The Lesser-Known EU: Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back

This is another guest post from amara z on the Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back comic. Enjoy!

And now we are on to the Infinities version of probably my favorite movie The Empire Strikes Back. I really liked this one as well, but for different reasons than the version for A New Hope. The art is just about as good and since this is Empire, we actually do get some nice Han and Leia goodness in this one. Evidently a lot more than I originally thought because I ended up scanning quite a bit for this one. Unfortunately, this is probably the saddest of all three of the Infinities series and there a couple of moments that just really get you.

* SPOILER ALERT * – this contains spoilers. So if you were planning to read these for yourself, then nothing to see here. Move along; move along.

The big twist from the movie is that Luke dies on Hoth. It is really sad. The comic starts out like the movie. The Rebellion is on Hoth, Luke is out on patrol, and meets up with the wampa. He does manage to escape, but he dies just as Han finds him. Before he passes on, he mumbles about going to Dagobah and training as a Jedi. For some reason, Han believes it’s a message is for him.

Here's the page from Luke's burial.

And here’s an image of one the covers from the individual comics that composed this version of the series. I just thought it was cool.

I do like the fact that Han comforts Leia. Very sweet. And before all of this goes down, we do get just a taste of Han and Leia’s fight in the south corridor about him leaving. That was kind of nice.

The rebels barely get Luke buried before the Imps attack.

I dunno about anyone else, but seeing TIEs flying over Hoth just seems wrong to me. It just looked so odd that I did a double take.

From here, things progress like the movie. The Imperials get the upper hand, start overrunning the base, and Han has to drag Leia out of the command center. Han, Leia, Chewie and Threepio make it off the planet in the Falcon, but have trouble outrunning Imperial ships. And in a totally hilarious jab at the movie, we get the following scene.

Yeah, that’s a good one.

At this point, Han attaches to the side of the Destroyer's bridge, they drift off with the garbage, and make their way to Bespin with Fett following them. Unlike the movie, though, they get a friendlier welcome on Bespin and the Empire is not laying in wait for them. Han does tell Lando that he is with the Rebellion and that seems to smooth things between them. He also tells Lando about becoming a Jedi. Lando laughs at that and Leia comes to Han's defense. Awwww.

Boba Fett also makes it to Bespin and informs Lando that he is there for Solo and that Fett's employer is on his way to collect him. Lando sets Fett up, there is a huge fight between just about everybody, and Fett is knocked unconscious. This time someone else ends up as a carbonite decoration.

Yep, that's Boba Fett in carbonite and being used as Lando's desk. Another good one.

Han, Leia, and Chewie take off for Dagobah once the hyperdrive is fixed. But, unfortunately, everyone assumed that Boba Fett was working for Jabba. He was really working for Vader. Angered when Lando can't produce Fett, Vader destroys the city.

That page actually choked me up to see the city going down and Lando's cape fluttering by. Way harsh.

They eventually make it to Dagobah and when they find Yoda, it comes out that Leia is the one that's supposed to be trained as a Jedi. Han got protective of her once they landed and here's one of the sweeter moments after they find out she's the one to be trained.

We get another cute moment when Han leaves to settle his debt.

This was after Yoda ribbed Han for being a “death-marked scoundrel.” Funny.

Months later (it's not clear if it's many months or just three months), Leia is almost a Jedi. To me, she looks a lot like Jedi Leia from the books (or at least what I've seen on wookiepedia). Looks like she can kick some butt too.


Meanwhile, Han has made enough to pay off Jabba and arranges for someone to deliver the money. But they double cross Han and he and Chewie end up prisoners of Jabba and are forced to fight nexus. Sounds an awful lot like ROTJ, right? They even take a poke at ROTJ. Han and Chewie escape, but so do the nexus. After the creatures tear up his palace, Jabba says that he needs something more controllable like a rancor.

Vader, unaware that Luke has died, has been looking for Luke this whole time and traces him to Dagobah using Threepio. Leia no sooner leaves Yoda to retrieve the crystal to build her lightsaber that Vader shows up and confronts Yoda. Yoda invades his mind and in one of the cooler series of scenes, Vader fights every major Jedi he knew when he was Anakin. Yoda also tells him that Luke is dead. Eventually, Vader is reduced to the small child he used to be but with a twist.

Wow, that is one creepy Anakin. But I thought the whole thing was a neat metaphor for fighting his personal demons. Vader and Yoda start dueling and Leia returns to see Yoda struck down. He eventually dies. Leia fights Vader herself and he gets the upper hand. He tries to convince her to turn to the dark side, but Leia's having none of it. Two laser blasts come out of nowhere and kill Vader. It's Han. He came back to get her and because he misses her. Again, awwww. And it's very obvious in the end they are going to be together.

I did find this one fairly enjoyable even though it was much sadder than the first comic. I really liked all the sweet moments between Han and Leia. Glad they didn't deviate from them caring for one another. And there were some really nice wow moments like Boba Fett in carbonite that easily kept my attention.

Thank you, amara for the in depth review and for taking the time to scan these pictures for us!