Mara Jade – By the Emperor's Hand 0, a sneak peek of the Star Wars: Mara Jade – By the Emperor's Hand comic series, came out prior to the miniseries' initial release and was also featured in the Dark Horse Comics trade paperback. The plot of Issue 0, which takes place a little before Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and more than four years before the main story of the comic, depicts Mara Jade devising a plan to infiltrate and observe Wilhuff Tarkin, as well as Palpatine's initial introduction of her to Darth Vader.