10 Insane Star Wars Comics That Changed Everything
8. Shattered Empire - Greg Rucka & Marco Checchetto
Marvel Comics
Shattered Empire kickstarted the beginning of Marvel's new Star Wars comics, and with it the beginning of the path to The Force Awakens. It focuses on how the Empire regrouped after their capitulation on Endor, Luke's efforts to understand his place as a Jedi in the galaxy now that the Republic was reemerging, and - a particular highlight - the introduction of Poe Dameron's parents, Kes and Shara Bey.
Greg Rucka and Marco Checchetto took a focused approach and didn't really supply the answers fans may have hoped for with its release - but that wasn't the point. It was meant to set the stage for Star Wars post-Return of the Jedi and it did a fine job of it too, complicating Episode VI's rosy ending and in doing so laying the groundwork for the eventual rise of the First Order.
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.
