The Star Wars Dark Empire Trilogy

Dark Horse Miniseries Helped Kick-Start Star Wars' Expanded Universe

Jun 28, 2009

Dark Empire, and its sequel series, filled the demand for new Star Wars stories in the early 1990s. The comic-book trilogy continued the stories of the classic films.

Star Wars fans had few new adventures to sustain them in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A series of novels by Timothy Zahn – Heir to the Empire (1992), Dark Force Rising (1992), and The Last Command (1994) – provided some of the first Lucasfilm-sanctioned glimpses into what became of the Star Wars heroes after Return of the Jedi.

Also in the early 1990s, Dark Horse received the Lucasfilm imprimatur for new Star Wars comics. Star Wars: Dark Empire, debuting in late 1991, was among the first of these, and the six-issue miniseries built upon the official expanded universe being simultaneously developed in the Zahn novel trilogy.

Writer Tom Veitch set the story six years after the events of Return of the Jedi. In Dark Empire, the Empire has become resurgent in the galaxy. The Emperor Palpatine, resurrected in a clone body, unleashes World Devastators in his bid for reconquest, and turns Luke Skywalker to the dark side. But Princess Leia, aided by her unborn child, is able to redeem Luke and destroy the Emperor and his battle fleet.

Dark Empire's covers were painted by Dave Dorman, who would go on to illustrate many Star Wars novels, comics, and other media. The comics themselves were illustrated by Cam Kennedy, whose unique style of detailed, precise inked art and somber watercolor washes gave the Dark Empire series a distinctive look. However, like fellow artist John Byrne, Kennedy showed less attention to accurate likenesses.

Dark Empire was a success, spurring Dark Horse to bring back Veitch, Kennedy, and Dorman to collaborate on a sequel, Star Wars: Dark Empire II. Like its predecessor, Dark Empire II was a six-issue limited series, and it ran through 1994.

Picking up where Dark Empire left off, Luke Skywalker begins to rebuild the Jedi Order, while the Emperor, inhabiting another clone body, once again marshals Imperial forces. Meanwhile, Han and Leia have Boba Fett on their trail – Fett, having survived his brush with the Sarlacc in Return of the Jedi, had re-appeared in Dark Empire, after the Hutts had put a bounty on the Solos for killing Jabba.

As the Emperor ravages whole worlds with his latest terror weapon, the Galaxy Gun, Luke and the rest of the Alliance make their final plans to end the Imperial threat once and for all.

The Dark Empire series wrapped up in 1996's two-issue coda, Star Wars: Empire's End. While Veitch and Dorman returned for scripting and cover-painting duties, Jim Baikie took over for Cam Kennedy for the series artwork. His art brought a more colorful and cartoonish look to the series finale.

In Empire's End, it is revealed that the Emperor's current clone body will be his last – all the others had been destroyed, and the dark side is causing him to age rapidly. Even as his Galaxy Gun is destroyed, Palpatine seeks out Leia's Force-sensitive children, so that he can possess their bodies and stay alive. But, in a final confrontation with Luke and the other Jedi, Palpatine is pulled into the netherworld of the dark side, never to return.

Although the storyline became more convoluted and implausible as the series went on, the trilogy formed by Dark Empire, Dark Empire II, and Empire's End boasted beautiful artwork and detailed the further adventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia.

More importantly, Dark Empire came at a time when fans were starved for new Star Wars tales. It proved that comics were an ideal medium for satisfying the demand. Dark Empire helped kick off Star Wars' expanded universe and keep interest in the franchise alive until the new prequel films.

The copyright of the article The Star Wars Dark Empire Trilogy in Classic Comics is owned by Luke Arnott. Permission to republish The Star Wars Dark Empire Trilogy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.