Crimson Empire

    

    

Issues 1-6 "Crimson Empire"

Released in August, September, October, July 1998.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~11 ABY

Written by Mike Richardson & Randy Stradley

Penciller Paul Gulacy

Letterer Sean Konot

Cover Dave Dorman

This series has long been on the fringes of my awareness. I meant to pick it up multiple times. I almost purchased all three series at once. Ultimately, I was swayed by the first appearances of two TIE Interceptor ace characters from the X-Wing game: Kir Kanos and Carnor Jax, and by promise of mention of Rogue Squadron herein.

Turns out, not much to see, in my opinion. I am not sure how an Imperial Guard has claimed the fallen Emperor's throne (and I am fairly sure I don't want to know). Much was made of a long extended fight sequence between Jax and Kanos, late in the series. I guess it's ok. I don't care for the extreme level of super-humanity displayed by the Royal Guard. I know this is a comic book, but please. Show some restraint! 

As for the Rogue Squadron piece: they do show up (briefly, at the end) but they are flying B-wings and E-wings (that most disgusting of Star Wars craft, to my eye). Wedge is also present, but he's not exactly in an X-wing, either...

Glad I read it, should have seen if I could borrow it from the library or something. Even the inclusion of X-wing pictures on later covers will not entice me to buy Crimson 2 and 3. I may try out that library idea...

Rogue Leader

    

Issues 1-3 "X-Wing Rogue Leader"

Released in August, September, October, November 2005.

Set immediately after Battle of Endor, ~4 ABY

Written by Haden Blackman

Penciller Tomas Giorello

Letterer Michael David Thomas

Cover Art Gary Erskine

The Rogues Return, sort of. Dark Horse Comics released this three issue 'Rogue Squadron Origin Story' in 2005, seven years after the end of the great Rogue Squadron run.

The tale opens with the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Endor; the Rogues are split up and helping out with clean-up and salvage operations. The squadron is still led by Commander Luke Skywalker (Rogue Leader). Wedge is also a Commander, but his call-sign is Rogue Two. Captains Ten Numb and Tycho Celchu are there, as is Lt. Wes Janson ("Nice shot, Janson!").

Ackbar gives them a mission. Go to Corellia (still held by the Imps) and scout out the situation. Assess the current Imperial presence and report back. Of course it all goes awry! Imps attack! Ten Numb is captured, and over the course of the short series is tortured to death by a ruthless General Weir. The other Rogues work with the Selonians to find Weir's secret base and kick some.

At the end, Luke steps aside, handing the reins of Rogue Squadron to Wedge. Ackbar leads Wedge to a briefing room filled with volunteer pilots. Wedge is tasked with hand-picking his new squadron...and the rest is history!

A pretty good story. Nice art. Good action. Glossy pages.

Rogue Squadron Wrap-Up

Issue "Handbook: Volume One"

Released in July 1998.

Written by Peet Janes

Penciller various

Letterer various

Cover Art John Nadeau

The last of the Dark Horse Comics X-Wing: Rogue Squadron comic books. This issue includes a bunch of information on the making of the comic series and specific details about different characters and ships and whatnot.

A nice read. A couple of things struck me as very interesting. 

One: Michael Stackpole was approached to write the X-Wing novels first. In an off-hand comment when meeting with a Lucasfilm exec, he mentioned he'd like to do comics one day. That comment led directly to this memorable run from Dark Horse. Stackpole envisioned the comics as a prequel for the novel series.

Two: Peet Janes, the writer for this Handbook, suggests in his closing comments that Stackpole was "...the original builder of the squadron..." Interesting. The confusing history of "Red Squadron", "Rogue Flight", "Red Group", "Rogue Group" and whatnot, from Yavin, through Hoth to Endor is not really clear. Somewhere along the way Rogue Flight or Rogue Group, a couple of T-47 snowspeeders led by Luke Skywalker became the basis for the iconic "Blue Angels" of Star Wars; perhaps the best addition of any from the offerings of the now-Legends Expanded Universe. Credit goes to, who else, Zahn:

"And then in 1995, out of the blue, I picked up the phone and there was Mike. It seemed he'd just been contracted to write a series of Star Wars X-Wing books for Bantam and wanted to discuss the Rogue Squadron group I'd created for my own Star Wars books."―Timothy Zahn.

Three: Stackpole spoke to Zahn and Ann Crispin about Baron Soontir Fel, just as he was being created as an "Imperial Red Baron" for the "In the Empire's Service" story arc. The initial Red Baron idea was Dark Horse editor Peet Jane's. Both Crispin and Zahn decided to include Fel in their current projects: The Hutt Gambit (1997) and Vision of the Future (1998).

The timeline looks something like this:

Heir to the Empire novel (creates Rogue Squadron as they exist in 9 ABY): June 1991

Stackpole meets at Skywalker Ranch to discuss books (and comics): July 1994

Dark Horse X-Wing Rogue Squadron comics: first issue on July, 1995

X-Wing: Rogue Squadron (the first novel by Stackpole): released January, 1996

Rogue Squadron Oddballs

   

Issue "1/2"

Released in February 1997.

Set in the Galactic Civil War Era, 0 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole

Penciller Gary Erskine

Letterer Annie Parkhouse

Cover Art Christopher Moeller

Issue "Special"

Released in August 1995.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Ryder Windham

Penciller John Nadeau

Letterer Steve Dutro

Cover Art Mark Harrison

These two are technically a part of the Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron comic legacy from Dark Horse. They are both oddballs, however.

The "1/2" issue takes place right before the Battle of Yavin. Short story, older art. Good, but odd. The Rogues (before they were Rogues, I guess) start out in a bar on Commenor. A smuggler named Nera Dantels (who has a thing for Biggs Darklighter, and who would later go on to pilot a B-wing in the FFG Rebel Aces expansion set) delivers a load of astromech droids. Imperial entanglements ensue en route to the hyperspace jump point (the squadron wants to return to Yavin). One of the X-wings selflessly takes one for the team, allowing the others to make good their escape.

The "Special" issue was released as a part of a Kellogg's Apple Jacks promotion. It's a very short story with old art, odd and inconsistent material, and overall underwhelming. The action takes place on the planet Tandankin, and all the Rogues are using "Red Squadron" call signs. Wedge is a Commander. Luke is there. Eh.

Rogue Squadron 9

    
   

Issues 32-35 "Mandatory Retirement"

Released in August, September, October, November 1998.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~5 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole

Penciller Steve Crespo, John Nadeau

Letterer Vickie Williams

Cover Art John Nadeau

All good things...

The art inside this, the last miniseries within the X-Wing Rogue Squadron comic run, was different yet again. Clean, simple, almost anime-like. Regular lettering.

Sate Pestage is on the run; Isard has made her move. Both the New Republic and the Imperials want Pestage. The action focuses on the planet Ciutric, where, just as the good guys break Pestage out of lockup and head for orbit, a Star Destroyer and Interdictor cruiser arrive. Rogues and ground strike team hightail it back planetside to wait for a better time to leave.

Lost the Mon Calamari pilot Ibtisam in this one. Fiery explosion and crash. Her Quarren almost-lover does not take it so well.

The loser Pestage decides to try to rejoin the Imps. They kill him.

The Rogues go for it, fight-wise, trying to damage the Interdictor enough to let them through the blockade. Horton Salm and a full wing of Y-wings appear to assist. Blockade lifted.

A great run of comics, considered to be a precursor to the X-Wing novels, also written by Michael Stackpole.

Rogue Squadron 8

    
   

Issues 28-31 "Masquerade"

Released in March, April, May, July 1998.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole

Penciller Drew Johnson

Letterer Vickie Williams

Cover Art John Nadeau

Cover art is great--wait a second...is that the Falcon!? Yes, my friend, it is. Gloss pages again. Interior art is an older, less modern style. A bit simpler, or cleaner, to my eye. The lettering is the regular style.

Rogues include: Captain Wedge Antilles, Wes Janson, Lt. Tycho Celchu, Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, Nrin Vakil, Ibtisam, Feylis Ardele, Avan Beruss, Plourr Ilo, Soontir Fel, Xarcess Huwla. Also seen are Han! Leia! Chewie! The Falcon! Woo hoo!

Isard is plotting an overthrow back on Imperial Center. Sate Pestage, the interim Emperor, is eager to scratch gravel, and decides to offer the Alliance a deal it  can't refuse. He'll leave Coruscant essentially undefended in exchange for safety and a handful of safe worlds to do with as he sees fit.

Winter, acting as Leia, goes to a high profile meeting on Eiattu with Tycho. They get captured, and the bad guys think they have Leia! (Hence the "Masquerade"). It seems underaged Moff Leonia Tavira (from "The Warrior Princess" story arc) is now a pirate, and wants to transfer her tortured captives to the Imps.

Meanwhile, the real Leia has slinked off to Axxila in secret to meet with Pestage in person to negotiate the terms of his surrender. 

Tycho and Winter escape the clutches of their pirate captors in a stolen Y-wing. They fly through the cityscape, trying desperately to buy some time for help to arrive. And arrive it does, in the form of their fellow Rogues.

DIE wings and other "uglies" make another appearance as the crappy scrap-built starfighters the pirates use (we saw them in "Family Ties" as well).

Rogue Squadron 7

   

Issues 26-27 "Family Ties"

Released in January, February 1998.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole

Penciller Jim Hall

Letterer Vickie Williams

Cover Art John Nadeau

These two comics continue the Baron Soontir Fel storyline. The interior art is the older style. The pages are gloss. I'd consider the short storyline to be good.

Fel has become a Rogue, and now the others assist in trying to locate his missing wife, who happens to be Wedge's sister! Stang! (That wonderful expletive has made a triumphant return, here). The action takes place on Corellia, where Fel is from. We have a run-in with CorSec officer Corran Horn, who manages to take flight in a green striped X-wing at the end of the tale.

Rogue Squadron 6

    
   

Issues 21-25 "In the Empire's Service & The Making of Baron Fel"

Released in August, September, October, November 1997.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole

Penciller John Nadeau

Letterer Vickie Williams

Cover Art Tim Bradstreet, John Nadeau

This is why I bought the X-Wing comics! Cover art is awesome, including two covers by one of my favorite RPG artists ever, Tim Bradstreet! Interior art is different from the previous story arc, and the lettering has that 'hand drawn' feel again. The story is great. The action is awesome. Really like this miniseries.

Rogues include: Captain Wedge Antilles, Lt. Wes Janson, Lt. Tycho Celchu, Lt. Plourr Ilo (promotion?), Hobbie Klivian, Feylis Ardele, Nrin Vakil. New recruits include Dar Keyis, Standro Jcir, Avan Beruss, Xarce Huwla. Colonel Horton Salm makes an appearance. Bad guys include Baron Soontir Fel and his 181st, including Major Turr Phennir. Ysanne Isard is the main bad guy back on Imperial Center. 

The action takes place on Brentaal IV, a rich world with ties to many in elite Imperial circles. Isard is using the world as a means to consolidate her own power.

By the end of the ride, rookies Jcir and Keyis are no longer with us and Horton Salm is promoted to General.

"The Making of Baron Fel" is different interior art yet again. It also has gloss pages. It is also great; telling the backstory of one of the coolest characters from Star Wars lore.

Rogue Squadron 5

    
   

Issues 17-20 "Requiem for a Rogue"

Released in March, April, May, June 1997.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole and Jan Strnad

Penciller Gary Erskine

Letterer Annie Parkhouse

Cover Art Kevin Ryan, Stuart Hiner

Cover art is a bit different from the other issues. Pretty good. Interior art is good, notably nice colors inside, done by Dave Nestelle.  The story is good and features a lot of great action. 

Rogues include: Captain Wedge Antilles, Lt. Wes Janson, Lt. Tycho Celchu, Hobbie Klivian, Dllr Nep, Feylis Ardele, Ibtisam, Herian I'ngre, Nrin Vakil. 

The Rogues are tracking a lost passenger liner. They wind up on the forsaken planet of Malrev IV, where the liner has gone to ground. Something isn't right when the Rogues show up for the rescue. 

The planet begins to have a strange effect on people. Wes and Hobbie make out with some Bothan females, for instance. The good guys uncover an old Sith temple, and Dllr essentially becomes a Dark Jedi. He knows he has to 'take one for the team', however, so he works with the injured Herian, who's flying a heavily damaged X-wing, to destroy the temple...at the cost of two Rogues.

Requiem, indeed.

Rogue Squadron 4

    
   

Issues 13-16 "The Warrior Princess"

Released in October, December of 1996, January, February of 1997.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole and Scott Tolson

Penciller John Nadeau

Letterer Vickie Williams

Cover Art Mark Harrison

Cover art is OK. Interior art was a bit older looking. A decent story arc, I'd say.

The Rogues herein include Hobbie, Lt. Janson, Dllr Nep, Plourr Ilo, Ibtisam, Nrin Vakil, and Feylis Ardele.

It turns out the kickboxer supreme Plourr Ilo is actually a princess! Her homeworld of Eiattu 6 wants her to come back and rule. It seems her brother is leading an insurrection on the homeworld, attempting to unseat the ruling elites. Plourr ain't got time for parliamentary games or courtly intrigue. She also doesn't believe that the opposition is led by her brother. Trust me. She knows.

Rogue squadron helps out. Plourr's "brother" is in league with the Imps. That never works out well in the end, of course. At the close of the story arc, Plourr is staying on Eiattu while the Rogues move on without her. So long, fare well, we'll all miss you, warrior princess. I have a hunch we'll see you again soon...

Rogue Squadron 3

    
   

Issues 9-12 "Battleground:Tatooine"

Released in June, July, August, and September of 1996.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole and Jan Strnad

Penciller John Nadeau

Letterer Vickie Williams

Cover Art Mark Harrison

Cover art, not as good as the previous 8 issues. Interior art was the newer, more modern look. I like it. The lettering was 'regular comic book': a kind of precise, slightly italicized, all caps font.

Rogues included herein are Captain Wedge Antilles, Lt. Tycho Celchu, Lt. Wes Janson, Elscol Loro, Dllr Nep, Plourr Ilo, and Derek "Hobbie" Klivian.

A good story, in my opinion. The group needs to travel to Tatooine to get involved in the chaos left behind after Jabba was killed. A cache of Imperial weapons is up for grabs. An evil Twi'lek knows where the stuff is located. The Rogues meet up with Huff Darklighter (Biggs' father) who is holding a remembrance party for his son. He doesn't exactly blame Wedge for surviving the trench run instead of his son, but....yeah. He does.

Some Imperial commandos make an appearance, as does Winter. One character is a walking brain aka a B'omarr monk.

Rogue Squadron 2

    
   

Issues 5-8 "The Phantom Affair"

Released in February, March, April, and May of 1996.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole and Darko Macan

Penciller Edvin Biukovic and John Nadeau

Letterer Steve Dutro

Cover Art Matthieu Lauffray

To my tastes, the look and feel of the art in this series was better. Less of the olden days of comics gone by and more "modern". The lettering was different throughout; more of a 'hand written' or 'hand drawn' feel, and less precise. Interesting choice. The covers are wonderful. The story was good. To be fair, I am not sure even one character uttered "Stang!".

The Rogues mentioned herein are: Captain Wedge Antilles, Wes Janson, Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, Plourr Ilo, Dllr Nep, and Elscol Loro. Still no Plourr, Dllr, or Elscol pilot cards in the X-Wing Miniatures Game (since my last post, yesterday).

The supply convoy from Cilpar to Mrlsst has gotten through, with the help of the ever resourceful Rogue Squadron. The natives of Mrlsst have some kind of dangerous technology, developed by their university, that both the New Republic and the remnants of the Empire want (trust me, it's dangerous).

Wedge meets up with Mirax "Myra" Terrik while most of the other Rogues go out to see a band. By the way, sorry Mirax, but the Pulsar Skate looks terrible. We learn of Wedge's back story (parents owned a refueling station in space; bandits caused a massive fire which his parents died in while saving the others from certain doom). The main Imperial bad guy has ties to this same incident; and he has a parasite permanently stuck to the left side of his face. Cool! 

A ghostly figure (the Phantom of said affair) keeps assisting the Rogues in their efforts to keep the Empire from obtaining the dangerous tech. The figure is revealed to be the Jedi ghost (!) of Elscol Loro's husband Throm...or at least seems to be. The wookiee Groznik, who transferred his life debt from Throm to Elscol, and made the journey from Cilpar resistance to Rogue Squadron with her, doesn't make it out of this miniseries alive. Sorry.

At the end, the New Republic gets (and uses, once) the nasty new technology, and Rogue Squadron leaves Mrlsst for their next adventure (and to store away the dangerous item in a vault somewhere, I hope).

Rogue Squadron 1

   
   

I just finished purchasing (but not yet finished reading) all 37 the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron comics by Dark Horse. I will be posting a series of brief reviews over the coming days or weeks. I will look at one mini-series per post. First up, issues 1-4, entitled "The Rebel Opposition".

Issues 1-4 "The Rebel Opposition"

Released in July, August, September, and October of 1995.

Set in the New Republic Era, ~4 ABY

Written by Micheal A. Stackpole and Mike Baron

Penciller Alan Nunis

Letterer Steve Dutro

Cover Art Dave Dorman

I found the art to be a bit "old school comic", and not quite to my preference. The covers are wonderful. The story was decent. Many characters used the expletive "Stang!" many times. That was sweet. 

The Rogues mentioned herein are: Wedge Antilles, Tycho Celchu, Wes Janson, Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, Plourr Ilo, Dllr Nep. By the end of the series the Rogues had picked up a native fighter named Elscol Loro as another pilot. She comes with a Wookiee side-kick named Groznik. Plourr, Dllr, and Elscol do not have pilot cards in the X-Wing Miniatures Game (yet).

The action takes place not long after the Battle of Endor. The war isn't over yet, even though the Emperor is dead. On the planet Cilpar, a rebellion of sorts is underway. The Rogues are there to rendezvous with a food convoy headed for Mrlsst. The natives don't much care for either the Rebels or the Empire. Tycho Celchu impersonates an Imperial pilot to infiltrate the Imperial forces on the planet. Ferocious dog-like beasts called ronks prowl the jungle; and one rips a guy's arm off. Don't worry, he deserved it.

Shattered Empire #1 Review

Following up on my review of Aftermath--and continuing the "Journey to The Force Awakens"--is a review of the first issue from the new Shattered Empire series.

With a single issue of a comic book, one can only do so much. That is the case with issue #1 of Shattered Empire. The issue starts out at the Battle of Endor, showing some of the famous moments and then introducing a new character, Shara Bey (Green 4). Following the battle, she is reunited with her SpecForce Pathfinder husband, Kes Dameron. (That last name should sound familiar, by the way.) They have a little downtime before the Pathfinder is called off on a new mission, one that leads to an important discovery and, presumably, another assignment. It's a solid start to the series, even if it leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. I'm interested to see.