“Crimson Empire” (1997-98) is one of the most popular Dark Horse “Star Wars” titles, and I suspect it gets a ton of mileage out of the fact that it focuses on the Emperor’s Royal Guards, arguably the coolest-looking characters in the saga. The very first action figure I got was a Kenner Emperor’s Royal Guard for my seventh birthday in 1985, so I can see the appeal.
This first installment of the “Crimson Empire” trilogy from writers Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley isn’t without ideas worth digging into, but the initial hook is the artwork. Although this is a sequel to the “Dark Empire” trilogy, this title eschews the painted style for crisp and colorful artwork by Paul Gulacy (pencils), P. Craig Russell (inks) and Dave Stewart (colors). In addition to the royal guards, we also get vehicles that are mentioned a lot in the novels but not regularly depicted visually, like E-wings, Skipray blastboats and the Lusankya – a New Republic Super Star Destroyer helmed by Wedge Antilles. (See the “X-Wing” novels to learn about the Lusankya’s background as an Imperial prison ship.)
While the story is a step up from the shallow second and third installments of “Dark Empire,” the characters don’t develop much beyond templates, even though I suspect that Kir Kanos – with his stubble and scar (courtesy of a training fight with Darth Vader) broadly fits the troubled antihero mold. Kanos is the de facto good guy among the two main crimson guard characters, since he’s fighting Carnor Jax, who fancies himself the next Emperor (indeed, we learn that Jax – just “off-screen” in the “Dark Empire” saga — played a part in wiping out the Emperor’s stockpile of clone bodies, and Kanos hates him for this).
But although New Republic commander Mirith Sinn sees the best in Kanos, her ally-by-circumstance, he’s arguably a rather stupid man and hard for a reader to root for. Yeah, he’s “noble” in a broad sense: He was loyal to Emperor Palpatine, and he wants to avenge his master by killing the usurper, Jax. The central irony is that Jax did exactly the same thing Palpatine did: He seized power by gaining allies through lies and manipulation and then killing the enemies that remained. Jax even points out his rival’s hypocrisy during their fight in Issue 6:
Kanos: “You have no right to the throne!”
Jax: “It is mine by the fact that I took it!”
Although we see numerous panels of Kanos looking grizzled and broody, I don’t understand his thought process. There are two possibilities: 1) Kanos believes that since Palpatine rose to power through a democratic process, he is a legitimate ruler, or 2) Kanos doesn’t know how Palpatine rose to power, and actually believes him to be a decent guy. Both scenarios are hard to believe when one considers that Kanos knows what Palpatine stands for, and he proudly served him for many years. We see flashbacks to the Emperor’s Royal Guard training grounds on Yinchorr, where Palpatine orders fights to the death as a way of determining the best soldiers. Kanos, in fact, gets his Royal Guard post by killing one of his best friends!
The fact that Palpatine selects his elite guards via fights to the death is weird and darkly humorous (although the Imperial-logo-shaped fighting platform above a bottomless pit is a great visual). For one thing: What a waste of skilled, loyal men! For another thing: Yinchorr seems like a breeding ground for creating potential enemies. Obviously, these men believe in the iron-fisted principles of the Empire, but they aren’t mindless droids. Why would Palpatine risk engaging their enmity by forcing them to kill their friends in order to climb the ranks? Palpatine should manipulate their emotions in his favor, like he did successfully with Anakin Skywalker and Mara Jade.
“Crimson Empire” also has the problem – as do many “Star Wars” stories about post-Battle of Endor Imperial factions – of existing in a military vacuum without wider context. Jax maintains his military might thanks to financing from the Imperial Ruling Council, but what people/planets is it ruling? Is this the “Imperial Remnant” we hear about in the books? It seems unlikely, since Admiral Pellaeon is not mentioned. Or is it the Deep Core? That doesn’t seem right either, as there’s no mention of the Deep Core worlds, the reborn Emperor’s stomping grounds in “Dark Empire.”
Despite his talk about a meticulous plan for ascending to Palpatine-level power, Jax only achieves wanton terror and destruction as he tries to kill Kanos (and then he loses an entire Star Destroyer by drawing the attention of Antilles and the Republic military). It’s unclear whether Richardson and Stradley intend for Jax to be seen as a legitimate galactic threat like the reborn Emperor, or if this is primarily yarn about political/military infighting with tons of collateral damage. While he’s a Force-user, Jax is not a Sidious- or Vader-level Force user.
I suppose the sequels could delve into these contextual issues further, even though Kanos kills Jax at the end of this volume. Indeed, the second volume is called “Council of Blood,” so perhaps that delves into the question of the governing power of the Royal Guards. As with this first installment, I forgot all the details. But as it stands, I come out of these six issues without strong feelings about any of the characters one way or another. If you’re drawn to “Star Wars” comics for the art, “Crimson Empire” is marvelous to look at. For story and characters, it’s a bit generic.