Like so many Star Wars fans, I was incredibly excited to hear the news that Charles Soule and Phil Noto would be collaborating on Star Wars: Poe Dameron, a brand new ongoing comic series from Marvel Comics that tells the story of the best pilot in the Resistance before the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Poe Dameron was one of the breakout characters of the film, and one I thought we didn’t see nearly enough of. This new comic will show us more about Poe as we wait a year and a half for the release of Star Wars: Episode VIII, and here are some of the things I’m most excited to see in this brand new story.
More of Poe’s Backstory
Of the three new leading characters introduced in The Force Awakens, Poe is the one we know the most about so far. The comic mini-series Star Wars: Shattered Empire revealed that his parents, Shara Bey and Kes Dameron, fought on the side of the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War. While Kes was a soldier who served under General Han Solo, it was Shara who proved to be the inspiration for Poe’s eventual exploits, as Shara was one of the best pilots in the Rebellion. The novel Before the Awakening revealed that she died when Poe was a child, so how does her legacy live on? What made Poe join the New Republic, before defecting to the Resistance? What is his relationship like with General Leia Organa, who knew Shara, and what kinds of adventures did he go on with the Resistance? All of this and more is well-suited for exploration in Star Wars: Poe Dameron.
BB-8!
Any fan concerns over BB-8 being “too cute” for Star Wars were immediately washed away when this little droid rolled onto the movie screen in The Force Awakens. Not only was he cute in an endearing way, but he was incredibly funny. Remember that scene where he gave a thumbs up? That was one of the funniest moments in Star Wars ever. We know he’s Poe’s astro droid, but now we get the chance to see them go on even more adventures before they went to Jakku on their quest to find Luke Skywalker. Considering how close of a bond they seemed to have in the film, I can’t wait to see how BB-8 came to be in Poe’s service and how that friendship was formed.
Space Battles Galore
It wouldn’t be a Poe Dameron story without space battles and dogfights. After the visually-stunning battles that Poe took part in during The Force Awakens, I’m looking forward to the battle artwork that Phil Noto will be cooking up for this comic. Not only that, but we’ll get to see how Poe earned his reputation as the best star pilot in the Resistance. That’s a reputation that can only come through combat against the First Order, and I expect that we’ll see plenty of that in this new story.
Learning About the Resistance
If there was one big criticism I had about The Force Awakens, it’s that we didn’t learn enough about the Resistance and its place in the galaxy. Where did it come from? How big is it, and how desperate of a situation are they in? What is its relationship with the New Republic and the Senate? A lot of those questions were answered in reference material like Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, but one of the biggest rules of storytelling is “show, don’t tell.” Considering Before the Awakening showed Poe defecting from the New Republic after the Senate refused to take the threat of the First Order seriously, we have the chance to see the answers to those questions through his eyes.
General Leia
Leia Organa is one of the most iconic characters in movie history, and, in The Force Awakens, we learned that she moved on from being Princess Leia and is now General Leia, leader of the Resistance. What is her day to day role like? What kind of leader has she become since the Battle of Endor? What happened that led to her falling out with the New Republic? What is her connection like with Poe, one only hinted at in the final scenes of Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure? All of those questions and more could possibly be answered in Star Wars: Poe Dameron, all seen through the eyes of her most trusted starfighter pilot.
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