Customer Reviews

Star Wars: Dark Empire II (Star Wars): Dark Empire II (Star Wars): Dark Empire II (Star Wars)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

To put in bluntly, this sequel has mostly the exact same plot as it's predecessor.
The Emperor returns from the dead, again...he has a superweapon, again...and he is out to blow people up...again.

In that sense, this book is actually something like the prototype sequel. It takes everything readers liked about the original, and provides us with more of it without bringing in anything really new.
Of course the writers did bother to invent some new ships, characters, weapons and sofort, but nothing that really adds to the story. It is just more of the same stuff we got from Dark Empire I.

In addition to this, one of the major drawbacks to this comic is the fact that a lot of the new things the artists DO come up with are kind of ridiculous. I mean, which Evil Emperor would give his new superweapon a name like "the Galaxy Gun"? And how come the Emperor can magically turn any random underling into a powerfull Dark Jedi all of a sudden? If he could do that, why did he bother with Luke in the last book?

If you were one of the people who enjoyed Dark Empire I, and you insist on reading more of the exact same thing, then you might want to buy this book. If you didn't like the original, you're certainly not going to like this one either.
The only other people who might wish to bother with this comic are the vivid Boba Fett-fans. Like all other villians from DE I, he returns in this one AND he has a lot more screentime than he did in the last book.

Boy, as much as I love Star Wars, some authors sure come up with dumb ideas. I had just gotten over the Star Wars Christmas special and Han's party in ZORBA THE HUTT's REVENGE (oh, so hardened smugglers drink "zoochberry juice), when I found Dark Empire II. For starters, the title just shows how lazy Veitch and his editors are. Emperor Palpatine's death was the climax of Return of the Jedi and was the moment was marked the redemption of Anakin Skywalker and the fall of the Empire. So what does Veitch do? Resurrects our favorite despot...over and over and over. And I have to admit that the World Devestators were a decent concept (much more efficient than a Death Star). But the Galaxy Gun is just plain stupid. Especially since the Galaxy Gun ends up colliding with the aptly named Eclipse II, destroys Byss, and makes me wonder why I spent the money. Thanks alot Tom Veitch.

I have to agree with some of the other reviews on this series. The whole Dark Empire thing absolutely stunk. Cam Kennedy's (bad) idea of setting up one overall color scheme for each frame made everything look exceedingly poor. Also, the man simply can't draw Star Wars characters for squat. As for Veitch's plot: what the heck? Oh....a new Emperor who simply appears and, in less than a year, constructs one super weapon and two, count em, two Eclipse class SSDs. When an original SSD would have taken YEARS to build during the height of the Empire? Yeah....sure. And the story: "oh the hopelessness!....". <---Wasn't that every page? Oh look, new super weapon, new emperor who can magically create Dark Jedi (yeah right), and while were at it, let's destroy the New Republic, Coruscant, Mon Calamari, and have Luke discover WAY to many really poorly developed (actually stupid) Jedi characters. I'm just getting into the Academy trilogy and, thank god, Anderson hasn't yet disappointed me by bringing in some of these moronic characters. Overall this series simply doesn't keep with Star Wars' feel and certainly doesn't fit well into the universe. Sorry Veitch and Kennedy but the plot blew and the art sucked. I'm glad someone else did Crimson Empire, which is, in comparison, quite a bit better. I guess we'll see about the Sith books. (Despite all that, kudos to Dave Dorman for the great cover art!)

It is just a shame. I was one of those poor saps that actually liked Dark Empire. Therefore, I was rather looking forward to the sequel. It is soo bad. Want to know why?

Usually, SW authors have some basis for the names they come up with. But when Han says something about a flesh-eating vlrbrth, I think that is about what it said, I just go the picturer of an author hitting the keyboard and taking what he got. The Dark Side adepts made me think of the Keystone Kops, bumbling about and getting sliced up. Dare I say anything about Ood the Jedi. I almost laughed out loud. Dead Imperial flying ace brains in droids. Good Gravy. Although King Brand was the most idiotic character ever created. I just bowed my head in disbelief when he floated out to meet our heroes.

So, why two whole stars. Because the art was great. Especially the battles on Ossus and Byss. New Alderaan was also well done. The shot of the Galaxy Gun and it's effect on a planet whose name I will not give was stupendous. I also enjoyed the plot involving Han and Fett. Although, what is this junk about Fett being a former stormtrooper who murdered his CO. What about Jaster Mereel. Oh, well both ideas will probably be shot down by Ep. II anyway.

Best Line: "Let go of my jet pack, ya animal." "Ya." Fett always seemed pretty grammatical to me. Guess not.

This is just an excuse to make a trilogy. The first chapter in this series was good enough and didn't need to be drawn out into three graphic novels. There is no excitment because the plot is lame and the same from Dark Empire. It's all about huge weaponry that could destroy the galaxy.

The first book was mildly interesting, but Veitch really has no grasp of what Star Wars is. It's not creating better and better weapons and making things look more and more hopeless. It's about people pulling together to overcome the odds. The way they portray the Emperor is highly implausible. If he could make Dark Jedi with a mere touch he should have been able to obliterate the Rebellion without a thought the first time. And I doubt that all the warlords are going to just stop fighting each other and join up with the first person that comes along claiming to be the Emperor. Where does he get all these resources? All in all it looks like someone wanted to cash in on the Star Wars resurgence and decided one book wasn't enough. Lots of nice art and action, but annoyingly little substance. Veitch saddled a lot of good authors with his poor plot, forcing them to acknoweldge his ideas to preserce continuity. It's a shame.

Ick. As good as Dark Empire 1 was as far as characterizations, plot, and pacing, this destroys it. Most of it seems to be a rehash of the original story, and the new elements introduced seem trite and contrived. The Emperor is back AGAIN, with a NEW superweapon to threaten our heroes. Whoopty-do. Nar Shadda (the Smuggler's Moon) is revisited, as is Byss, the Dark Side homeworld. New characters are introduced, but they seem needlessly rediculous. It is obvious that Veitch rushed this to cash in on the success of Dark Empire 1, unfortunately. It in no way lives up to its predecessor. Further, Cam Kennedy's artwork grows tiresome quickly, especially if you've already read DE1. Probably the only plus are the covers drawn by Dave Dorman, which are showcased in the back. He, at least, is able to capture the essence of Star Wars, although even they aren't as good as the DE1 covers. This is another one of those that you really shouldn't bother with unless you HAVE to own every Star Wars stor

Dark Empire I wasn't too bad, although the continual pushing of doom and gloom, like that in the New Jedi Order novels, gets very tiresome very fast. Well, they took the repetitiveness to a whole new level with DEII.

Now Palpatine's back, even after Luke slashed up all his clones in DEI. And he's got another superweapon, the Galaxy Gun. The idea itself would be a great one, if not for one fact: the weapon stays in orbit over Byss, which is in the Deep Core. Trying to hit a single target with a straight shot across the galaxy is hard enough, but here they're doing it by somehow shooting it through a space so congested by gasses and stars that manned spacecraft find it almost impenitrable. So the idea goes down the tubes.

The highly controversial Kennedy art is a mixed course. The coloring can set the mood at times, but I'd still take Nestelle any day. His people are okay, but not very Star Wars-ish. That said, though, he draws good machinery and the ground battle on Byss was superb. Indeed, the large-scale ground battles on Byss and New Alderaan were the high points of DEII.

Vietch's story is okay, but when the past is accounted for it gets tiresome. DEI was wrapped up nicely, even after it broke the nicely-wrapped-up ending of RotJ apart. Then Vietch has to throw yet another clone into the mix and downsize the importance of everything again. In a lot of ways, this is like the New Jedi Order series. Can the people in the Republic who fought for years and years ever get a break? Nobody is that bloody selfless. At least give them a little time to relax before Galactic Menace #72686123 comes and bears it ugly head.

Really well done, great voice acting, good quality entertainment that follows the comic series to the letter. Great sound effects and altogether, well executed. I really enjoy the entire series that Time Warner did, here.

I wasn't crazy about the first Star Wars: Dark Empire Trilogy HC (Star Wars (Dark Horse)), but thought it had some redeeming value. By contrast, Star Wars: Dark Empire II 2nd Edition is just bad. The main villains are a bunch of Dark Jedi working for Palpatine who can't seem to do anything right. There really isn't much of a plot. The worst part is the Galaxy Gun. If you're sick of super-duper weapons, you'll hate the plot device. The Galaxy Gun can just fire a single missile and take out any planet. It makes being a dictator all the easier. But it's also pretty unrealistic and silly. After all, if such a weapon were possible Star Wars, why wouldn't anybody else build one? Rather than conquer the galaxy, why not just destroy any planet that puts up any resistance? And why didn't Palpatine use the Galaxy Gun to destroy Mon Calamari? Unfortunately, superweapons in the Star Wars universe have become a substitute for a good plot and character development.