Hey you can complain all you want about lack of female heroes and lack of African American Heroes and lack of Gay heroes in “Star Wars.” What about us? What about the Hispanics? We have nothing! And don’t come emailing me about the Extended Universe because it doesn’t count. For the short time he was in “The Force Awakens,” Poe Dameron made his mark, promising a riveting and unique star bound hero who took his X-Wing and kicked some dark side ass.
Oscar Isaac did a bang up job establishing Poe Dameron on screen and thankfully Marvel and Disney give Poe his own stand alone series. It’s a well deserved service to a character that saved the day, helped set the stage for hero Finn, and reminded us why the X-Wing fighters are just as cool as Jedi. Poe Dameron’s series attempts to bridge the gap between a few months or so before we saw him on “The Force Awakens” before he’s taken hostage by Captain Phasma and Kylo Ren and bears witness to a mass genocide.
In the first issue, we meet Poe as braves a new expedition all on his own at the behest of General Leia Organa, and forms his own squadron to seek out some sort of mystical device that is mistaken as a magic egg by an underground cult hidden in a cave. The interplay between BB8 and Dameron makes up some of the best moments of the first issue with the pair defining their interesting dynamic and friendship. Dameron is a gallant and interesting hero prone to talking his way through problems and only shooting when it’s a last resort, which is somewhat reminiscent of Han Solo.
I’d love to learn more about Poe Dameron and how he ended up becoming the best pilot in the galaxy, or at least in General Organa’s army, but I guess we have a lot more issues to go before we begin learning more about Dameron’s motivations, heroism and whatnot. For a first issue, it’s particularly well done and very entertaining. Phil Noto’s art is crisp, clean and very fluid allowing a great sense of adventure in this world surrounding Dameron. I hope the series continues this momentum and builds on Dameron’s mythology as he’s an already interesting hero and rebel. I hope the movies continue developing him even further.