Revenge of the Clone Menace

So this week I’m covering Star Wars Empire.
This series is easy for the occasional reader since many of the stories are only a single or a few issues total, instead of arcs that encompass a larger arc. This is kind of nice since it allows for the series to focus on small characters or tell minor stories that really doesn’t affect the Star Wars Universe all that much.
What fans will really appreciate is the story of Biggs and Hobbie (those of you who don’t know, Biggs was the guy who got killed attacking the Death Star in the first movie and Hobbie was Wedge’s copilot in the second). This series really manages to flesh these characters out and follows them for the longer stories.
The main issue I have with this series though is that the longer stories get interrupted often. Bigg’s story was broken up into three or so parts, each at inappropriate times. Literally the comic book says, we’re going to take a break midway through this story and tell this one instead. So for months Hobbie is laying in bed dying of some strange disease or Biggs is floating in space without oxygen and I’m getting told a story about a storm trooper uncovering a plot on the Death Star that doesn’t really matter since it literally gets blown up two seconds later. This makes the series fall short in my book.
What worked well for Star Wars Empire is that it fills in many of the gaps left in the movies and Expanded Universe. For those who aren’t nerds like myself, one of the deleted scenes in the first movie had Biggs return home to say a final farewell to Luke before joining the rebellion. In Star Wars Empire they tell this story, although they change it so that it makes sense in the established continuity. Another story is what happened to Darth Vader after his tie fighter flew off into space when the Death Star blew up.
Fans of the X-Wing novels will also notice that many of the stories fill in the gaps the books left open by expanding on the cast of the series and explaining just how they came to meet. This is great for those that love the Expanded Universe storylines.
Overall, Star Wars Empire is good for those who want quick, but mildly entertaining episodic Star Wars stories. They don’t really add anything to the universe story wise, but they do characterize many of the small character never before explored in the universe. For me this is adds more to the other material than the books themselves since I feel more emotional when they die or succeed in their missions within the movies and other materials. As a result, I guess Empire is successful in adding to the story in that way.