Best Star Wars Comics

The Star Wars universe has always been big and messy, and that complexity certainly extends to the comic book realm. So if you're looking to wade in, where should you start?

It's not an easy question to answer. Back before Disney bought out Lucasfilm and the Star Wars brand, Dark Horse Comics had spent decades producing some fantastic Star Wars stories — which were all relegated to the "Legends" designation outside the main canon following the Disney sale. But, canon or not, there are still some great stories worth checking out. If you're looking for something more modern, Marvel spent the past two years establishing a rich, ambitious, and full canonical universe that weaves into the new films like The Force Awakens and Rogue One. Here are the best Star Wars comics.

This Dark Horse series started in the late 1990s and told stories inside and outside the canon. (Well, what was canon at the time.) The 32-issue series wasn't afraid to get a little weird and included everything from stories about Han and Chewie fighting off undead skeletons to the wild story of Skippy the Jedi Droid. Each issue is broken down with shorter stories, so each issue typically has something for everyone. The tales can get a little weird at times, but dig deep enough and you'll easily find something to love.

This series is basically an ambitious "What If?" line set within the Star Wars universe. If you find yourself wondering about the possible effects of tiny changes to the main story, this is the run for you. From what would've happened had the Rebellion failed to destroy the Death Star to how Luke's potential death in the blizzard on Hoth would've changed the series, there's a lot of hypothetical exploration. It's an ambitious exercise in working out how one major change can diverge a timeline, as one change leads to another and another. Though they're obviously not canon, these comics are a crazy rabbit hole well worth diving down.

Though Marvel and DC typically hold down the fort when it comes to massive comic crossovers, Dark Horse attempted one heck of an ambitious event series across all of its Star Wars lines back in 2008. The result? Star Wars: Vector. The massive adventure spans a mind-boggling 4,000 years in the Star Wars universe and weaves across Dark Horse's Star Wars series Dark Times, Rebellion, Knights of the Old Republic, and Legacy. The series was framed around an ancient Sith artifact called the Muur Talisman, and we see everyone from Luke Skywalker to his future ancestors encounter it during the massive crossover. The story is immensely ambitious and has real stakes that affect the wider Dark Horse Star Wars universe.

This one is from the early days of Dark Horse's Star Wars era and showed the promise of what was to come. This story imagines what would happen if Luke bowed before a reborn Emperor and became his apprentice. Things only get crazier from there. It features pretty much the entire roster of heroes, but instead of merely facing off with the Empire, they're going toe-to-toe with their old friend Luke. It features twist, turns, betrayals, Force Storms, and ships that make the Death Star look like a child's toy. The story sometimes stumbles under its own ambition, but it's still one of the most sweeping and wild comics in the entire Star Wars canon.

This one is admittedly still very early in its run at Marvel, but it holds a ton of promise. The swashbuckling archaeologist Doctor Aphra was a breakout character in Darth Vader's recent solo book, and proved so popular that Marvel moved forward with a spinoff series all about Aphra. She marks the first original Star Wars comic character (from the modern era) to get her own spinoff series, and following Aphra on the run from Darth Vader (and pretty much everyone else) looks to be a thrilling ride. Of course, you also have to remember it's all connected — so there's every chance Aphra could potentially pop up in Star Wars: Rebels at some point, or even on the big screen.