OverallStar Wars: Empire Ascendant is a great way to show readers the larger 'Star Wars' comicsverse and show off all the talent and different stories that are on offer. At present, we only really cover the main Star Wars title and plan to continue to do so as well as picking up the odd mini-series along the way. But reading this book has given me some food for thought in regards to whether we should add one of the other ongoing titles. Read Full Review

If you're looking for four strong Star Wars stories covering all corners of the mythology, then Star Wars: Empire Ascendant will make a worthy addition to your collection, though if you were hoping this book would tie up the loose ends of various other Star Wars titles from Marvel, you'll likely be left frustrated. Read Full Review

intended narrative bridge. It somehow works for both new and old readers and never really suffers from "Star Wars" fatigue. Read Full Review

Not really an essential purchase, but good enough if you like the Star Wars characters and want to see some more of the characters. Read Full Review

Overall, this collaborative effort is a personal pan pizza with only one tasty slice. More pages could have fleshed out things out more. Read Full Review

Good enough to make you excited for the upcoming relaunches.

I like the Dameron's story, but other than that I found this to be a bit dull. Mostly just primers for the upcoming series in 2020. I didn't even bother reading the Aphra story because I don't plan on reading that comic.

-- STAR WARS // AN ECHO OF VICTORY: I think I remember Shara and Kes from Star Wars: Shattered Empire, glad to see they're still fighting the good fight in the comics lore. This was easily the strongest story in this anthology. I'm not sure how central these characters will be to the next Star Wars run, but I hope they stick around. -- DARTH VADER // IN SERVICE TO THE EMPIRE: I don't think Greg Pak achieved the theme he was trying to get at: what little plot there is gets too muddled to communicate the theme properly, leaving Vader's final words to fall flat. -- BOUNTY HUNTERS // TWO SIDES TO EVERY SORTIE: This is marginally better than the Darth Vader story because it communicates clearly, but it isn't particularly fun or engaging. -- DOCTOR APHRA // EPILOGUE: This story is out-of-place in this anthology; the other stories set a stage for a new run while this sums up a recently completed run. It won't mean anything to you if you didn't read Doctor Aphra. I DID read Doctor Aphra however, and I thought it was nice to check in with where she left these characters off. Ultimately, this story should have just been worked into Doctor Aphra #40.-- OVERALL: Not worth picking up unless you have read Doctor Aphra and are planning to check out at least one of the other upcoming titles. Nothing here is mandatory reading, nor is it meant to be. more