World Famous Comics: Star Wars - Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
Star Wars - Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
By: Steve Perry, Ron Randall, Tom Simmon Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 120 Publication Date: March 06, 2000 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: March 06, 2000
Book Description: Xizor, the leader of the Black Sun criminal organization, has been destroyed, and Guri, a beautiful human-replica droid and Xizor`s personal assassin, is left wondering what her future will hold now that she no longer has anyone to answer to. Throughout the ongoing struggle for underworld supremacy, Guri endeavors to uncover hints of her human side-if it even exists. But in her quest to alter her programming and gain humanity, Guri becomes the quarry of both bounty hunters and Rebels (led by a Jedi-to-be named Luke). What secrets lie buried in her android mind that make her such valuable prey? Evolution is the sequel to the best-selling novel Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and is the first foray into comics by best-selling Shadows novelist Steve Perry.
Tying Up Loose Ends For fans of the 'Movie Without The Movie' Event: Shadows of the Empire, this is a great little epilogue. Author Steve Perry takes the opportunity to explore life for Guri without Xizor and the future of Black Sun in this collected series. The Empire is directionless, yet still dangerous, as the post-Jedi years continue on. Looking for allies, Luke, Leia, and Han get caught up in this tale that is artistically lighter than its predecessor. And also, learn Dash Rendar's true fate!
Recommended for die hard Star Wars nuts, and a nice read for an occasional fan.
4.5 stars - An excellent Star Wars comic Shadows Of The Empire: Evolution.
INTRODUCTION: The Star Wars film series is, without question, the greatest science fiction series of all time. George Lucas captured the minds of people young and old across the world. But as anyone knows, there are only a limited number of films, and for many people, this just wasn't enough. And thus, the Star Wars Expanded Universe was born. The Expanded Universe consisted of comic books, video games, novels, and other media. Many of the stories focused on the characters in the films, many focused on unknown characters from the same universe. Among the authors who tried their hands at creating Star Wars comics was Steve Perry (this is NOT the same guy who sang for the rock group Journey.) Perry was a fairly notable science fiction author, and circa 1996, his Shadows Of The Empire novel was released. The novel was a smash hit, and remains one of the Expanded Universe's most popular. Late in the nineties, Perry teamed with two others to try his hand at making a comic book for the first time. What resulted was Shadows Of The Empire: Evolution, somewhat of a sequel to his previous Star Wars novel. Read on and see how it fares!
STORYLINE: It is not long after the death of Emperor Palpatine. This comic takes place between the novels The Truce At Bakura and The Courtship Of Princess Leia, meaning it takes place around the same time as the earlier X-Wing novels. The Black Sun criminal organization, despite the death of its leader Prince Xizor, still exists. The few factions remaining are at war with one another. Xizor's niece aims to unite the factions and rebuild the criminal empire, but to do it, she'll need Guri, the human replica droid that once served as Xizor's bodyguard/servant. Guri is alive, and seeks to have herself reprogrammed, not wanting to be an assassin anymore. Unfortunately, her quest for reprogramming is not an easy one, and before long, all your favorite classic Star Wars characters are thrown into the mix. Everyone fast comes to realize - the Emperor may be dead, but threats are still looming all around the galaxy....
OPINIONS: Overall, this is a very good story, and the excellent artwork only adds to the experience. Even though Steve Perry had never created a comic book prior to this one, his first attempt at it is nothing short of excellent. There's really not a whole lot to say. The story is good, the art is good, practically everything about this story is done well. My only real complaints are that I wish the story had been longer, and that some scenes seem a bit rushed. Other than that, awesome story. This was my first Star Wars comic book, and I'll definitely be checking out more of them.
EDITION NOTES: This story is EXTREMELY hard to find, which is a damn shame, since it's such a good one. Take my advice, though - look in COMIC BOOK stores, not regular bookstores. Either way, if you're a Star Wars fan, it's worth searching for.
OVERALL: Can I really say anything else? If you're a fan of Star Wars, you shouldn't overlook the comic books. And this one is, quite literally, one of the best of the lot. It's tough to find, but if you can, I think you'll be impressed. I hope Steve Perry will be making additional Star Wars comics, because his first attempt at it is great. Final verdict? This story is highly recommended!
Guri takes charge I am reviewing Shadow of the Empire ý Evolution ISBN 156971441X A Dark Horse TPB Ccomic published Feb., 2000 at 120 pages, printed in Canada. This is the one with the blond Guri dominating the cover. Not the one with Boba fett dominating the cover. Sorry for all that, but some of the reviews here are for the first SHADOWS comic based on the novel. This comic, Evolution, is not based on a book but rather collects 5 issues into one story called a TPB.
Evolution picked up after the apparent death of Xizor in SOTE, which took place between ESB and ROTJ in year 3 After New Hope on the timeline. Evolution takes place at about the same time as ROTJ in year 4 ANH. This is a story featuring Guri, Xizors personal assassin. She is a beautiful, blond human-replica droid who likes reflex blue outfits and wonders if a droid can dream. Steve Perry, the author that brought us the SOTE journey joins Dark horse as the story writer.
This comic was produced at a time that the inking, coloring and manufacturer techniques were starting to produce superior looking comics. Because it was made in Canada, the binding is excellent, a problem with later TPB comics made in China.
The art style is cartoonish, one I generally do not care for, but it works here. Regardless of whether you like the cartoonish style, the pencil art is excellent and detailed. An interesting thing that I noticed was that special care was taken to draw Luke and Leia to look like the real actors that they are. Dark horse has been criticized by me and others for allowing their artists to just wing in when drawing Luke, Leia and Lando. The SW reader knows what these 3 people are supposed to look like, and a lazy pencil artist canýt fly that one past us. Well I say all that to congratulate the Artist and editor here for getting Luke and Leia right.
Oh yes, if you like to look at the female body as an art form, you will like this comic. At times it is sexy without being obscene so you can still read it to your 5 and 6 year kids.
The inking and color here are almost awesome. By 2002 the process that they are evolving will mature into jaw dropping visual art. This one was pretty close.
SPOILER!! Guri doesnýt die in this comic. I seem to remember listening to a book on tape where Guri came up in the story, but I canýt recall if it was a NJO or Prequel book.
With the pencils, ink and color all rated at 3.5 to 4, and a story that is good, 3 to 3.5 I decided that this is a 4 star effort and a recommended read.
Very good at first glance At first glance, Shadows of the Empire: Evolution is a very good and interesting book. The continuing story of Guri, Xizor's second in command, is supplemented by good artwork and not too much boring dialogue, and complimented by plenty of action.
Unfortunately, when you look at it again a bunch of little details crop up. First of all, why didn't Xizor's niece have that huge spinal ridge thingie? It has been established that all Falleen, male and female, do have it, so why didn't she? So she would fit into her human costume? So she would be easier to draw?
Next is another minor technical thing. Supposedly taking place immediately after Return of the Jedi, but before Vandelhelm Mission and all that, it just doesn't fit in properly. If they'd made it take place during the same time as the early Rogue Squadron comics it would have been much better.
All the females in the comic for some reason are unrealistic. The Pikkel sisters, who have mastered Teras Kasi among various other martial arts, are in pretty good condition, but are too buxom. In my experience, most female dancers and athletes don't have such huge breasts. Leia is also too slender and buxom, as is the Falleen, and all of the other women in the comic. I know it's probably more fun for the illustrator's that way, but it's unrealistic.
The inclusion of Dash in this comic was kind of a corny stretch as well, and the Imperials at the beginning were kind of random. Since when does a Star Destroyer on random patrol randomly open fire on a civilian ship legitimately passing through the sector? And since when can a "full spread" of all of five or six proton torpedoes destroy an ImpStar? Oh well.
I applaud the authors for some other details, though. All of the aurebesh really translates, it's not just random lines, and all of the art is pretty good. There wasn't excessive dialogue, but there was some good humor, and a neat look at Guri's past. Besides the fact that the story is completely inconsequential in the grand {Star Wars} scheme of things, it's quite nice.
If you want some nice Star Wars eye candy with lots of action and a few questions answered, this is for you. Otherwise, skip it.
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