“This is where the fun begins.”
The Star Wars galaxy has given us movies, video games, and books. It’s also given us some great comics and it’s time that we sort through the thousands of them to give you what we believe are the 10 best.
It all started with Marvel’s printing of a Star Wars comic book series in 1977, followed by a comics boom of Star Wars stories in the 1990s, and leading us to today where there is a near overabundance of stories from the galaxy far, far away.
In 2014, a couple years after Disney bought the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas, we were jolted by the news that they would make all non-movie stories of Star Wars no longer a part of the official canon of the series. Of course, their goal was to start with a clean slate so that they could tell (or retell) stories but that only created frustration among fans.
That stated, it would be unfair to only rank comics from 2014 onward just because they may or may not be a part of Star Wars canon (Disney refers to former canon as “Legends”) so we are ranking them by considering all of them, especially since some may still find their way into canon.
Now, here are what we consider the best Star Wars comics ever made.
10. Shadows of the Empire (1996)
It was 1996 and it had been 13 years since a Star Wars film had been released. Lucasfilm was about to re-release the movies in 1997 as George Lucas was focusing on creating the new trilogy. So, in the meantime, to reinvigorate interest in Star Wars, the Shadows of the Empire novel would get something of a movie treatment without it being a movie. It had its own toy line thanks to Kenner/Hasbro, its own trading cards thanks to Topps, its own video game and even a soundtrack! Of course, it was also a graphic novel and that’s what obviously lands in our countdown.
It wasn’t too difficult to lure Star Wars fans thanks to the storyline that featured the familiar characters of the films, including Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia. Furthermore, it takes place between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, effectively filling the void between the films. It perfectly picks up where Empire left off and it gave hungry fans (probably starving fans at that point) what they were craving. It’s debatable whether or not the comic version still holds up today, more than a quarter-century after its release but — because of the impact for its time — it still deserves recognition and barely sneaks into our top 10.
9. To Take the Tarkin (1981) Star Wars #51-52
It’s wild to read a story about the creation of what it basically the second Death Star and realize the story was published two years prior to Return of the Jedi. In this version, the massive battle station/weapon is named after Grand Moff Tarkin who oversaw production of the original Death Star and died when the rebels destroyed it.
Luke, Leia, and Lando learn of this new threat in the early stages of the project and thus set out to stop it from ever being fully constructed.
8. Knights of the Old Republic: Commencement (2006)
Imagine an era where there is no dark side threat. Man, we want to live in that galaxy! However, we’ll have to settle for reading about it. Of course, if we truly lived in a world of peace then there would still be people that find a way to cause serious trouble. Such is the case in Knights of the Old Republic as the Jedi start warring with…..the Jedi!
The story is focused on one particular Jedi-in-training, Zayne Carrick, who is framed for killing another.
Zayne would later star in the group “One Direction,” and become a best-selling singer (joking!). All kidding aside, this story gets better and better as it moves along (including the rest of the series) and is a worthy addition to the Star Wars universe.
7. Dark Empire (1991-92)
You may have thought that Rise of Skywalker was when it was first revealed that Emperor Palpatine survived his fall in Return of the Jedi, but that would technically be untrue. It was first presented, albeit in what is now non-canon, in the plot of Dark Empire.
What Palpatine does is even more shocking than the fact that he survived: he turns Luke Skywalker to the dark side. We can hear Luke Skywalker himself saying, “No! No! That’s not true! That’s impossible!”
Unfortunately, it is possible….but it’s also possible that Leia will eventually convince her brother that he’s wrong. You know what else is possible? That this story about a dark side Luke Skywalker is the story you didn’t realize you needed.
6. Lando (2015)
This is an outstanding mini-series written by Charles Soule that features Lando Calrissian, our favorite (or second favorite) scoundrel. Lando the story takes place before Lando the man started running Bespin.
The plot is built around Calrissian attempting to settle a debt by taking on a mission to steal an imperial ship. That’s not exactly ideal but a bad scenario gets worse when he realizes that the ship is Emperor Palpatine’s.
5. Legacy: Volume One: Broken (2007)
Written by John Ostradner, this gem is set over one hundred years after Return of the Jedi. The plot follows Cade Skywalker, descendant of Luke, as he tries to survive the war between the new Empire and the Sith.
It’s quite intriguing to see these two sides at odds but things get even more intriguing when Cade, a former Jedi padawan, witnesses his father’s death by the hands of the Sith. As they further try to hunt him down because of his Jedi powers, he tries to suppress those powers and becomes a bounty hunter and a pirate until the force ghost of his ancestor, Luke Skywalker, scares him back to the Jedi. Ok, maybe he doesn’t scare him but why is seeing a ghost in Star Wars not scary at all? Anyway, Cade ultimately lives up to the “legacy” of his last name and Luke apparently never dies.
4. Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith: Imperial Machine (2017)
This is the rise of Darth Vader, actually starting precisely where Revenge of the Sith ends. We get to see Vader become the Dark Lord we’ve come to frighteningly know as he reaches the very heights of his power and his force-wielding abilities.
He begins to take part in hunting down the Jedi who survived Order 66 as we are treated to what could very well be the ultimate Darth Vader story, especially if one continues reading the follow-ups to this book.
We’re genuinely impressed with writer Charles Soule’s ability to develop the depths of the Vader character. What’s quite revealing is the hold that Emperor Palpatine has on him (not on Soule but on Vader, though both might be possible). Overall, it’s a great story about how this fearsome villain came to be.
3. Doctor Aphra – Volume One (2017)
Doctor Aphra, a character created by writer Kieron Gillen, is one of the most popular Expanded Universe characters and can be best described as an archaeologist with a questionable moral compass. Think of her as a selfish Indiana Jones in the Star Wars universe.
She was first introduced to us in Star Wars: Darth Vader # 3 (collected in the previously mentioned Dark Lord of the Sith graphic novel). Now, after surviving working for Vader (I mean, that really is quite an accomplishment), she tries to get back to her gig but Vader has other plans.
2. Star Wars – Volume 9: Hope Dies (2020)
Writer Kieron Gillen does it again.
At the end of Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope we see the destruction of the Death Star. Then its sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, starts with the Rebellion reeling as things clearly haven’t taken a turn for the best. How? Well, this Star Wars comic series is the story that tells us just that.
It all starts to go downhill when there is a spy in the Rebellion. As our usual heroes (Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie) bring us familiarity, it’s our new heroes that bring us uncertainty. Is anyone else a spy? Will our new heroes survive?
If this were strictly a canon countdown then Hope Dies would finish at the top spot but, in regards to the greatest Star Wars comic ever.….”There is another.”
1. Heir to the Empire (1991)
Star Wars is known for its movie trilogies but if we discuss the endless amount of Star Wars books then its ultimate book trilogy is the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It introduced two major characters, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade, and impacted Star Wars during an era when the movie franchise was dormant.
When the first book of the trilogy, Heir to the Empire, was released in 1991, it topped the New York Times best-seller list. Zahn was able to craft a story that did the movies justice and bring readers on a new adventure that continued the Skywalker saga.
It begins five years after Return of the Jedi and even though the Galactic Empire was defeated then, a small Imperial Fleet still exists and slowly grows while led by Grand Admiral Thrawn, a character who has become known as the best Star Wars villain not to appear in any films.
Thrawn is a mastermind when it comes to war, making his mark as an elite strategist in battle. He is likely the first Star Wars villain to be feared because of his intelligence more than anything else. He’s intimidating for many other reasons also, not the least of which is his look as a blue-skinned and red-eyed dude that doesn’t need to dress in black to make you scared. In fact, he dresses in white and he would look fairly frightening even if he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. The good thing about the graphic novel version is that you get to see him (ok, maybe that’s a bad thing).
We also get to see Han Solo and Princess Leia have twins, Luke Skywalker meet his future wife Mara Jade, and the whole series just continuing in a new direction. To us, it’s episodes 4.3, 4.6, and 4.9 of the movie series. As it turns out, Disney Plus can’t even keep this good thing down because even though they’ve said anything in the Expanded Universe pre-2014 is non-canon, Thrawn has shown up in other forms of canon (see Star Wars: Rebels), suggesting this series could still be considered canon at some point and many Star Wars fans still consider it as such, regardless of orders from Disney.
