In my complete break down of The Threat of Peace: Treaty of Coruscant, I explained that one of the most important things leading up to the release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic is the fact that story is everything. Without a firm grasp of the story, there really isn’t much to go with when the game is launched. Fortunately, BioWare and Dark Horse–who happens to rock by the way, so definitely get their comics if you love Star Wars–understand this and have decided to release more comics. This time, the focus is not so much on the Jedi, but more on the Sith and the Sith Empire.

Ladies and gentlemen…Welcome to Blood of the Empire.

The very first thing I’ll say about this is that they read my mind and decided to go with longer issues and have fewer. According to the page I just linked to, there will be four issues. However, unlike in The Threat of Peace which had three page issues, these appear to be seven pages long. That’s awesome is all that I can say. For a guy like me who loves story, that means I can get so much more without having to wait nearly as long. That’s cool in my opinion.

To the issue. On the planet Begeren, the Sith have invaded and are trying to take the planet. Why they are trying to take it, I can’t seem to figure out. I might have missed something. Regardless, the Sith soldiers are getting their asses handed to them, but then suddenly, a single Sith Warrior kills the governor of the planet and the rest is history. The Republic gets destroyed and the Sith take the planet.

Now, that’s obviously a quick overview of what went down. But, I have a few comments to say about the comic. First and foremost, the quality of the art is much better than The Threat of Peace. Whether this is because they are taking it more seriously or that they are getting a better grasp on this whole Internet webcomic, I don’t know. But, the quality is better.

Secondly, it’s interesting to get more of a grasp on what I will be facing when I play as a Jedi when the game is released. Yes, yes, I’ll be playing as Jedi. Interesting to see the Sith soldier in his full armor. Granted, I almost feel as if Star Wars overdoes the armor, but hey, it’s a trademark of the saga. You get more of an understanding that, while you are facing the Empire, they really are just average people fighting in this war.

It closes, though, with a bit of a cliffhanger. Why is he getting arrested? What’s going on here? I know I’ll have to wait two more weeks to find out, but the speculation and thoughts going through my mind. As my wife teases me for, I am a comic addict, especially when it comes to Star Wars. I did a good job hiding them from her for some time. But, I just love the story that goes into these comics.

Leave an opinion. What do you think of the comic so far?