Those who read my blogs know I love my action figures (My Hunt for Grievous battlepack arrived from TRU.com this week - a mere four days after ordering it. Take that, Amazon!). I have, of course, pre-ordered the Shadow Stormtrooper, but was uncertain about Kir Kanos until recently.

I went out on Free Comic Book Day to pick up my husband's list of books. Of course, I got the Star Wars issue for myself. As you may or may not be aware, the comic book shops themselves must pay for the free comics (in the same way McDonald's pays for those little ketchup packets you get for free). They hope that you will buy something to offset their loss.

As a result, I decided to pick up the trade paperback copy of Crimson Empire where is detailed the story of Kir Kanos and his vendetta against would-be Emperor Carnor Jax - formerly an Imperial Guardsman who trained with Kanos and betrayed the rest of their brethren in his bid for power.

Along the way, Kanos is sheltered by New Republic devotees who haven't been liberated and whose idealism that helping an enemy can make him a friend has not been shattered...yet.

It's a taut little story with a twisted morality that makes it a top notch buy. I have, of course, pre-ordered Kanos and the now-revealed mystery figure, Jax.