Usually I don't review Star Wars books because I find them to be either very boring or not very good. Also I've moved on from being a Star Wars fan due to the fact that among other things, Lucas' addiction to technology that forces him to re-release movies ever decade now. "Hey Lucas, technology is always changing so stop raping the past and put out something new!" That's what I would yell to him if I saw him downing some Haagen Dazs across the street. At any rate I haven't enjoyed a Star Wars comic book since Legacy, until now. Crimson Empire III is the third and final chapter in the much beloved Crimson Empire series. Right off the bat I'll say that I haven't read the first two volumes, but I understand that this is the same team that created the series from the very beginning and frankly they should have created a whole lot more in the Star Wars Universe.The story follows Luke, Leia and Kir Kanos which is the surviving clone body of Palpatine! Let me just say that Kanos is ten times more bad ass then Palpy ever was. His opening scene is of him turning in a bounty and being tipped off that there are guests waiting for him in his hotel room. He crashes through the window of the room and basically empties the room... after he kills everyone.
The gist of the story is that the "Empire" is now in the position of the rebels. Hiding in secret as they rebuild their army and lie in wait to take on the Alliance. They obviously want Kanos to lead them since he's Palpy's clone and all, but I have a feeling this bad ass bounty hunter doesn't give a damn. Luke and Leia's side of the story wasn't super interesting, but it also was bogged down with useless dialog or anything like that. I can't say that I care either way about their stories, but I'm super interested to see what happens with Kanos.
The art is good and some of the best that's been on a Star Wars book for sure. That being said there were some awkward moments with close ups on the characters faces that were strange. For the most part the art resembled the actors they were based off and were aged appropriately, but the close ups gave them all lazy dead eyes that I wasn't a fan of.
There's a reason this series is loved so much and it's because it's pretty damn good. Does it capture the feel of the movies? No and I'm really thankful for that. It does capture the world and the ideas that made the movies interesting to begin with, but what's really good is to see the characters that started everything treated with respect and to follow their stories again. I think that's perhaps why its so good is that its not trying to make me care about some new character who has some family tie.
Score: 3/5