Star Wars: Dark Times – Fire Carrier #5
Script by Randy Stradley
Art by Gabriel Guzman
Colors by Garry Henderson
Cover by Douglas Wheatley
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 5, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

The Dark Times series of Star Wars is, mostly, as what the title says: a darker era of the saga. This largely unexplored epoch of the history of the galaxy is ripe for exploration, examining the events of those two decades between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. While the series has largely followed new personalities, two of the dramatis personae are known to many fans: Darth Vader (of course), and Jedi Master K’Kruhk, first introduced in the Dark Horse comics.

I have a soft spot for K’Kruhk, and he has become one of my favorite characters, mainly because (like the droids C-3PO and R2-D2) he is a metatextual symbol of the followers of the Star Wars saga, be they viewers of the films, readers of the Expanded Universe, or both. He is ever-present in the galaxy, first surfacing in the prequel era of the comics, and not only outlasts Order 66, but lives on in the Star Wars: Legacy series, which is over 100 years after Return of the Jedi. It seems that K’Kruhk’s species of Whiphids also have very long life spans like Wookiees or Yoda’s species.