Green Jedi Temple Forums

Post stuff you found and think is cool here. Toxic positivity enforced by aircraft.

Ok maybe I am delusional but I genuinely enjoyed the first 2 Crimson Empire comic runs. I only found out they existed after looking at the chronological timeline of Legends media, so I thought I should read it before starting the Jedi Academy Trilogy.

The story was interesting, I especially enjoyed the insight it gave into the state of the Imperial remnants and how divided they really were post Dark Empire, squabbling more over who gets to be in charge rather than building a coherent front against the New Republic. The old Royal Guards as a group capable of asserting control in and of themselves was a breath of fresh air compared to all of the Navy oriented Warlords running around at the time (Zsinj, Daala, Thrawn, etc.), kinda reminded me of (a much more downscaled version of) the IRGC. The split between Carnor Jax wanting to lead on his own against Kranos, the diehard Palpatine loyalist, was also a much needed departure from many other defector stories that emphasized a character turning towards the New Republic to oppose the Imperial Remnants (e.g Lara, Qwi Xux, Mara and the Smugglers to a degree). Despite many fans seemingly enjoying the Dark Empire comic artstyle I personally preferred the more "traditionally" colored panels here, though nothing really stood out as particularly great either. The Rebel storyline was I must admit the weaker plot point overall. The Rebel crew the reader follows is not the most memorable, Mirith felt a bit empty as a character, inserted to create tension for Kranos between wanting revenge for Palpatine and also being in love with an actual Rebel (at least that was my impression). All the other characters didnt stand out much to me, though the Trandoshian rebel was a pleasant addition. The whole Hutt storyline in the second run similarly didnt capture much of my attention, but at least it kept the plot going along.

Its very well possible that im overlooking some flaws or missing some crucial plot points though since I only read the first 2 parts of the series, the last one takes place 2 years later and other media takes place before that, so I still dont know the fully story arc of Kranos or Mirith. Just wanted to mention it because I expected the Dark Empire comic run (for all its flaws) to be the main comic material for this era, which it probably is given how iconic it is, but found myself more delighted reading the Crimson Empire instead.