Taral Books and Comics

When Disney first acquired Star Wars and announced the production of new content, one of the settings they would explore first is those first few weeks, months, and years after Episode IV: A New Hope. There would be novels for adults, teens, and children released that would cover that period, but one of the most comprehensive stories was that told by Marvel Comics.  In January 2015, two new comic series would begin, Star Wars and Darth Vader . The former would run for 75 issues and lead directly into a prologue to Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The latter would run for 25 issues and tell the tale of Darth Vader as he establishes his own power base with the help of new character Dr. Chelli Lona Aphra (who would get her own ongoing series after Darth Vader ended). Marvel would also launch multiple five-issue miniseries focussing on individual characters, beginning with Princess Leia but then also having stories for Chewbacca, Han Solo, and Lando Calrissian.  For this article, I co

So far, most of the Clone Wars stories we have read have focussed on the adventures of the Jedi, especially Anakin Skywalker as he journeys toward his promotion to Jedi Knight, and his master Obi-Wan Kenobi. But not all Clone Wars stories are stories of Jedi heroism. The video game Republic Commando puts us in the armor of a particularly well trained clone and the rest of his commando squad. Accompanying this well received game was a series of novels which also went on to further develop lore surrounding the training of the clone army and the culture of the Mandalorians.  For this post, I read the following stories:  Republic Commando (game by LucasArts and Aspyr Media, 2005) Republic Commando: Hard Contact (novel by Karen Traviss, 2004) Omega Squad: Targets (short story by Karen Traviss, 2005) Republic Commando: Triple Zero (novel by Karen Traviss, 2006) Odds (short story by Karen Traviss, 2006) Republic Commando: True Colors (novel by Karen Traviss, 2007) I read the paperback ve