Star Wars: Crimson Reign

To your knowledge, did the Knights of Ren die in comics yet?

I think the most recent story we have in the timeline, they are alive except for Ren himself.

They are alive during this time frame and it was recently hinted at in Secrets of the Sith that the Knights of Ren housed a fugitive Jedi following Order 66. Will be interesting to see if any of that plays out here.

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No, they survive all the way up through Rise of Skywalker where Ben Solo kills Apā€™lek, Cardo, Kuruk, Trudgen, Ushar, and Vicrul.

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Hey @drunkwooky who is the dude in the helmet? Is it Valance with headgear?

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That dudette is Chanath Cha.

First appeared in Lando 2, first cover is Lando 4.

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And a YouTuber was just saying how they didnā€™t even use him so people bought copies for nothing :rofl::rofl::rofl:

To be fair, Charles Soule DID specifically say she was planned to show up in War of the Bounty Hunters. Not much harm, though, because you just need to wait 1-2 months more for her to show up in Crimson Reign, an extension of War of the Bounty Hunters.

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Need the crimson reign vader by Crain signed in red and then slabbed :heart_eyes:

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Thereā€™s a sneaky Millenium Falcon dogfight in the background of the Crain cover:

Also, even though they arenā€™t solicited this way, I get the feeling Crain and Rahzzah covers are going to connect. Something weird about their framing that seems unfinished and leading into another cover.

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Looks like they are doing it for the entire run. I pre ordered 1 and 2 of the Crain covers on tfaw just now.

I have question for the rest of you Star Wars fans, and especially @drunkwooky : Do you feel like the Star Wars comics are taking too many liberties with the time between Episodes? Especially the original trilogy Episodes?

For me, I am on the fence of enjoying it and not. For instance the Vader comic feels like it is trying to make the sequel trilogy (especially Rise of Skywalker) feel less like it came out of left field. Trying to establish that Exegol has been a thing for a long while, Ochi was a major player, Luke had another lightsaber between Episodes 5 & 6, and facing off against Vader multiple times before ROTJ, ETC.

Couple this with things like the Aeon Engine and the Wolrd Between Worldā€™s and I feel like Lucasfilm is attempting the create an alternate timeline, multiverse, or just undo a lot of deaths and events from the previously established canon.

Maybe it is just me being a curmudgeon, but I think the best place to explore Star Wars in comics is in the 30 years between Ep 6 and Ep 7. Not saying that there arenā€™t great stories to be told during the Galactic Civil War, but I feel like some of what is being done undermines the importance of Vader & Luke in Ep 6 and other key events.

I have obvious biases including a built-in confirmation bias. Iā€™m so invested in Star Wars that I turn a blind eye to a lot of the franchiseā€™s missteps. Having said that, I usually notice them.

The franchise has been inconsistent and subject to ret-cons from day 1. Starting with Jabba showing up as a yellow humanoid on two legs, heading into the 1978 Holiday Special, and so on, there were missteps that became part of the kooky fabric of the expanded universe between the movies. Itā€™s all always just run alongside the movies and Iā€™ve always compartmentalized the comics and the films. It can get too frustrating trying to square it all. Usually if I encounter something I donā€™t like, I put it in a box and leave it there.

As far as Pakā€™s handling of Exegol and the Sequel elements, Iā€™d say when facing the choice (assuming he even had one) between trying to consistently tie out the Sequels with the prior trilogy or ignoring it, trying to tie it out is probably the right way to go. With all the corporate dollars invested in that trilogy (think about the Galaxyā€™s Edge and Galactic Starcruiser besides just the theatrical investment), the only way forward is the improv rule ā€œyes, andā€¦ā€ to try and make it work.

I was sorely disappointed when Palpatineā€™s return was relegated to a single line of text in the opening crawl of Rise of Skywalker. So, the most epic aspect of the Dark Horse expanded universe AND novelized expanded universe gets one line of text in the movie!? Come on! Either do it right, or donā€™t do it at all.

I think Mandalorian and Bad Batch are headed the direction of explaining Operation Cinder, Palpatineā€™s cloning contingency plans, and all that, so Iā€™m fine trying to make some of the sequels make more consistent sense. If it can be accomplished, I think it is to be done through multi-media: comics, books, TV shows, etc.

Does having Luke and Vader meet before ROTJ again water down that interaction? Yeah, probably. However, itā€™s hard to fault a writer for wanting to play with those two characters in the toy box. Like I said, I just try to compartmentalize it and focus on the aspects I love. The dogfight between Luke and Darth in War of the Bounty Hunters WAS moderately cool. So I just enjoyed it for what it was.

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I agree, and this is also where I think Star Wars can shine: In the time AFTER E6. I think that is why Mando is so successful, because it explores this unexplored time after the Battle of Endor. Iā€™m fine with having the sequels better explained with subsequent comics, shows, books, etc but not at the expense of established characters and events. I guess this is why I say Iā€™m on the fence, because part of me enjoys the universe building and additional lore but the other part of me is like ā€œCome on, Luke didnā€™t have a Temple Guardā€™s blade. Vader didnā€™t ride a giant space squid down to Exegolā€™s surface.ā€

Also, I know I bellyached about it earlier but I DO like exploring Ochi. He was kind of a sad footnote in ROS, but hopefully the comics continue to explore his story. The way he got ā€œforce blindedā€ kinda felt cheap. To me, at least.

I think compartmentalizing and setting aside certain oddities is probably the best way to enjoy Star Wars as it continues to growā€¦ kinda wish Ep 7 & 8 built on this whole Cinder (I was first exposed to Cinder in Battlefront 2) plan, culminating in Ep 9 and Sidiousā€™ revival.

Looks like two of those unnamed women appearing in Qiā€™raā€™s rogues gallery in War of the Bounty Hunters 5 are getting their first cover (on a store exclusive) and first full appearance.

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Not a huge fan of this, but hereā€™s the Pham Crimson Reign 1 cover:

Looks like this may be another series of connecting covers for the event.

Then JTC Star Wars #19 Action Figure Variant:

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First cover appearance and full comics appearance of new character, Sear.

Two mystery members of Qiā€™raā€™s War of the Bounty Hunters #5 rogueā€™s gallery confirmed as Chanath Cha (first appear in Lando 2, first cover Lando 5), and Sear:

The exclusive cover will be available from 616comics and Comics Elite on Friday 10/29/2021 at 9PM Eastern Time!

Itā€™s available in a trade dress cover with an edition size of 3,000 and a virgin cover with an edition size of 1,000.

Trade will be priced at $14.99.

Virgin will be priced at $29.99.

Virgin and trade sets will be available for $39.99.

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Glad I dropped the Phamā€¦ maybe Iā€™ll regret it when all covers are revealed lol

Reminds me of the Reflections set from Topps Star Wars Card Trader.

just remember there will be more stores variants of this book, and they could have them on there to