Star Wars Spotlight: Crimson Empire II

Each week Star Wars Spotlight combs through the digital archives of Marvel Unlimited to showcase one classic story from that distant galaxy filled with Jedi, Sith, princesses, scoundrels and droids.

Kir Kanos stood against one of his own, Carnor Jax, to help restore galactic order in CRIMSON EMPIRE. With the sequel, he took a more subtle approach by pretending to be a bounty hunter in order to get closer to the Black Sun and some of their less-than-legal associates.

The creative team behind the original tale – Mike Richardson, Randy Stradley and Paul Gulacy – returned to continue chronicling the exploits of the former Royal Guardsman with the 1998-launching six issue limited series STAR WARS: CRIMSON EMPIRE II – COUNCIL OF BLOOD.

Readers also saw the return of another familiar face from the first series: Mirith Sinn. The one-time rebel vowed to kill Kanos because of his apparent involvement in the death of her husband.

All of these characters wound up clashing together thanks to the machinations of Grappa the Hutt, the shady gangster who ruled Genon with a unique brand of loyalty revolving around fear and murder.

Sinn offered her experience as a soldier to Grappa in exchange for help in finding Kanos, so she could exact her revenge. At the same time, Kanos himself arrived on Genon, posing as the bounty hunter Kenix Kil.

Meanwhile, the existing Imperial Interim Ruling Council continued to struggle for stability on Ord Cantrell. More than a few outside forces intended to steer the good ship diplomacy, though, by way of murder, mutiny and manipulation.

It should come as no surprise that one of those outside forces proved to be the increasingly in-over-his-head Grappa who worked with Black Sun to replace some of the Council with clones loyal to them!

With plans going sideways all over the place – including Sinn’s attempt at uncovering the connection between Grappa and Black Sun for the Rebellion – Kanos and Sinn wound up on Xo, the home planet of the super creepy Xanibar. He saved her, allowing himself to be captured in the process, but Sinn returned to save him with some of her Rebel pilots.

Kanos later arrived on Ord Cantrell in his full red garb to take out the self imposed Emperor Xandel Carivus who had just been abandoned by his puppeteer, the mysterious Nom Anor. He unseated the head of the Empire before going his own way.

From the Jedi Temple Archives

A few months after CRIMSON EMPIRE II came to a conclusion, Stradley joined forces with Javier Saltares for the STAR WARS – THE BOUNTY HUNTERS: KENIX KIL! Set between the first two CRIMSON volumes, this tale showed how Kir Kanos adopted the bounty hunter alias in order to topple the empire of a small-time hood named Banjeer on Baramorra. After posing as a potential employee, Kanos showed Banjeer the error of his oppressive ways by, well, killing him.

Witness the early days of Papatine’s reign in STAR WARS: DARK EMPIRE as chronicled by Randy Stradley and Douglas Wheatley!