Star Wars: Dark Times

Art by Douglas Wheatley

Dark Times is a 2006, 33 issue (32 + a 'zero issue') comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics. It is part of their 30th anniversary retooling of its long-running Star Wars series of comics, replacing Star Wars: Republic.

The first issue was released on November 8, 2006, and is written by Mick Harrison from a plot by Welles Hartley.

The series is set in the Star Wars galaxy shortly after the events in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and about 19 years before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The story begins in the days following the events in Purge by John Ostrander, and intertwines with the events of Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno.

Main characters

• Dass Jennir: Human Male, Jedi, Escaped the Jedi Purge
• Bomo Greenbark: Nosaurian, Fought for the Separatist movement. Rescued Jennir after the purge. Many of his clan were killed by the Empire's clone army; the survivors were sold into slavery, including his mate and daughter.
• Captain Schurk-Heren: Yarkora. Captain of the Uhumele.
• Mezgraph: Togorian. Crew member. A former slave, he still bears the mark on his shoulder, but often covers it.
• Ko Vakier: A swordsman with a distinguished sense of honor. He comes from a race known only as the Blood Carvers.
• Janks: Phindian. The crew's chief engineer.
• Meekerdin-maa, aka. "Ratty": Tintinnan. The crew's technician.
• Crys Taanzer: Human Female. The crew's pilot
• Kennan Taanzer: Human Male Jedi Padawan, Son of Crys. Stranded on remote moon with Master K'kruhk and several other younglings.
• Master K'kruhk: One of the jedi who escaped the purge. He is stranded on a remote moon somewhere near Kessel. He is the master of Kennan Taanzer.
• Lynaliskar K'ra Snyffulnimatta aka. "Sniffles": Elomin. The crew's navigator.
• Mesa Greenbark: Bomo's mate.
• Resa Greenbark: Bomo's daughter.
• Uhumele: the central ship in the series. A medium sized freighter, with enough firepower to combat a small squadron of fighter craft. Possibly a pirate ship, but more likely a smuggling vessel.
• Darth Vader: Human Sith Lord. The former Anakin Skywalker, reeling from the injuries he suffered during Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and haunted by his past, wonders about his place in the newly declared Empire.
• Palpatine/Darth Sidious: Human Sith Lord. The new Emperor of the galaxy works to destroy the last vestiges of the Separatists, and tries to keep his new apprentice from succumbing to self-pity.
• Dezeno Qua: A wealthy male human who enjoys eating foreign species. He ate Resa Greenbark.
• Orso Meeto: A well known slave trader on the slave planet Orvax IV. He sold Resa Greenbark to Dezeno Qua.

Character Deaths

• Mesa Greenbark: Killed by guards because her daughter (Resa) was being sold.
• Resa Greenbark: Killed and then consumed by Dezeno Qua.
• Dezeno Qua: Killed by Dass Jennir.
• Orso Meeto: Killed by Dass Jennir.

The Dark Times Team

• Story: Welles Hartley
• Script: Mick Harrison
• Art: Doug Wheatley, Dave Ross, Lui Antonio
• Color: Ronda Pattison, Alex Wald, Dave McCaig
• Letter: Michael David Thomas, Michael Heisler
• Cover Art: Doug Wheatley, Zack Howard, Brad Anderson, Travis Charest

Issues

• Dark Times #1: The Path to Nowhere, Part 1 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Nov 2006) $2.99
• Dark Times #2: The Path to Nowhere, Part 2 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Jan 2007) $2.99
• Dark Times #3: The Path to Nowhere, Part 3 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, May 2007) $2.99
• Dark Times #4: The Path to Nowhere, Part 4 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Jul 2007) $2.99
• Dark Times #5: The Path to Nowhere, Part 5 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Oct 2007) $2.99
• Dark Times #6: Parallels, Part 1 of 5 (Color 40 Pages, Oct 2007) $2.99
• Dark Times #7: Parallels, Part 2 of 5 (Color 40 Pages, Dec 2007) $2.99
• Dark Times #8: Parallels, Part 3 of 5 (Color 40 pages, Jan 2008) $2.99
• Dark Times #9: Parallels, Part 4 of 5 (Color 40 pages, Feb 2008) $2.99
• Dark Times #10: Parallels, Part 5 of 5 (Color 40 pages, Apr 2008) $2.99
• Dark Times #11: Vector, Part 5 of 12 (Color 40 pages, May 2008) $2.99
• Dark Times #12: Vector, Part 6 of 12 (Color 40 pages, Jun 2008) $2.99
• Dark Times #0: Blue Harvest, Prologue (Color 40 pages, Aug 2009) $2.99
• Dark Times #13: Blue Harvest, Part 1 of 5 (Color 40 pages, Apr 2009) $2.99
• Dark Times #14: Blue Harvest, Part 2 of 5 (Color 40 pages, Aug 2009) $2.99
• Dark Times #15: Blue Harvest, Part 3 of 5 (Color 40 pages, Jan 2010) $2.99
• Dark Times #16: Blue Harvest, Part 4 of 5 (Color 40 pages, Apr 2010) $2.99
• Dark Times #17: Blue Harvest, Part 5 of 5 (Color 40 pages, Jun 2010) $2.99
• Dark Times #18: Out of the Wilderness, Part 1 of 5 (Color 40 Pages, Aug 2011) $2.99
• Dark Times #19: Out of the Wilderness, Part 2 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Sep 2011) $2.99
• Dark Times #20: Out of the Wilderness, Part 3 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Nov 2011) $2.99
• Dark Times #21: Out of the Wilderness, Part 4 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Feb 2012) $2.99
• Dark Times #22: Out of the Wilderness, Part 5 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Apr 2012) $3.50
• Dark Times #23: Fire Carrier, Part 1 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Feb 2013) $2.99
• Dark Times #24: Fire Carrier, Part 2 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Mar 2013) $2.99
• Dark Times #25: Fire Carrier, Part 3 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Apr 2013) $2.99
• Dark Times #26: Fire Carrier, Part 4 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, May 2013) $2.99
• Dark Times #27: Fire Carrier, Part 5 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Jun 2013) $2.99
• Dark Times #28: A Spark Remains, Part 1 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Jul 2013) $3.50
• Dark Times #29: A Spark Remains, Part 2 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Aug 2013) $3.50
• Dark Times #30: A Spark Remains, Part 3 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Sep 2013) $3.50
• Dark Times #31: A Spark Remains, Part 4 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Oct 2013) $3.50
• Dark Times #32: A Spark Remains, Part 5 of 5 (Color 32 Pages, Nov 2013) $3.50

Trade Paperbacks

• The Path to Nowhere ....(#s 1-5) - $17.95
• Parallels ......................(#s 6-10) - $17.95
• Vector .........................(#s 11-12 & KotOR 25-28) - $17.95
• Blue Harvest ................(#s 13-17 & #0) - $17.95
• Out of the Wilderness....(#s 18-22) - $17.99
• Fire Carrier ...................(#s 23-27) - $18.99
• A Spark Remains ...................(#s 28-32) - $19.99
• Omnibus: Dark Times Volume 1 (#s 0-12 & Republic #79-80) - $24.99

Story Arcs

• The Path to Nowhere #1-5
• Parallels #6-10
• Dark Times: Vector #11-12 (#5-6 of Vector)
• Dark Times: Blue Harvest #13-17 & #0
• Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness #18-22
• Dark Times: Fire Carrier #23-27
• Dark Times: A Spark Remains #28-32

External links

• Dark Horse Listing
• Dark Horse Press Release
• Announcement on Dark Horse Message Boards
• April 2007 Interview with Douglas Wheatley for Sequential Tart Webzine
• Wookieepedia entry