In 2008, that changed with "Vector," a 12-part story that spanned all four of the ongoing Star Wars titles from Dark Horse Comics. As one of the contributing writers, John Jackson Miller, described it, it wasn't so much a cross-over series as it was a cross-through. The story wouldn't be told in concurrent comics, but rather it would move sequentially across four titles.
What made "Vector" particularly interesting was the span of time encompassed by those titles. From Knights of the Old Republic to Legacy there's well over 4,000 years of history. As such, the plot had to be specially tailored to drive through several millennia of timeline, and emerge in the future of the Star Wars galaxy with as much urgency and relevance as it had in the distant past.
The McGuffin of the story is the Muur Talisman, an ancient Sith artifact with some very peculiar and dangerously corrupting power: in a nutshell, it can create rakghouls -- nasty zombie like mutant critters -- and control them. Such a device, especially in the hands of a mysterious Jedi with unclear motives like Celeste Morne spells trouble. And that trouble touches upon the lives of Zayne Carrick, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Cade Skywalker over the span of generations. The story began way back in February, in the pages of Knights of the Old Republic, where it ran for four parts, before moving ahead to two parts in Dark Times and two parts in Rebellion, before finally landing as the four-part finale in Legacy. The 12th and final part appears in Legacy #31, which has a ship date of today (Dec 31), but probably won't see retailer shelves until January 2.
Also Items of Note in the Expanded Universe
Legacy of the Force came to its explosive finale, with those poor Skywalkers and Solos once again scarred by the most dysfunctional family dynamics the galaxy has ever seen. Order 66 brought the fan-favorite Republic commandos up to the point of no return. And The Force Unleashed -- the story of Vader's tortured apprentice -- is novelized. All in all, some pretty grim stuff.
Which is why the last two hardcovers of the year Millennium Falcon by Jim Luceno and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (that just came out this week) read like breaths of fresh air. The latter is a much more innocent-feeling cross-galactic adventure yarn about a beloved ship, while the former shoes the infallible classic Star Wars heroes back when they were still collaborating and fighting side-by-side, without the heart-wrenching pathos of the last few galaxy-devastating story arcs.
Meanwhile, Clone Wars tie-in material came out a-plenty, particularly in the late summer and on, with a host of kids books aimed squarely at the demo most excited about tuning in weekly to Cartoon Network. There are, of course, a few novels for us big kids too. Dark Horse meanwhile continued their publication of their awesome digest-sized Clone Wars comics, now aligning with the storytelling of the animated series.
Other Bookshelf Highlights
Every year, we make a lame joke about needing bigger bookshelves or sturdier coffee tables, because of the heft and volume of the luxury books that come out in the holiday season. It's tired old saw, but it remains true -- more so this year than in any years previous.
First off, kudos to Dark Horse for making their first entry in the Star Wars heavy book club. Boba Fett and Darth Maul fans get to express their appreciation of their so-bad-they're-cool antiheroes with a host of high-end tributes. Now, finally -- finally! -- Luke Skywalker gets his due... you know, the main hero of the whole darn classic trilogy. It's nice to be reminded that Luke still has some cred, and Dark Horse did it in a classy heavy hardcover -- Luke Skywalker: Last Hope for the Galaxy -- detailing his awesome comic book adventures from the past 30+ years.
Next, weighing in at 11 pounds, is the Star Wars Encyclopedia. Do we need a Star Wars Encyclopedia in this age of online information-at-your-fingertips? Silly question: deluxe hardcover books have never, ever been about necessity. This book is a luxury, at three volumes, glossy full color, handsome slipcase (aren't they all?) and chock-full of the latest information from the expanded universe. It successfully straddles the line of being useful and an indulgence.
And then, there's Star Wars: Frames, which, really, words cannot explain. Insight Editions guffaws in the face of an economic crisis by presenting this piece of furniture full of books with hand-picked images from the Star Wars movies selected by George Lucas.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and apparently, thousands of dollars too. We'd tell you how much it weighs, but we can't afford it.
