Expanded Universe Round-Up #32

​Droids and Ewoks (omnibus)

I've never watched either of these shows, but I suspect they were typical of the era - and so are these comics. The Ewok stories are pretty cute. There are more of those than the Droids stories, which is a bit of a shame, though I wonder if they were running out of ideas because they foisted a retelling of A New Hope on their readers. The crossover doesn't make sense, but ahh... who cares? This is over 500 pages of amusing tales aimed at children.
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​Ewoks: Shadows of Endor

One could hardly expect to find a continuation to a 1980s show published in 2013, but here it is. I'm glad I read the other Ewoks comics beforehand so I could get a feel for the characters. This is really good! Giallongo competently bridged cutesy characters with dangerous situations - and he also managed to bring back the OG Nightsister from the Ewok movie The Battle for Endor(okay, Charal wasn't a Nightsister until a 1990s retcon, but still).

In a nutshell... this is a retro throwback with flawless execution.
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The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
by Ryder Windham

This is a Legends retelling of the original trilogy and prequel trilogy from Anakin's/Darth Vader's perspective, with some extra bits at the start. You'd think "what is the point of reading it, then?" but Windham does a good job of connecting the trilogies. Mostly, this works. The pacing is a bit odd at times since some moments are skipped over and others are played in full. I will say that some of Windham's retcons are clumsy (but was there any way to make Splinter of the Mind's Eye jive with a canon that outgrew it in the 1980s? lol); however, the real standout here is the scene Windham wrote for when Darth Vader discovered that the moisture farmers who'd obtained the droids in A New Hope were Owen and Beru Lars. Magnificent.

The Life of Luke Skywalker
by Ryder Windham

This is by far the weakest of the "biographies" that Windham wrote for the Legends canon. It starts out really well, but his decision to avoid rehashing the movies (potentially a good thing) was followed by his decision to devote entire chunks to the old Marvel comics (definitely NOT a good thing). I've only rated it this high because of the scenes where Luke is trying to find out more about his father on Tatooine. Oh, and that gem of a moment, courtesy of Han Solo right near the end.
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Tales from the Empire

When I spent my pocket money on this book, back in the 1990s, it was so I could get my hands - and eyeballs - on the Corran Horn stories inside it. I didn't find the other stories all that relevant or interesting. Now, much older and wiser in that I actually read the introduction this time (lol), I can understand my initial reaction. The majority of these tales were inspired by role-playing games and were intended to provide inspiration themselves. I think they might be successful in that way... although not all of them were successful in holding my attention even as an adult.

Come for the backstory stuff (i.e. stories including Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, Thrawn & Corran Horn). Grit your way through the other stuff.
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Tales from Jabba's Palace

As is always the case with an anthology, there are hits and there are misses. I do think a couple of these stories could easily have been excised, but there were other, much stronger contenders that made this book worth reading in its entirety.

"A Boy and His Monster: The Rancor Keeper's Tale" is probably the best... and the Dannik Jerriko one is just pain awful (and amateurish to boot).
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Tales of the Bounty Hunters

​All the other Tales books I've read before now had many more authors and hence shorter stories. This worked in their favour; if a story wasn't particularly good, at least it was short. Here we have what I would call 5 novellas. It's worth remembering that they were written and published in an era when we didn't know Boba Fett's cinematic origins. Unlike most EU/Legends releases, I had not previously read this one.

First up is IG-88. I wasn't a fan of this one and am glad his fate has been rewritten in the newer canon. As a child, I thought IG-88 was AWESOME... this story made him seem silly. What a pointless death.

Next we have Dengar. It's a weird and unconventional love story, but kind of nice? You really need to read Tales from Jabba's Palace before you attempt this story. Otherwise it doesn't make much sense. Once again, I prefer the Disney canon... particularly when it comes to how Boba Fett survived.

Bossk. You'll need to read a related story in Tales from the Empire first. Or maybe not. Why subject yourself to that? This story just felt so unnecessary. Also... Bossk is so much more fun in the Disney canon lol

Zuckuss and 4-LOM. I have come to LOVE these guys, thanks to the Disney comics. Turns out I love them in the Legends canon as well! What a pair. My clear favourite of the bunch.

Boba Fett. This is not the Boba Fett we know. He's not a clone. He's Jaster Mereel! But even so, this is NOT how I would have wanted him to be characterised in the 1990s. Awful story in every aspect. Refers to events from a story in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina.