Resurrection of Evil (Star Wars: A Long Time Ago..., Book 3)

Rating:
Summary: Turning the Corner
Review: Book 3 of the Dark Horse Comics reprints of Marvel's Star Wars comics is a fine achievement in itself, and these books have never looked better! In fact, doing a back to back comparison with this trade paperback and the original comics will shock you as to how much improved these re-colored reprints are!

As for the issues covered in this volume (#39-53), there is a definite improvement in the overall quality: The art is getting away from the blocky (but well-liked by this reviewer) style of Carmine Infantino, which is still present, but the absolutely gorgeous art of Al Williamson and Walt Simonson is more striking and the characters look more like the onscreen actors from Star Wars. This is especially evident on the "Empire Strikes Back" adaptation featured in the first six issues of this volume.

The writing gets better with these issues, too. Archie Goodwin and David Michelinie have always been superb storytellers and they turn in some fine work here. I particularly enjoyed Michelinie's 2-part "Tarkin" story which blew me away as a ten year-old back in '81. Mike W. Barr's "The Last Jedi" is another story I liked as a kid, but it's even better and more poignant through adult eyes.

The Dark Horse reprints of the Marvel Star Wars comics are definitely worth getting, especially if you're wary of constantly digging out those old, yellowing copies from your original comic book collection. I'm so happy that someone saw fit to re-release these comics, which were so important to my friends and I as kids, almost as important as the movies! The Marvel books kept us entertained and inspired us to create our own characters that would inhabit our own small corner of the vast "Star Wars Universe."