Star Wars: The Force Awakens landed in 2015 in a huge way, as the entire universe knows, and I won’t take space here geeking about why I loved it. Instead, I’ll geek out about why I am loving the new comics and narratives that bloomed in the wake of the new film. Most recently I gobbled up Marvel’s Star Wars: Shattered Empire, a four-part comic book miniseries. Oh my goodness, people. It’s fantastic. I will not spoil anyone on content but timeline-wise, the series occurs well before the events of SW:TFA (after the Battle of Endor) and offers some insights into political/military events with repercussions carrying into the TFA world. Greg Rucka’s writing is tight and fast-paced and yes, Marco Checchetto’s art is spectacular. The characters, well–seriously, if you like relateable and awesome lady leads in your Star Wars then you’ll be doing yourself a favor by buying this series. I’ll just put this cover for issue #2 featuring Shara Bey here and let that sink in…
This comic does something I love–it combines familiar characters with new ones in ways that shine light on the old while letting the new dazzle in the spotlight. The new material enriches the existing canon and ties satisfyingly into The Force Awakens. What excited me most was how the diversity and richness of these new characters lends so much to the art and storytelling and creates a Star Wars in which I see myself logging some serious fandom time and dollars. I gave Shattered Empire an insta-five-stars on Comixology–I recommend it that much. I’ll be catching up on other comics in the comings days as well as Claudia Gray’s Star Wars novel Lost Stars (adore it so far but that’s another review for another day) and some of the other Journey to The Force Awakens narratives. I think there is reason to celebrate this new age of one of my favorite franchises, and I cannot wait to glory in all the new shinies coming down the line! May the Force be with you…