– Spoiler Review –
As the fallout from the previous arc settled in the previous issue, Poe Dameron #15, aka Space Speed, gets the series right back to its fun, adventurous roots that have quickly placed it as this canon’s (early) Rogue Squadron supplement.
The search for Lor San Tekka isn’t back on just yet, as it seems the Resistance is running terribly short on supplies, mainly and most importantly fuel, and Leia tasks Poe to retrieve a shipment from their last contact (as suspiciously each previous contact has been killed). Poe automatically accepts the responsibility and burden of going on a solo Black Squadron mission to conserve fuel to get more fuel, but just fresh off the death of L’ulo and the already tight-knit nature of the Squad, the rest of his team won’t let him go alone even if it means flying light on fuel. It’s been a while since the Squad has had a chance to all be together on a mission, as the last one had Poe separated from the group for awhile (as Poe was worried about a spy in their midst and now I don’t know if we’ll ever see Oddy Muva again…though I feel like we almost don’t need too), and it was great to see them having each other’s backs once again. This is how the series started out, the team all going on a mission together, things going south, and they all work together to solve it, so in a way the series almost feels like it’s restarting here. In fact, if someone who has yet to read Poe Dameron and picked up issue #15, I’d be confident in saying they could probably jump in with minimal confusion. So if you haven’t read this series yet, I urge you start here and if you like it, I’d highly recommend going back and getting the first 14 issues, as they’re all more of the same.
From the start, Poe Dameron has just had a very fun, action-packed, adventure feel to it that one associates with big bombastic action films, so it’s only fitting this latest arc is essentially Speed in Space, as the team is on a moving vehicle rigged to blow if they slow down! Considering this is taking everything from that movie to the next level, giant space ship instead of a city bus, has to constantly accelerate instead of constantly staying over a certain speed, nebulae and asteroid fields instead of LA traffic (though I’m sure some LA natives might claim it’s worse), etc., it’ll take more than just Poe to escape this First Order trap and luckily he’s got his whole, trustworthy crew with him. If Charles Soule wants to continue to borrow action movie plots for upcoming arcs, that’s totally cool with me as I can’t wait to see Speed in Space play out!
First Order Commander Malarus, introduced in issue #13, is already ranking rather high up as a real jerk of a villain. Not only is she the one who set up this Speed trap, but she parades the newly subservient Agent Terex around like a pet; it’s a great way for Soule sell her to the audience as the next main villain, as it really shows she’s a bigger threat if she’s got the leash on the considerably nefarious big bad from the previous arcs. She hasn’t quite made an impression like Agent Terex did so quickly (and really, who could?), but she’s got my interest. On the flip side, I can’t be the only one who was kind of sad to see Terex in his present state, right? As much as he deserved it, he was just so much fun each issue. Maybe he’ll worm his way out of this somehow…
The team of Angel Unzueta and Arif Prianto continue to prove they are more than worthy of taking up Phil Noto’s considerable mantle and already I’m beginning to have less and less issues with the faces than I originally did back in issue #7.
Here are a few other things:
- I enjoy translating Aurebesh from time to time especially as it shows up in the comics a lot, even if there isn’t anything particularly surprising to be had from said translations, and because of the translating I’m slowly being able to read it (well, at least easy words like ‘the,’ ‘and,’ ‘rebels,’ etc). There’s a list of contacts, from Han to Leia, for smugglers to “trust” to get supplies for the Resistance and it’s in Aurebesh here so I took it upon myself to translate them. I do admit, since there’s a giant line through the letters, I had to assume what a few of the letters were though I was able to use Captain Perrili’s unmarked name as a guide so I’d say I’m probably not too far off (though, for the first name, the last two letters are cut off/unreadable): 1) Rory Lara – – (2) Lurtz Blior (3) Rorae Bertrugh (4) Lorr Sombar (5) Bert Snap (6) Coral Muler. I checked Wookieepedia to see if they had pages for the translated names and I’m not too surprised they don’t.
- Perrili is the first Xexto I’ve seen since Gasgano the Podracer in The Phantom Menace…it was a little odd seeing again but it was great to have a lesser used species front and center in an issue.
Poe Dameron #15 is not only a great place for new readers to join, it’s another solid notch in the series’ adventurous roots. Plus, it’s Speed in Space…what more do you need to know?!!?
+ Soft reset and the fun begins again
+ Speed in Space
+ Usage of all of the Squad (though that means we’re down a few members…)
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth and 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 (#20-25) | The Awakening (#26-31) | Annual: #1 | #2