From the second panel, it’s clear something off with the art. Either Gulacy hurried through faces and let Russell finish or Russell got eager and got rid of all Gulacy’s rounded lines. The former would just be unfortunate… the latter would just piss me off. This issue doesn’t feel like Gulacy until about halfway, which is too long.

Even though very little happens–there’s a battle scene, some talking among good guys, a flashback, bad guys talking–it’s probably the best issue of Crimson Empire so far. Richardson and Stradley aren’t being coy about their protagonist anymore and, in fact, reveal him to be a rather complex character.

Hopefully some of these complexities will have room to play out. There’s also a lot with the Imperials infighting and politicking, which is amusing enough (but probably the worst scenes as they look so silly).

Art problems aside, it’s getting rather entertaining.

For some of this issue, the Gulacy sci-fi art makes one forget it’s a Star Wars comic and imagine it’s just a Gulacy (with Doug Moench) comic. Then Richardson and Stradley have some awful dialogue from the big villain and the illusion comes crashing down.

It’s like the comic can get away with bad dialogue because Star Wars got away with it. But there’s a lot more of it here, as the bad guys bicker with each other.

Still, the story’s compelling enough the dialogue doesn’t matter. Oddly, the good guys’ dialogue is fine. It’s just the insidious declarative statements.

By the end, when the bad guys attack, Gulacy nicely gives the art a cinematic pace.

The story’s somewhat predictable, save a couple details, but with the action scenes sold it’d be hard to not be enjoying it. It’s a Western set in Star Wars land. Lots of fun.

Crimson Empire answers the burning question… what’s with the guys in red from Return of the Jedi. The ones who had fabric capes on the action figures.

Of course, it’s mostly just backdrop for the story of a fugitive. It probably could fit a Civil War story too. A stranger comes to town, kicks butt, has to hide with possibly duplicitous newfound friends. Meanwhile there’s a big villain out to get him, along with all the little ones.

But the real attraction so far is Paul Gulacy’s art. Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley’s script is fine, it’s just not compelling on its own. But Gulacy always does interesting sci-fi, even when he’s working from existing designs, and Crimson is no different.

The action scenes are a little too static, but the vistas are great. P. Craig Russell inks Gulacy well.

It’s a decent comic, with a lot of possibilities.