Comic publisher Dark Horse churns out a lot of monthly titles based on the Star Wars films. Some, like Clone Wars and Empire are epic sagas in the spirit of the movies, bringing more insight and clarity into the complicated universe of films and literature. Others aren’t quite so epic but fill a gap in the market for those who simply can’t get enough. This Omnibus collection pulls together and republishes some of these more disparate titles.
Rogue Squadron is the group of fighter pilots that Luke Skywalker flew with, originally designated ‘Red’ but later becoming ‘Rogue’. As a unit, they were involved in some of the meatier space battles from the original three films (A New Hope through to Return of the Jedi), including the destruction of both Death Stars.
The stories contained within this volume follow the squadron from the end of Return of the Jedi, when the Empire has supposedly been destroyed and Skywalker is leaving to rebuild the Jedi. The remaining members of Rogue Squadron are sent by the New Republic to make sure that news of the Empire’s demise reaches the furthest edges of the galaxy and that local Imperial resistance is duly quashed.
There’s nothing of planet shattering consequence going on here though. These guys, despite one of them being directly responsible for the destruction of the second Death Star, are basically nobodies in the grand scheme of the movies, so it’s difficult to care too much about what happens to them. And their missions in this volume – deposing the odd Imperial general still stuck in his ways – is small fry compared to destroying Death Stars or battling Sith.
The Omnibus series is clearly designed to sweep up the left-overs and heavy duty Star Wars fans ought to be delighted with the opportunity to collect these stories in a sturdier format than the monthly comic. For the average fan though, there’s plenty of better Star Wars tales out there, featuring more mainstream characters, that are worth sampling before finding out more about the post-war antics of Rogue Squadron.
