When Marvel let their license to produce Star Wars comics lapse in 1986, Return of the Jedi was three years in the rear-view mirror and it seemed possible there would never be any further installments in the franchise. But Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s 1991 miniseries Dark Empire would begin Dark Horse Comics’ 23-year run of Star Wars comics and help launch the Expanded Universe. Set six years after the Battle of Endor, Dark Empire sees Luke Skywalker tempted to the Dark Side by the newly revived Emperor, Han Solo and Leia Organa fleeing bounty hunters, and a new Imperial doomsday weapon threatening the galaxy. We’ll look at the long and rocky development of the series, how involved (or not) Lucasfilm was in the story, and how it compares to its prose sister project, Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy. 

This is the only podcast where you can hear two grown men arguing (politely) about Star Wars!

Support the podcast at patreon.com/ironageofcomics