Comic Book Review: STAR WARS LEGENDS EPIC COLLECTION – THE NEW REPUBLIC, VOL. 4 by Mike Baron, et al.

As a big Star Wars fan, I've always been more interested in the comics than the novels, since part of the draw of Star Wars for me is its spectacular visuals (I can't imagine reading about a lightsaber has the same effect as seeing it on film or rendered by an artist) along with its pulpy, comic book-ish sense of adventure. Of course I've heard of Timothy Zahn's highly praised “Thrawn Trilogy”—Heir to the Empire; Dark Force Rising; The Last Command—but I've never tried reading them. So when I found out there was a graphic novel adaptation of the trilogy, I jumped at the chance to read them.

And overall, I must say I enjoyed the comic adaptations of Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command; it definitely captured that rollicking Star Wars adventure feel for me. The art and coloring were great, too, especially Terry Dodson's line art in Dark Force Rising.

That being said, the story unfortunately felt a little slap-dashed together. I felt like there was a ton of context missing, which made certain portions somewhat confusing. I don't know if this is due to poor adaptation, or if it's simply due to the constrictions of the comic book format—novels and comic books are two very different mediums, after all. So in order to really see what people find so special about Zahn's Star Wars trilogy, I think I'll probably have to try the novels themselves.