Star Wars: Crimson Empire III - Empire Lost [Paperback]

The third and final part of the Crimson Empire series was planned to be released in 2001, but was eventually cancelled. In 2008, Michael Richardson announced that he was working on the Crimson Empire III. In October 2011, Dark Horse Comics released the first of the six issues, with the last was released back in April. Courtesy of NetGalley and Dark Horse Comics, I got a chance to review the upcoming complete final volume of the Crimson Empire legacy, containing all six issues.

Kir Kanos, a former Imperial Guardsman to the late Emperor Palapatine, returns to bounty hunting after three years of hiding, when he is asked to join a group of other Imperial Guardsmen, whom want to restore the Empire.

Meanwhile, Princess Leia's New Republic is expanding, but a new threat is emerging from out of the darkness. Mirith Sinn is the Chief of Security of the New Republic, and an on and off again love interest of Kir Kanos, who must deal with new threat - the Imperial assassins.

Learning of the new Imperial group's plans of assassinating Princess Leia, Kir Kanos decides to make a stand and fight against the returning Empire.

I have never read the first or second Crimson Empire, but I easily figured out what was going on in the third. Kir Kanos is and interesting antihero, who once was the enemy of the Republic, but now maybe their only chance of survival. Crimson Empire is darker than the other Star Wars graphic novels that I have reviewed this year and it is better written with incredible artwork to go along with it. This a must have for Star Wars fans.

I read the two original Crimson Empire miniseries when I was in high school back in the '90s, and always hoped that Dark Horse would wrap-up the storyline someday. Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost is an attempt to conclude the trilogy - but we know how those usually turn out. Again, the plot focuses on the last Imperial Guard, Kir Kanos, a seemingly amoral antihero who usually finds himself fighting on the side of the Rebels due to plot contrivances, and Mirith Sinn, a tough-as-nails Rebel commander who stated at the end of the original Crimson Empire that she would avenge her best friend's death at Kanos' hands - but was madly in love with him by Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood. This miniseries could have brought the original plot back into focus, especially considering that Kanos swore vengeance on Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia for the Emperor's death, and the solicits for the issues foreshadowded a confrontation between Kanos and Skywalker.

Instead, Crimson Empire III focuses on yet another remnant of the Empire stirring up trouble; they describe themselves as the "real Empire", but considering the amount of "lost remnant of the Empire" factions that cropped up in Star Wars Expanded Universe novels and comics throughout the 90s, one can imagine these characters swearing that they're "totally not like those other Imperials". The villain is a hackneyed assasin with, of course, cybernetic enhancements. In many ways, Crimson Empire III is a time-machine back to the Expanded Universe of old (before fan-favorite characters started dying left and right and everything needed to jibe with the prequels). This is somewhat interesting, considering how long it's been since the earlier Crimson Empire stories. This could have been an interesting character study of Kir Kanos, coming to terms with his loyalty to an evil empire that no longer exists, and could have depicted a battle every Star Wars fan would like to see: Jedi vs. Imperial Guard! The plot does focus somewhat on the forthcoming peace between the New Republic and Imperial Remnant and Kanos' place in this new galaxy, and the character is no longer written as the amoral antihero of the orignal miniseries - but in the end, Crimson Empire III amounts to very little. As for Paul Gulacy's art, it's quite good in spots (especially his renderings of Luke, Han and Leia), but the action scenes often feel cramped and occasionally incomprehensible. I was hoping for a good Star Wars story that was NOT about the characters from the films - Crimson Empire III is merely an okay one.

I purchased the first Crimson Empire for my Kindle fire for my daily commute and loved it. That being said as the trilogy progressed the independent plots became harder to follow as the author would switch between them quickly. I found myself reading it more like a collection of short stories tied together having to flip back and forth to catch the reference made in the one I was reading. Overall an ok storyline.