Star Wars: Empire Volume 5 [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

A mediocre collection of three stories taking place between the events depicted in the films "A New Hope" and "Empire Strikes Back." "Allies and Adversaries" collects "Star Wars: Empire" #'s 23-27, first published in booklet format in 2004.

Writer Jeremy Barlow's "The Bravery of Being Out of Range" opens this volume on a strong note. The story follows the adventures of Boshek, "the galaxy's second-coolest smuggler," a minor character who appears briefly in a non-speaking part in the cantina scene of "A New Hope." As we catch up with him here he's settled on an even more remote world than Tattoine, given up smuggling, and finds himself caught between the Empire and the Alliance when he tries to help an attractive young lady. Barlow does a good job not only with the characters and the action, but also in developing a theme about being involved in the events of your time. The writing is well supported by the beautiful artwork of Brandon Badeaux.

Taking a stand is also the theme of the next story, the two-part "Idiot's Array," from writer Ron Marz. There seems to be little original here in a patchwork tale woven around Han. On a mission to resupply the Rebel Alliance, the galaxy's coolest smuggler runs into an old girlfriend who turns him in to the local crime lord to pay off her debt. The crime lord plans to turn Han over to Vader, but not before torturing him for the location of the Alliance base. (If you're thinking Lando and Empire Strikes Back, just wait. It gets worse.) The Dug who's hired to do the job despairs of ever breaking Han, who immediately afterwards recovers from his wounds when his old girlfriend (who realizes she can't turn her back on a friend) and Chewie show up to effect a rescue. By now the rotting smell of "A New Hope" is clearly discernable, not only in this new girlfriend playing Han's role as the crusty smuggler with a soft heart, but also in the uninspired artwork, shared here by two apparent novices who borrow at least half a dozen Han poses from "A New Hope."

The last story, "General Skywalker," is another two-parter from Ron Marz and has the distinction of being perhaps the first officially published EU linking the Original Trilogy with The Prequel Trilogy. On yet another resupply mission, Luke and a group of Alliance officers and pilots are set upon planet-side by Imperial troops. Chased into the forest, Luke stumbles into a vine-entangled piece of wreckage from the Clone Wars. Shot down and left for dead, the Republic Gunship's complement of Clone Troopers have been interred - but for one, who joins the Alliance to fight against the Stormtroopers. Marz succeeds in creating a bit of suspense in anticipation of the appearance of the clone, and to his credit he doesn't kill off the character, but in the end this reads like something from the Clone Wars Adventure series, where every story is light, bright, snappy and happy. The art work on this story is also shared and while the quality of the illustration is above that in "Idiot's Array," the cartoon-like style fits right in with Clone Wars Adventure style writing.

Altogether, this is a volume not worth recommending. For completists only.

Proving that not everyone looks for the same things in their reading choices, I actually enjoyed the third story best of the three collected here. Comic books in general are just fun reading for me--the palate cleansers between other readings--and these really fit the bill.

I really enjoy these large editions of Dark Horse's Empire series. They're reasonably priced and make for a good read. My favorite part may be that I don't have to wait a month (or more) to get the next part of a story. Entire stories are included in each edition.

My Husband actually likes these books and he is 40. He is a big fan of Star Wars (not to the point of collecting SW items) and likes to read most of the spin offs. He said that these books are written pretty good.