My own self

"I am prepared to die."
"Good. I'm prepared to kill you."

- Darth Kruhl and Emperor-in-Exile Roan Fel

If you're anything like me at all, you enjoy the idea of Star Wars more than the actual movies. By that I mean the archetypes, the grand mythos, the entire world that we were shown in the movies more than the mere plots inside them should indicate. Sure, Empire Strikes Back is a pretty great movie, but mostly, what these movies have going for them can be summed up in cool concepts: The lightsabers, the space-fights, the lasergun-slingers, the Jedi Order protecting a corrupt galaxy, the Sith Order trying to rule it, the Grand Moffs cooly ordering genocides, the Jedi Spirits, the Death Star, the roaring Wookie, the Force, and just about everything about Darth Vader. These things are all awesome, and they, in addition to the common appeal of legend/fairytalesque plots in general, are why I find these movies to be such an important part of my DVD-collection.

Because of enjoying these concepts, I've at many points in my life delved into the chasm of entertainment that is the Star Wars Expanded Universe. There are novels, short stories, comics, video games, computer games, and TV-series. And a whole bunch of other stuff. I've mainly kept with the novels and the comics, though I should say both the TV-serials based upon the Clone Wars, one of which is still on-going, are surprising me with their level of quality.

Now, I've by no means read all the novels and comics, I've not even read all the good ones - believe you me, there are many not so good ones out there too - but I've read enough to have a basic grasp of the history of the gigantic Star Wars universe. It goes back to millenia before the prequel-movies, and covers events during, between and even after the six films of Lucas' making. And for the most part, it all fits together in a gigantic continuity. The latter appeals to me a lot, because I'm an anal crazy-person.

Anyway, to get to the point, even though books and comics have previously ventured pretty far ahead into the time after Return of the Jedi, they never went beyond the years were the good old main characters could reasonbly be expected to be active. Until Star Wars Legacy. Legacy jumps a full century ahead in time from the last point we have previously been told stories from - a point which was already a good three decades after he final film - and introduces us to a very changed Star Wars-universe. New characters, new allegiances, new conflicts. So does it work?

Holy crap, yes! And the why is the concepts. There are lightsabers, there are Jedi, there are Sith, there are evil Moffs and Jedi Spirits, the whole shebang. These familiar, tantalizing concepts have in Legacy been put into a completely new environment, which harkens back to and descends from but is still very different when compared to the good old days of Palpatine's Empire. There are three branches of Force-users now - the Jedi, who are much like they were in their glory days of the Old Republic. The Imperial Knights, who do not adhere to the light- and dark-side philosophies but rather swear loyalty to the Emperor personally over any one value-system. The Emperor is a descendent from the Fel-family, a major group of characters in the novels and comics taking place after Return of the Jedi, who apparently at some point became the heads of what was left of Palpatine's Empire. Now, this Emperor is not a bad guy, if anything, he's rather benevolent. But he was usurped by a new and changed Sith Order who also extinguished most of the Jedi Knights, making Legacy start out in a world with a handful of Jedi, vast armies of Sith, and a third group of Force-users supporting the now Emperor-in-Exile.

And then there's a new Skywalker, who is a little bit like Han Solo would be if he had had basic Jedi training and was really, really grumpy. Together with all of these pieces come plots which, while maybe not brilliant, are far more intricate and interesting than most of the linear storylines of the original movies.

After three volumes, I'm well and truly hooked, and I will continue trying to set aside money to buy these TPBs. Legacy has breathed new life into the Star Wars-universe for me - and it has even retroactively made things that happen before it more interesting, as the century-long gap of information preceding it is now basically just begging to be filled. Where did Luke go? What about Leia? And all their children?

If you have any interest in Star Wars and think you could enjoy a comic with new characters and new plots but the same good old concepts that drew you to the original movies in the first place, I suggest you check out Legacy. If not, well, I'm thoroughly impressed you managed to stay interested throughout the entire post!