The Books of Paul Chadwick

Here we are presented with two stories from the Empire comic book series. The book is named for the first of these stories, 'The Saga Of Biggs Darklighter', which finally gives us the backstory to Luke's friend Biggs. One of the best things about this story is how it features Biggs and Luke on Tatooine (where Luke, surprisingly, is the irritating hanger-on), including a scene in which Biggs visits Luke which was filmed for 'A New Hope' but never made it into the movie. We then see Biggs' training and finally his defection to the Rebel Alliance. Chadwick then expands upon a short story featured in 'X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Requiem For A Rogue' (by Michael A. Stackpole, Jan Strnad and Mike W. Barr) before retelling Biggs' role and death in the battle against the Death Star. Stories like this that are so well linked to events of the movies are always worth reading and Doug Wheatley's art makes it truly a pleasure. There are a couple of continuity issues (the Rand Ecliptic looks nothing like it does in previous references and Hobbie loses both and arm and a leg - which is never even mentioned in his later adventures) but they don't spoil the story too much. Sadly, what does spoil the book as a whole is the second story featured in it, 'The Short Happy Life Of Roons Sewell' which is a dull and pointless story about a new and uninteresting character. It's only redeeming feature is the fact that it tells the story of how General Dodonna came to lead the Rebels on Yavin 4. This rubbish story lowers the quality of the book and costs it a flawless rating.