'Star Wars: Dark Empire' Writer Tom Veitch Passes Away At 80

His Legacy Will Live On

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 3 min read

Last week, Star Wars writer Tom Veitch passed away. His brother Rick Veitch posted the tragic news on Facebook that Tom had passed due to complications with COVID-19. Tom was best known for the 90's Dark Horse comic series Dark Empire saga, a trilogy of comics that include Dark Empire, Dark Empire II, and Empire's End. He also wrote the Tales of the Jedi comic series, which are set a good few thousand years before the events of the Star Wars films.

Between the original trilogy and the making of the prequel trilogy, it was Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy and Veitch's Dark Empire that helped reignite the interest in Star Wars, taking the franchise out of dark times, and setting off the Star Wars Expanded Universe (now dubbed Legends). Dark Empire continues the story from the original trilogy six years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi. The series chronicles the dark side growing stronger, a reborn Empire striking back, and the mysterious return of Emperor Palatine. It is where the "somehow, Palpatine returned” story originates.

Many years later, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker borrows many plot beats from Veitch's Dark Empire: a planet corrupted by the dark side of the Force, a new Dark Empire to serve as a successor to the Galactic Empire (in canon we have both the First Order and the Final Order of the Sith Eternal), and Palpatine's return after his supposed death via the use of cloning (but it is not quite perfect). The cloning plotline is also being explored by The Bad Batch animated series, the current Darth Vader comics, and The Mandalorian. It goes to show how much of an impact Veitch’s Dark Empire stories have on the Star Wars franchise such that it is still used for inspiration today.

Prior to his death, Veitch proposed a new Star Wars short novel entitled Lightsider, which has now been canceled. The short would have been set in the now Legends timeline between Dark Empire and Dark Empire II and featured the first encounter between Luke Skywalker and fallen Jedi Kam Solusar. It would portray Luke convincing Kam to come back to the light side after defeating him in the “lightsider” game.

Veitch’s early work consisted of poetry and prose novels such as Literary Days, Toad Poems, Cooked Zeroes, My Father's Golden Eye, and Death College. In 1973, he won the Big Table Award for his poetry. Later, he would collaborate with artist Cam Kennedy for the Marvel/Epic Comic The Light and Darkness War. This six-issue science fiction comic book would lead to the duo working on Dark Empire. After his success with Star Wars, Veitch would go on to write for DC, publishing stories such as The Nazz along with Animal Man. Veitch would also write two "Elseworld" stories for DC in the two-part Kamandi: At Earth's End and Superman: At Earth's End.

In his later years, Veitch opened a bookstore called Old Bennington Books in his hometown of Bennington, Vermont. Veitch is survived by his wife Maratha, daughter Angelica Veitch Stasolla, grandsons Tommy Walls and Jacob Walls, sister Wendy Lillie and brothers Robert, Rick, Michael, and Peter.

Tom Veitch 1941- 2022. He shall be missed, but his legacy will live on.

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