Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire

Probably have a higher opinion of this than I should, but I'm a sucker for the star wars bounty hunters, which are the best part of the story.
It's not a great story because it is very much a dependent interquel that does not work without the rest of the movie trilogy's stories, but we got to see some of Darth Vader being a clever and competent villain, and we got to see way more of the bounty hunters than we did in the movie. Reading this was a fun time.

Shadows of the Empire (the comic) could have been an interesting story. It's set right after The Empire Strikes Back and deals with the planning of the rescue of Han Solo, recently encased in carbonite. A grand bad guy -- Prince Xizor -- gets introduced, but then gets dispatched pretty easily for such a powerful enemy. (Just like a few years later when The Phantom Menace came out, poor Darth Maul was built up but never fulfilled his promise.) Another great bad guy -- Boba Fett -- has a big role in this story, as he encounters and keeps escaping the plots of other bounty hunters. Interestingly, in the Original Trilogy, Fett spoke five sentences (and screamed once); here, he is constantly talking to himself.

While the story is just fair, show more the concept around the story is actually very interesting (and the subject of another book I'll review later). Along with this graphic novel was a (prose) novel, a videogame, and a soundtrack, all to keep Star Wars fans busy until the release of the Prequels. The intense planning and coordination almost makes me want to bump up the rating, but the characters and the story deserve a little more.

-----------------------------
LT Haiku:

Rebels on the run,
Vader takes on a crime lord;
Fett outwits them all. show less