Product Description: Mara Jade is beautiful, intelligent -- and deadly! She is the Emperor's Hand, the personal assassin of the Empire's dark overlord. Mara has destroyed many enemies of the Empire in her time, and has always carried out her missions with forethought and skill. But after the Emperor's death at the hands of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, an unforeseen variable is about to enter the scene of her final mission for her employer: the assassination of the leader of the Black Nebula crime organization. Though her master is dead, Jade must complete her final mission...even if it costs her life!
Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand (Star Wars) The story was a 3 but the art work was a 5 so I split the difference and gave it a 4. Overall I enjoyed reading it.
Typical darkhorse Go read the novel instead. The art will be better if you imagine it instead. As usual darkhorse has a bad track record when it comes to artists. As soon as i opened it, i knew i was in trouble. Why cant they get someone like Jim Lee?
Mara Jade Good stuff. It felt a little scattered, but getting so much story into a comic format can be difficult. The drawings were wonderful, and the characters portrayed really well. I would suggest it to anyone looking to figure out Mara's role in the Star Wars universe.
Highly suggested, just wish it had been longer.
Zahn should be writing more TPB's after this... This was an excellent graphic novel by Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole. A great story about the Emperor's Hand, it begins right before the Second Death Star is destroyed and continues for weeks after it. Also, this TPB has about a five-page beginning that's not included in the comic version. By The Emperor's Hand shows more of the characters from other Star Wars novels, such as Ysanne Isard. It would have been nice, also, to see how and when Mara Jade meets up with Talon Karrde, but that's revealed in Star Wars: Tales from the Empire. Great art, dialogue, etc. A sequel would have been nice, but you can't have everything :)
A rare comic that's a must purchase Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand is one of those rare comics that has great art, smooth storyline, commendable dialogue and genuine depth. Co-authored by Stackpole and Zahn, two of Star Wars' more popular novelists known for quality output. The result here is another of their hits you expect when collaborative craniums work well.
The quality of art shines bright, considering the comic dates back to a period where quality and art are not what they are now. You can just tell efforts were made to add extra ice to this cream, the way the front credits were specially done. Characters and climates, scenery and locale, were all highly rendered and coloured well. This is definitely one of your more 3D-ish comics, and worth the purchase if just for that.
Dialogue is what you'd expect from usual Stackpole and Zahn efficiency: quick, creative and inventive. Mara's persona here, in her Imperial days, lends her a cool competence matched only by her slick lines. The support cast isn't left out, and while I haven't quite worked out who oversaw what issues, the authors are at their vintage best here.
What makes this comic stand out from the mediocre variety out there is its creativity and effort to give just a little more for readers. The sheer range of aliens is both amazing and appreciated, both the familiar denizens and all new ones just for a show here and there. Alien species ranged from the typical to exotic to comical. Mara's is never without a way of working, and the inventive methods of working past obstacles speak highly of the writers' imagination behind her.
The storyline itself is simple and enough: eliminate Black Nebula's crimelord, who fancies himself the heir of the recently toppled Black Sun criminal network. Having failed to kill Skywalker at Jabba's palace, this she does easily. Too easily; and when her Emperor master bites the dust, she resolves to finish the job.
Nice use of Isard and Pestage, and why Mara earns her wrath. Good to see a dark-skinned man, that Imperial tech. It's rather rare to get that in comics, when humans are predominantly fair skinned. Humour, of course, wasn't lacking. The bartender alien looked like that Dexter from AOTC, his voice easily imagined.
There were some faults to note, small but noticeable as they were. The facial likeness of Strok was given to other Imperial army officers, which can confuse readers at the end. The end page itself just sorted of finished . . . perhaps a bit too abruptly and not slow enough. Mara doesn't complete her mission till almost the last page.
Further more, she does an astonishing amount to self-thinking. Thought-bubbles were everywhere, which you will find common in books but sort of gave the bemused impression the lady sure speaks a lot to herself! Almost every panel had text in which, factored into the full 144 pages, slows down reading and makes for a long comic here.
While I had problems with Jabba "just" giving Mara a speeder to get away from him when she arouses his suspicions, overall, omitting this nifty slight of work is outright criminal, and with such high standards of excellence it's well worth your $$.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Not Available Comics
Trevor
