Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost continues the adventures of former Emperor’s Royal Guard Kir Kanos since Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood which began back in 1998. For those unfamiliar with the Crimson Empire series it follows Kir Kanos a member of the Emperor’s Royal Guard who were the personal bodyguards of Emperor Palpatine whose entire life goal was to serve the Emperor unquestionably. During the course of the series we also learn that a number of these guardsmen were also in fact force sensitive who were chosen by Palpatine to utilize rather than allow them to become threats against his Empire. In the latest saga of the Crimson Empire it begins thirteen years after the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the first Death Star and two years following the events of Crimson Empire II. Since then Kanos lives a life as an anonymous bounty hunter under the alias of Kenix Kil (an anagram of Kir Kanos in the secret battle language of the Emperor’s Royal Guard) whose objective remains the same; to seek revenge on those responsible for the death of the Emperor.

In the first issue we see the stage being set with Kanos collecting a bounty on some back water planet and showing off some pretty sweet fight moves. Characters from the orginal films and the expanded universe also makes an appearance such as Leia Organa-Solo who is now the Chef of State, Luke Skywalker in a training session with Jedi apprentices, fan favorite Boba Fett who has some interaction with Kir Kanos himself, Mirith Sinn from the previous Crimson Empire issues who is now in charge of Leia’s security, the children of Leia and Han, and a very surprising appearance of Vima-Ba-Boda from the Dark Empire series. The first issue starts off a bit slow but that’s understandable when you have to set the tone for a series which is the third part for what appears to be a trilogy. My only real complaint here is some of the artwork by Paul Gulacy (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight and Shang Chi: Master of Kung Fu) don’t take me wrong when it comes to the Crimson Empire you just got to have the artistic talents of Gulacy on board. It’s just that Leia and her children looks slightly off and disproportional.

The Empire Lost storyline continues in issue two with Boba Fett escorting Kanos to a secret Imperial headquarter. We also learn that Admiral Pallaeon is in charge of what remains of the Imperial Remnant but in secret a new Imperial faction is forming in secret with the goal to destroy both Pallaeon’s remnants and the new Republic. Story-wise I’m a bit concerned with the multiple plots being branched out but I’m confident that writers Mike Richardson (The Mask and Cut) and Randy Stradley (Star Wars: Dark Times and Star Wars: Empire) will be able to bring all the plot points together eventually (hopefully sooner than later). In a story about Kir Kanos he’s curiously absent in this second issue but we do see him donning the crimson once again in the final page.

Overall if you’re a fan of Star Wars or namely the Crimson Empire series do not miss this title. There’s a good blend of both action and intrigue here for readers to check out and enjoy. And you got some real eye candy to enjoy especially with the cover art on both issues by Dave Dorman (Magic: the Gathering and Heavy Metal Magazine) which are just absolutely fantastic.

Grade: B+

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