These two story arcs probably contain my largest ever fictional body count.

DC Universe Online Legends #17

Hal Jordan is seriously conflicted as he and the Green Lantern Corps arrive at Korugar to “contain” the war between Sinestro’s Yellow Lanterns and Brainiac–but can they save the planet of innocents caught in the crossfire? And how desperate could things possibly get that would see Hal team up with Sinestro for one final battle?!

Star Wars: Invasion—Revelations #5

Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Colin Wilson
Colorist: Wes Dzioba
Cover Artist: Chris Scalf
Release: November 16, 2011
32 pages, issue 5 of 5

Queen Nina and Princess Kaye have successfully rescued the refugees from the Battle of Shramar, but the Yuuzhan Vong invaders may still have another win for their tally. Or is there another revelation in store? Meanwhile, on Coruscant, Jedi-in-training Finn Galfridian finds that in trying to prevent an assassination, he may be complicit in one! The next revelation may be about Finn’s new mentor!

Fight for my love, children!

STAR WARS: INVASION—RESCUES #4 (of 6)
Tom Taylor (W), Colin Wilson (A), Wes Dzioba (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale Sept 29
FC, 40 pages
$2.99
Miniseries
Jedi-in-training Finn Galfridian learns a secret about his mother that he never knew, but the knowledge only leads to new questions about himself and his unusual ability.
Meanwhile, Kaye Galfridian leads a New Republic attack against a Yuuzhan Vong base, not realizing that the Vong commander’s tactics are meant to buy him time to learn more about his most hated foe: Kaye’s brother, Finn.
New allies, new enemies, and a turning point in the lives of the Galfridian family!

STAR WARS: BLOOD TIES—A TALE OF JANGO AND BOBA FETT #2 (of 4)
Tom Taylor (W) and Chris Scalf (A/Cover)
On sale Sept 29
FC, 40 pages
$3.50
Miniseries
Then: Jango Fett, the most dangerous assassin/bounty hunter in the galaxy, never fails to get his man. But Jango has never had a success that has affected him this way.
Now: Boba Fett has taken up his father’s mantle and lived up to Jango’s fearsome reputation. But a secret from the past has Boba working a case he would normally dismiss and wondering if he actually knew his father as well as he thought . . .
Across the generations, and across the galaxy, if a Fett is on your trail, you’ve reached a dead end!
Fully painted art by Purge artist Chris Scalf!

From The Sci-Fi Bloc…

“This is definitely a comic to keep your eye on. There is action here, but this issue generally starts things off with reservation, as though it is confident enough in its overarching story not to feel a need to wow us right away. Especially when you’re talking about a race coming from without to invade an entire galaxy, the temptation to try to go big-for-the-sake-of-big must have been strong. It is a good sign that this comic avoids such an approach.” – The Sci-Fi Bloc

From our friends over at NJOE.com…

“The best character, for me, is definitely Kaye. She is every inch the leader. I would follow her into battle….this was a great issue to not only catch up with the whole cast but propel the story into where it needs to go for the rest of the arc, and yes it feels great to have Invasion back on the shelves again.” – NJOE.com

More…

“We’ve got some kick butt females in command of a Vong cruiser causing havoc.  We’ve got a traitor waiting to be discovered..and we’ve got a Jedi in training that doesn’t listen to Luke and Luke doesn’t mind that much. It all makes for good fun, a decent read and solid artwork to match.” - Show Me Sci Fi

“Consistency may not always lead to continued press coverage, but it does lead to some pretty spectacular books, of which this issue is a fine example. Rescues #1 continues on from the previous Star Wars: Invasion mini-series, but you don’t need to have read that to get up to speed on this new book – a short blurb and some clever exposition provides all you need to know without infuriating existing readers.” - Pop Culture Hound

Also, below is a glimpse of a very limited edition alternative cover by Jo Chen, offered as part of a competition Dark Horse are running.

Explosions.  Secrets.  Space battles.  Lightsabers.  Deception.  Destruction.  Revelations.  That’s just issue 1…

You want this.

STAR WARS: INVASION—RESCUES #1 (of 6)
Tom Taylor (W), Colin Wilson (A), Wes Dzioba (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale May 26
FC, 40 pages
$2.99
Ongoing

The Yuuzhan Vong invasion spreads death and destruction across the galaxy, leaving behind ravaged worlds with little hope of survival . . . Artorias, the homeworld of the Galfridian family lay in the path of the Yuuzhan Vong armada—and now, though separated, Finn, Kaye, Nina, and Caled work to fight the invaders with the hope that one day they will again be together on their peaceful planet.
Finn studies at the Jedi temple with Luke Skywalker and the grown Jedi children of Han Solo and Princess Leia! Kaye and Nina use a Yuuzhan Vong slave ship to attack their former captors! Caled raises forces on Artorias—not knowing the danger from one of his trusted allies!
• A new era in Star Wars comics!
Luke Skywalker’s galaxy under siege!

This is what the internet gave me for Star Wars day.

“Yet even amongst the horror and drama of the invasion, Taylor still finds the time to add some individual touches. He injects some humour into the story with Finn’s attempt to lift a small rock using the Force and Luke’s response when he succeeds; and invokes pathos from the reader with Han’s moroseness at finding fewer and fewer strands of Wookiee hair on his clothes. Although these individual touches add a respite to the story, it is Taylor’s ability for intrigue and drama that really drives this story forward.”

“Taylor’s story contains the right mix of drama, adventure, intrigue, action and tragedy to keep the reader interested from the first panel to the last.” – swbooks.co.uk

I swear Colin Wilson and I didn’t pay for this first review of the Refugees collection… but we would have – http://www.swbooks.co.uk/njo/refugees.htm#reviews. What makes it even better is that, when these guys reviewed our first issue, they didn’t like it.

Incidentally, here are the covers to the French and German collections of Invasion… ANGRIFF DER YUUZHAN VONG!

Get your Vong on – April 28th.

Star Wars: Invasion — Rescues #1 (of 6) Written by Tom Taylor; Art by Colin Wilson; Colors by Wes Dzioba; Cover by Jo Chen On Sale May 26. 40 pages.

The Yuuzhan Vong invasion spreads death and destruction across the galaxy, leaving behind ravaged worlds with little hope of survival . . . Artorias, the homeworld of the Galfridian family lay in the path of the Yuuzhan Vong armada — and now, though separated, Finn, Kaye, Nina, and Caled work to fight the invaders with the hope that one day they will again be together on their peaceful planet.

Finn studies at the Jedi temple with Luke Skywalker and the grown Jedi children of Han Solo and Princess Leia! Kaye and Nina use a Yuuzhan Vong slave ship to attack their former captors! Caled raises forces on Artorias — not knowing the danger from one of his trusted allies!

STAR WARS: INVASION VOLUME 1—REFUGEES
Tom Taylor (W), Colin Wilson (A), Wes Dzioba (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale May 12
FC, 144 pages
$18.99
TPB, 7″ x 10″

Twenty-five years after the Battle of Yavin, Luke Skywalker and the galaxy are facing their first real threat since the Sith were defeated: an invasion of hostile warriors from another galaxy—the Yuuzhan Vong!

The peaceful planet of Artorias is in the path of the alien armada. Finn Galfridian, his spunky sister Kaye, and their parents find themselves separated and fighting for their lives when the surprise invasion occurs. But their ordeal is just beginning . . .

• Collects Star Wars: Invasion #1–#5 and #0.

• This new series ties in to—and fits between—the nineteen novels of Del Rey’s New Jedi Order series.

• Features some of the first visual representations of this turbulent era of the Star Wars saga, including Han and Leia’s Jedi children!

Interestingly enough, I haven’t read a truly negative review since issue 2.  So, clearly we’re doing something right.  I’ll update this post as they come in but, already, there are some very nice reviews coming in for Star Wars: invasion #5.

The Comic Center devotes an entire video episode to Star Wars comics and has some nice things to say about Invasion.

“It’s good.  It’s really good.” “Tom Taylor is writing some really good dialogue.”  “…the Star Wars Invasion one-shot from Dark Horse… just came out.  Search it out.  Pick it up.  I love it.”

- Comic Centre

From Undercover Fanboy.

“…the interaction between the Solos twins and Leia and Anakin about the death of Chewbacca was worth the price of admission. Writer Tom Taylor is doing an amazing job writing established characters while covering new ground at the same time.  Here’s to hoping that Invasion will be the new series Dark Horse was talking about (and) Tom Taylor will still be the writer…”

“4 STARS”

- Undercover Fanboy

We come in for more praise from the good people over at NJOE.

“This was a spectacular ending to an outstanding new series.”

- NJOE

Meanwhile, EU Cantina has updated with reviews for issue 1-4.

You can read reviews of all four issues here, here, here and here.

They have consistently give us 4-4.5 Sith Hounds…

I find this amusing…

From Comic List…

“The artwork was outstanding. I enjoyed all of the details of Falcon. Whether it’s the interior or the exterior, the Falcon looks every bit the part of the original trilogy.”

“For those readers who are craving the original trilogy cast then this issue is for you. Not only do you get most of the key characters, but they don’t feel hollow. Their dialogue and actions seem worthy of the actions that took place in Return of the Jedi… 4 out of 5 geek goggles.”

-Comiclist.com

NJOE.com have a lot to say, with Kaye Galfridian getting a heap of love.

“Have I mentioned before that I love Kaye? I do, I really do. Everything about her just screams ‘Kick ass!!’”

“AND Tom totally nailed the interaction between Han and Leia!! That whole scene was heartbreakingly sad and humorous at the same time.”

-NJOE.com

From Undercover Fanboy…

“(A) Must buy for any Star Wars fans.”

-Undercoverfanboy.com

Also, there will be some big news tomorrow – stay tuned.