Canon Comic Review: Poe Dameron #23

Poe Dameron #23

– Spoiler Review –

Leia’s plan with Black Squadron to rescue Lor San Tekka from Cato Neimoidia has hit one helluva a snag and Poe Dameron #23 puts the team through the ringer to get things back on track.

Poe Dameron 23 FullSince his introduction in issue #2, I’ve been a big fan of Terex, who’s been a complicated, nuanced villain with plenty of unpredictability to keep Poe and readers guessing what lengths he’ll go to next to get what he wants. Ever since his neutering at the hands of the First Order due to his failures, I’ve been rooting for him to find his way back from the implants, and after several issues of hints and teases he was gaining some semblance of control, he finally breaks free in issue #23! It isn’t easy though, as he has to keep shocking the implants with a riot control baton (which we’ve seen Finn wield most recently in The Last Jedi), causing himself pain and forcing the implants to reboot. He might not have to worry much longer though, as he’s absconded with Lor San Tekka who he offers up to Captain Phasma in return for his life back. Since we know Lor won’t fall into First Order hands, will this mean Terex will be forever doomed to wear the implants, failing once again? Other possibilities include him dying during Poe’s rescue of Lor or he finds a way to escape, implants destroyed, and free to roam the galaxy/get revenge on Poe as he pleases. As a fan, I hope he finds a way free to annoy our heroes another day, but I’m intrigued regardless to see where he goes next.

Less intrigued am I in Commander Malarus, a character who I have neither loved or hated, and it looks like the series might be done with her after this issue. Having stole Poe’s X-wing, flying into Black Squadron’s dogfight with a Neimoidian’s battle droid security fleet, she attempts to take the other pilots out, going a little overboard on her steroid juicing (or whatever that is). It gives her a momentary advantage, allowing her to pull off death-defying maneuvers in-atmo during a ship to ship battle with Poe once he gets to borrow one of Baron Maccon’s fighters, but makes her over confident. Not only is Poe a better pilot, but the assumed dead BB-8 reawakens to kill the X-wing, causing it to crash, and is rescued by Poe in an impressive maneuver. While it’s possible the First Order will come pick up Malarus, whose crash landing puts her in big trouble with the locals, I’d not miss her if she’s left to wallow in Cato Neimoidia prison for the rest of her days. Goodbye for now!

As always, we know Poe and Black Squadron will prevail, freeing Lor San Tekka from Terex’s grasps, but once again, Charles Soule has put them in such a tough situation, I’m curious and excited to see how they end up winning. That’s definitely been the magic of this series and this arc has been no different, even taking it up a notch by finally introducing Lor San Tekka into the mix, and the next two issues should continue the fun. And on the art side, Angel Unzueta (art) and Arif Prianto (colors) continue to capture each characters’ likenesses while still retaining a distinct style, meshing it all together for a gorgeous experience. The dog-fight scenes were appropriately chaotic but easy to follow, while Terex’s struggle with the implants felt more real thanks to the art. This team will be staying on after issue #25 and I couldn’t be happier.

Here are a few other things:

  • Back in December, we learned the Poe series would continue on past issue #25, but since its solicitation was worded to sound like it led right up to the events of The Force Awakens, we were left wondering what exactly would issue #26 and beyond look like? The solicitations for April’s comics (via CoffeeWithKenobi) released yesterday and we got an unexpected, but intriguing answer: #26 will cover the events of The Force Awakens from Poe and Black Squadron’s perspectives! I had wondered if this would go backwards in time, to a younger Poe, but the series will march on through the sequel trilogy and I’m okay with that. I’m very curious to learn what characters like Terex, Suralinda, Jess, Karé, and more are up to during the events of TFA. And now it raises another question: what happens after they get through TFA? Cover what everyone was doing in The Last Jedi? And then go beyond? Whatever the possibility, I’m happy to have this series around for a little while longer.

As the Resistance recovers just a bit from last issue’s disastrous events during their rescue of Lor San Tekka, Poe Dameron #23 still keeps the stakes high and on the line for the remaining issues of the arc.

+ Terex breaking free

+ Poe’s rescue of Black Squadron

 Shrugging about Malarus

Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.

Poe Dameron
Full Series Retrospective with Chris and Ryan
Black Squadron (#1-3) | Lockdown (#4-6) | The Gathering Storm (#7-13) |  Legend Lost (#14 – 16) | War Stories (#17-19) | Legend Found: #20 | #21 | #22 | #24 | #25 / Arc Review (by Chris) | The Awakening (#26-31) | Annual: #1 | #2

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