10 Comics You Loved As A Teen (But Should Never Return To)

7. The Old Star Wars Expanded Universe

Star Wars Dark Horse
Dark Horse

Star Wars means a great deal to a lot of people, and while Marvel and DC have their die hard fans, the galaxy far, far away isn't exactly found wanting in that department either. This is still the case even if you narrow the focus down to Star Wars' hardcore, who consume every ounce of Expanded Universe literature they can as soon as it becomes available.

Anyone following the franchise over the last decade will likely be aware that there are in fact two Star Wars continuities though. There's the new canon, introduced post-2012 that encompasses all the films, books, comics and animated shows released since Disney took control of Lucasfilm, and the old one, dubbed 'Legends' for the sake of delineating the material.

Even today, fans love the Legends canon, and it's not as if you have to look far to understand why. Expanded Universe stories had fleshed out Star Wars' canon in a whole new way, and publisher Dark Horse were largely responsible. Comics like Knights of the Old Republic and The Battle of Jabiim both drew plaudits and there were dozens more that were truly original. Most, although it pains us to admit, simply weren't up to scratch though.

Whether it was rehashing ideas like Luke Skywalker falling to the Dark Side or introducing simply ridiculous threats like the Yuuzhan Vong, the old canon was too convoluted for its own good.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.