‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Empire’ Issues 1-9, 12 and 15 (2002-03) (Comic book reviews)

“Star Wars” comic storytellers have repeatedly been drawn back to the time period of the first movie, 1977’s “Episode IV: A New Hope.” Marvel tackled it first, in Issues 1-38 of its original run. After “The Empire Strikes Back” came out, Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson chronicled the era in the newspaper strips (later collected

‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Jedi’ (2003-04) (Comic book reviews)

Most of Dark Horse’s Clone Wars campaign was fought in the pages of “Republic,” but a notable exception is the five-issue “Jedi” series — 2003’s “Mace Windu,” “Shaak Ti,” “Aayla Secura” and “Count Dooku” and 2004’s “Yoda.” These double-length issues were part of the ongoing “Republic” continuity, but they also focused more deeply on an individual Jedi

‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Republic’ Issues 49-59 (2003) (Comic book reviews)

Begun, the Clone Wars did, in Dark Horse Comics with “Star Wars: Republic” Issues 49-59 in 2003. This the start of what I call Phase I of the Clone Wars, with Phase II being the 2008-14 TV series (and related books and comics) with Ahsoka Tano as Anakin’s Padawan. While I prefer Phase II, Phase I has

‘Star Wars’ flashback: ‘Republic’ Issues 42-48 (2002-03) (Comic book reviews)

“Episode II: Attack of the Clones” came out in May 2002, but that month’s issue of “Star Wars: Republic” — No. 42, the start of “Rite of Passage” – didn’t jump directly into the Clone Wars. I’m guessing that the folks at Dark Horse needed a bit of time to map out their Clone Wars stories, which