Dad reads Star Wars-Crimson Empire III Empire Lost

Star Wars, Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost is the long awaited sequel to Crimson Empire II.  Long awaited can be a mixed blessing.  Is it long awaited because fans lost interest, it wasn’t good enough to merit a quick release or the company is pushing it?  In the Star Wars universe some things take time and this delayed sequel is a result of story changes and schedules not due to demand.

Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost is the story of Kir Konas, the last member of Emperor Palpatine’s Royal Guard.  Palpatine is dead and Konas is out for vengeance against those that he blames or that get in his way.  Konas also has the hots for Mirth Sinn, who is on Princess Leah’s security detail.  Along the way we realize the Konas doesn’t trust Luke Skywalker and that there are double crosses galore happening in space.

OK, I glossed over the details a bit and that’s because the politics of Star Wars have always turned me off.  At times Crimson Empire:  Empire Lost got a bit too wonky with allegiances and government references, but it was much less than you’re subjected to in the 4^th movie.

Thankfully, the wonky talk was only for a couple pages at a time and then got on with something to move the action forward.  As a kid I was skeptical when Star Wars became a comic.  Now that I’m an adult it makes sense and this format allows for more adventure and new characters than the movie.

The ethos of Star Wars means that the books won’t be full on action packed.  They have to set up the characters, establish relationships and then have the pay off.  With that in mind, Crimson Empire III was better than I expected.  The action, even with the new characters was well drawn and creative.  It didn’t hurt that the original characters, Chewie, Han and such had built up years of good will and were in the book also.

Bottom Line:  Crimson Empire III:  Empire Lost won’t disappoint Star Wars or science fiction comic fans.  For casual comic fans it may leave them feeling a bit empty and remind them of what made the last three Star Wars movies so bloated.  This graphic novel collects issues 1-6 of Crimson Empire III.