Princess Leia #1&2

This creative team pretty much guarantees quality. Mark Waid writing a strong lead character in an established universe? Easy sale. Terry Dodson drawing a powerful, attractive female lead with lots of action? Say no more. So yeah, this book pretty much sells itself.

With Jason Aaron handling the “team” book in the core Star Wars title, I was unsure how Mark Waid would handle Leia in her own book. What types of missions would she be on when she’s by herself? We saw her scouting new Rebel bases in Brian Wood’s Star Wars series from Dark Horse a few months ago. I sort of figured Waid would follow a similar path. He doesn’t.

Instead, Princess Leia is a bit more sheltered, much to her chagrin. After the destruction of Alderaan in the first film, Leia is dangerously close to becoming a figurehead and mascot for the Rebellion. The bosses want to keep her hidden and safe, minimizing her impact on the ongoing struggle. With the main Rebellion plans out of reach, Leia comes up with a great mission statement: save the survivors of Alderaan.

Joined by R2D2 and Alderaanian pilot Evaan, this book will follow Leia’s efforts to save the survivors of her home planet’s destruction. It seems the Empire wants to stamp out the last survivors of Alderaan, so Leia has to make sure to find them first. The race seems a tad artificial, but that’s OK with me. Mostly because this sure seems like a good excuse to get some bounty hunters involved. Surely, we can get some Boba Fett or IG-88 action hunting down survivors.

Evaan is a fun contrast to Leia with her strict obedience of Alderaanian norms and social hierarchies. Leia wants to buck the system, but Evaan values the system over everything else. This puts Evaan in a tough spot, since she by her own rules, she has to assist Leia in her unconventional endeavors. I think the two women (and one droid) cast does need a few more voices, but that should take care of itself pretty quickly.

Dodson’s art is wonderful. R2 looks shiny and clean. Leia looks like she just walked out of the films while retaining a comic-book look. I really like Evaan, since we don’t get to see too many female pilots wearing the orange Rebel pilot uniforms. I also like that Evaan is a big lady with a different body shape than Leia. Dodson also nails the Star Wars universe look for settings and aliens. Naboobians look like Naboobians, and the ships are dead on as well.

I’ll be sticking with this GOOD book, as Leia is an unexpectedly fun POV character to follow through the Star Wars universe.