Saturday, May 7, 2016

Poe Dameron #2



Poe Dameron, Issue #2 is the only Star Wars title I've really picked up because it's the only/first title that deals with The Force Awakens.  TFA isn't a great movie, but it's new, meaning I haven't watched it 30 million times.  In fact, I've only watched it twice, and as much as I liked it the first time around, it wasn't that good upon a second viewing.  J.J. Abrahms did a good job writing and directing the film, but he isn't as detail-oriented as George Lucas, and that disappointed me.  One of the things I like about The Phantom Menace is the little things Lucas and the others threw in there for the fans, like the E.T.s in the left corner of the Galactic Senate scene.  TFA, while it's a good movie, didn't have any of that.

Charles Soule's Poe Dameron fills in some of those details, connecting to the (in cannon?) novel, Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka.  Issue #2 of Poe Dameron is about leverage.  Dameron is hiding with a tribe of underground dwellers worshiping an egg that will probably hatch by the end of this arc, bringing forth the savior.  Dameron's leverage is that he has Black Squadron above.  Agent Terex's leverage is the egg, itself, and Dameron caring for the people who have helped him.

Phil Noto is the artist and the cover artist, bringing different skills to each position.  I particularly like the blue, ghostly hologram of the stormtrooper captain and the way the blue interacts with the pinks and purples of Agent Terex's room. VC's Joe Caramagna is the letterer, and I've been a fan of his for some time.

Sure, it's good to see Poe Dameron again - he's a great character - but the introduction of Agent Terex puts this title over the top.  I have read dozens of Star Wars "fan-fiction" novels, and the best of them always include a resourceful new enemy, the most famous of which is Timothy Zahn's Grand Admiral Thawn.  Terex has a number of alien associates.  Aliens were frowned upon in the Empire, and the First Order probably has similar views.

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