Star Wars: Shattered Empire #2 (Marvel)
From December 2015
writer: Greg Rucka
artist: Marco Checchetto, Angel Unzueta, Emilio Laiso
Thanks to a deliberate purchase and then an incidental one (in one of those convenient packs this issue also came from) of the first issue, I know how this mini-series began, twice, but until now hadn't read further into the story. Finally!
Shattered Empire is part of the new initiative that replaces all the other stories that tried to flesh out what happened after Return of the Jedi. In fact, Shattered Empire starts immediately at the end of Return of the Jedi, with the parents of The Force Awakens character Poe Dameron participating in the Battle of Endor.
That's all well and good. Greg Rucka usually writes strong female characters, and so his focus is squarely on Poe's mum, Shara. This issue she's drafted to escort Princess Leia to Naboo. Yes, this is a story that not only takes the prequels seriously, but remembers that Leia's mum was Queen Amidala. I like the prequels. I like stories that make nice logical connections, too.
The part of this comic that doesn't work nearly as well for me is the Emperor having a fail-safe program that's more or less a complete duplicate of Order 66, which indicates to all surviving Imperial forces that they must eradicate the Rebellion. Listen, if this had been remotely possible, that would've happened well before the events depicted in A New Hope. It's this very kind of shoddy storytelling that the Disney canon was theoretically envisioned to replace.
Frankly, I'm surprised to see someone like Rucka participating in it.
Disney is kind of confusing about the books and such that were part of the "Expanded Universe." They say none of that stuff matters and then they add Grand Admiral Thrawn to Star Wars Rebels so it doesn't make all that much sense.
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