Who could say no to over 400 pages of Star Wars comics? Not me. The recent omnibus At War With The Empire, Volume 1 tells stories from the early days of the Rebel Alliance. The war has just begun with the Empire, and the timeline reaches before and after the Battle of Yavin. The massive volume collects most of the Dark Horse Star Wars: Empire comics from #1 to #31. It skips just a few of them.Omnibuses are an ideal way to catch up on older stories or to find out what happened in issues that you just couldn’t find. Since I’m relatively new to buying comics on a regular basis, I turn to these collections to read what I missed. Especially for Star Wars comics; there seem to be a million of them between Marvel and Dark Horse.

At War With The Empire has several good stories. They are nicely labeled in the table of contents so you can skip around if you wish. My favorite arc is “Princess…Warrior.” These pages show a transformation within Princess Leia. She is truly getting the implications of war and becoming a stronger force to reckon with. It’s just one of many tales that will give you more background and insight into the Rebel Alliance’s struggle. The changes in writers and artists will keep you on your toeis and flipping through the pages.