great banter. |
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