Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire - Evolution

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire #2

by Steve Perry, Ron Randall, Tom Simmon

After the destruction of Xixor, Guri, a human-replica droid who was his personal assassin, tries to gain humanity and becomes the target of both bounty hunters and Rebels, who want the secrets she possesses.

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Book, Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2000

About the author

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Steven Carl Perry has written over fifty novels and numerous short stories, which have appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Perry is perhaps best known for the Matador series. He has written books in the Star Wars, Alien and Conan universes. He was a collaborator on all of the Tom Clancy's Net Force series, seven of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. Two of his novelizations, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Men in Black have also been bestsellers. Other writing credits include articles, reviews, and essays, animated teleplays, and some unproduced movie scripts. One of his scripts for Batman: The Animated Series was an Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Writing.

Perry is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, The Animation Guild, and the Writers Guild of America, West

Reviews

[Ill D · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a spin-off of a spin-off, Evolution takes the velocity of its parent and spools off into its own trajectory. While not going anywhere (too) far from its starting point, it does manage to forge its own path, no matter how little distance is ultimately traveled. While overall mediocre – the occasional Dash (pun intended) of something cool bumps this from the realm of pure mediocrity to O.K.

Remember Guri from the original Shadows of the Empire? In an oddly interesting and unvarnished anti-Asmovian take - our (not-so) beloved assassin droid wants to have her violent protocols removed. While her reasoning for such is completely unexplained – it makes for a (kinda) reasonably interesting choice of plot device.

In order to get her show on the road, a(nother) droid who is singularly equipped for this electrical operation has been jacked and must be retrieved before she can pass Go and collect that $200. Sure enough, Blondie tracks down the integrated mcguffin just as she herself is tracked down by yet another employee of SW's largest market, bounty hunting.

From here, another dash of intrigue is tossed into this lackluster tale as infighting within the post-Xixor Era Black Sun syndicate takes place alongside the predictably accompanying blaster fire and their ensuingly dropped bodies. Of course, our main Rebel heroes make an appearance and do their best to avert this galactic bloodletting With this addition of yet another thread of narrative, Evolution actually manages to knit itself that is mildly interesting.

Featuring a clean interface – single page montages of reminisces and typical space action are tastefully internalized with a thin array of applied orthodox paneling. Giving it a simplistic feel, nothing feels hurried yet (to its detriment) nothing feels developed neither. Given it’s doubled spin-off nature however, the centripetal force of quality and tempo feels decayed the further it’s spun.

Therefore, when the ending is arrived at, not much can be said of Shadows of the Empire: Evolution. Save an Easter Egg enclosed within the last page, Evolution feels as forgettable as it truly is unimportant to the Star Wars Canon from which its been derived. Not evolution, but a clearly incestual devolution is the result.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun adventure set after the events of Return of the Jedi. The story focuses around Guri, a former agent of Black Sun on a quest to walk away from her past and her assassin training. Han, Leia. Luke and their companions get drawn into her story while trying to stop the remnants of Black Sun.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the original Shadows of the Empire was set between Empire and Jedi, this one takes place after Return of the Jedi. The original crew doesn't show up until halfway through the series, and really, there's not a whole lot of real story progression to this one, but overall it was entertaining. Nice art as well.

[Bob Bajek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good continuation of Shadows of the Empire!

[Tibbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the ninth comic series on my read-through of all the Star Wars legends books and comics.

This comic was...fine. I found it even more insubstantial than "Mara Jade -- by the Emperor's Hand", which was also about a ludicrously-proportioned female killing machine grappling with independence for the first time by murdering a bunch of people. But it felt like Mara Jade's series had at least SOMETHING going on, in terms of themes and character development. In contrast, this comic's plot is even more brain-dead simple and its protagonist has even less personality and character development.

That said, I liked the art (except for a couple wonky-looking faces here or there). The fight scenes were fun and full of energy. The comic doesn't take itself too seriously. The plot was easy to follow with no convoluted schemes or dumb digressions. The Original Trilogy cast shows up and their banter is actually really great, especially a recurring gag involving Han. There were also a ludicrous number of panels framing Guri's perfectly-engineered butt in loving detail, so that's obviously a plus (or a minus, if you're lame).

Similar to Mara Jade in her comic, Guri's face looks completely ridiculous, to the point of taking me out of the story -- complete with giant duck lips, perfectly blow-dried blonde hair, and drawn-on eyebrows. But it's slightly more excusable here, considering she isn't...you know...a real person.

I really wish the series had committed to its central idea and explored it with any depth -- that is, the idea of Crime Syndicate Murderbot Guri wanting to reprogram herself to not be an assassin anymore. You could imagine a version of this comic where she grapples with the guilt of her past and her status as something not-quite-human. You could imagine debates about the morality of giving up her fighting abilities, the one thing she's good at, and whether it's a good thing to let go of the events that shaped you, even if those events are bad. But, in the end, the surgery merely removes her memories, leaving her abilities intact, and she seems to suffer no moral qualms or ill effects. However, the authors clearly had no interest in exploring these topics, so I respect the fact they didn't even try, except on a very surface level.

So yeah: "Shadows of the Empire -- Evolution" is a 5.5/10. Not because it does anything wrong, but because it aims very low and achieves its goals perfectly.

By the way, I just wanted to add that the five covers to the comics in this series are absolutely incredible and, frankly, have way more personality than the actual comics themselves. Whoever was the artist on those knocked it out of the park.

[Quinlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadows of the Empire: Evolution #1-#5

I didn't much enjoy Shadows of the Empire and I had heard the follow-up Evolution was even worse. But I thought I'd give it a chance anyway and surprisingly I liked it. While the protagonist Guri is an exhausting trope (ultra-lifelike female robot assassin), somehow she worked as a character. Guri's primary objective in this story is to find the one medical droid capable of changing her programming so that she can forget all the bad things she used to do and stop being soulless killing machine. However her unique abilities draws out all kinds of scoundrels who want to capture and control her to ensure their supremacy in the criminal underworld. The surprising return of Prince Xizor only adds to the problems facing Guri. There are all sorts of bad guy characters in this and none of them are on the same team. Watching them scramble to find and capture Guri for themselves is amusing. I don't know why or how, but somehow this is a good story and I really liked it.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evolution takes place after Return of the Jedi. A war has broken out within the criminal syndicate known as Black Sun. Now a hidden heir to it has learned of the perfect piece to gain control: Guri. A perfect Human replica droid, trained assassin and the former leaders trusted confidant. But all she wants, is to be free of her programming.

It's a comic book and not King Lear so most of the upside in the writing/story is in the above synopsis. The art is done well, and the action falls nicely in line with Star Wars and especially it's seedier moments.

Where the stars come off, is the fact this is set after Return of the Jedi, presumeably when Leia and Han are in love if not married, yet they are EXTREMELY antagonistic. The story is really so short that it wouldn't even be a novella without the pictures as a result everything is rushed and shallow.

That said, the story is fun and for those who were fans of Shadows of the Empire, it's nice to see what happened to a few characters and the Black Sun organization.

[Ian Cleary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember seeing ads for this as a kid and since SoTE was part of my gateway to Star Wars fandom I have been looking for this tpb for 25 years. I finally tracked it down and read it. The art was great and the decision to focus on Guri was inspired. The artist conveyed her ptsd really well at various points in the story. However, I really did not like the way Steve Perry wrote Leia in this. The whole time she was fighting with Han out of jealousy. Also, this book in general treats its women as sex objects. So while Guri is done justice (even if they try a little too hard to make her sexy), all the other women are treated bizarrely as if women are either only sexpots or nags.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since I wasn't a huge fan of Shadows of the Empire, I knew I probably wouldn't like this sequel either. I was right. Mind you, I did feel more for Guri and kind of wanted to see more of her, though I'm glad we never got that chance in the Expanded Universe. As for Steve Perry... he should never be allowed to write female characters. Ever.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

surprisingly decent for a desperate money grabbing scheme sequel (like most sequels)
this was likely to cash out as much as possible on the shadows of the empire novel and comic, which received modest reviews

[Kathrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this installment of the Star Wars Comics because it shows the universe after the end of The Return of the Jedi.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guri was a fascinating character; Perry tapped fully into her character and gave her the resolution she deserved.

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star Wars Legends Project #307

Background: Shadows of the Empire: Evolution, released in February 2000, collects issues #1-5 originally published Feb-June 1998. The series was written by Steve Perry and drawn by Ron Randall. Perry, of course, is the author of the original Shadows of the Empire novel, along with a few others, but this is Randall's only Star Wars credit.

Shadows of the Empire: Evolution takes place during the months following Return of the Jedi, about 4.5 years after the Battle of Yavin (and a year or so after the events of Shadows of the Empire). The main character is Guri. Most of the cast of Shadows of the Empire appear at some point in flashbacks, and there are major in-story roles for Luke, Han, and Leia. Most of the story takes place on Coruscant, Hurd's Moon, and Murninkam.

Summary: Guri, a state-of-the-art Human Replica Droid, and once the highly-skilled personal assassin to Prince Xizor, the feared and ruthless leader of Black Sun, doesn't know quite what to do with herself in the wake of Xizor's death. She only knows she doesn't want it to be anything like what she did before. Hoping to purge her memory and her skillset of everything that makes her such an effective killer, she begins a search for the brilliant inventor who created her. But her search brings with it a lot of unwanted attention. In the right hands (or the very, very wrong ones), Guri is one of the most valuable assets in the galaxy, and a lot of beings will stop at nothing to pull her right back in just as she thinks she's gotten out.

Review: I wasn't sure what to expect from this story, but it wasn't anything particularly good. I like Shadows of the Empire, but it didn't exactly demand a sequel, least of all one focused on this particular character, who was part plot-device and (seemingly) part self-indulgent author fantasy. Realizing a sequel within the more visual medium seemed like a recipe for making the latter problem worse, not better . . . but my fears on that score were largely unfounded.

Evolution manages to generate a pretty fun little rogues gallery of characters to backstab and clamber over each other in pursuit of Guri, who could have just ended up feeling like a MacGuffin amidst all of the action that surrounds her. Instead, her quest for self-actualization feels meaningful and gave the story a dramatic and emotional weight that is often lacking in these tales of bounty hunters and other underworld types murdering their way across the galaxy in pursuit of the same goal.

The result is no masterpiece, but it's enjoyable and it does its job well. It's definitely worth checking out.

B+

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting tale of how a programmed machine that can't help but obey, seeks redemption for its actions. It seeks to overcome its obstacles with the single-minded determination of a terminator which is the irony in that it wishes to cease being that way. The story is inter-spaced with a near-farcical attempt by the surviving members of Black Sun to reacquire the dangerous droid to use for their own ends. That the heroes of the Rebellion and the New Republic are also thrown into the mix does perhaps feel a little over the top - particularly as they don't really add anything further to the plot.
This is perhaps tonally all over the place with the seriousness of what Guri is trying to do and the
conniving within Black Sun to Han and Leia's interesting relationship particularly in regards to Han interacting with any female that's not Leia. Lando's there too, for some reason.
It's an enjoyable read, though, with a satisfying conclusion. The artwork has that classic look about it making Guri particulaly manikin-like in appearance, which disturbingly drives home her inhumanity despite her rather curvaceous figure.

[Suden Käpälä · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not really bad, but also a bit less than its predecessor (which was OK as Wars comics go, but not brilliant). And I had expected more of this. The plot was fun(ny), but not enthralling nor innovative. Combined with artwork that fell a bit short of what I like, this is a high-scoring 2* -- i.e., almost "quite entertaining". The cameo at the end was fun, though; as was the McGuffin droid. I liked the emphasis on new / secondary characters (just not what they did, so much -- and the villain bounty hunter didn't interest me, if I remember correctly). I'm sure it'll be to others' liking.

Re-read, 2025: Actually, enjoyed it a lot more than previously remembered. Bumping it up+1*.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Xizor s assassin, Guri, female human droid replica, finds herself lost in a world following the death of her master. Coming to terms with her past is somewhat painful and she decides to eradicate all of her memories related to the Black Sun and become normal well as normal as droid can ever become. But soon she will find herself hunted by those that seek Black Sun secrets she holds in her robotic brain.[return][return]Interesting story and good art. [return][return]Recommended.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 'in-between' story that takes place between the movies, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Han Solo is out of the picture Details of the rescue are detailed and a dark battle between Darth Vader and Xizor takes center stage. This is one of the best SW novels because of the thrills, intrigue, and action. You will feel the Force while you read this novel.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

SW sote

[Rachel Swords · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay, but not the sequel I was hoping for.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was a terrible story. Glad I'm done with it. I am glad I read it though...part of my unexplainable desire to have read all Star Wars fiction.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember really enjoying the novel of the Shadows of the Empire, so I was disappointed in this endeavor. There just really wasn't much to it. The artwork seemed too cartoonish to me as well.