Canon Comic Review: Poe Dameron #28

– Spoiler Review –

Poe Dameron issue #28 continues to show how “The Awakening” arc is a breath of fresh air for the series, as it starts with a surprising, but tasteful twist and ends with a cliffhanger which will keep you asking for more. And this is after learning the series will officially end in September!

When “The Awakening” arc began in issue #26, it had a framing story of Poe telling Rey and Finn, in a post-The Last Jedi timeframe on the Falcon, about his exploits during the events of The Force Awakens. It didn’t take very long in issue #28 for me to realize the two speakers retelling the attack on Starkiller Base weren’t Poe, Rey, or Finn and for the life of me I couldn’t quite figure it out who it was, but it had me desperately flipping the pages to find out. I about died laughing and then immediately reread the opening once our narrators were revealed: R2-D2 and BB-8! I laughed both because it’s so obvious it’s them once you find out, especially thanks to Joe Caramagna’s color coded speech bubbles: Artoo being blue and BeeBee-Ate orange, and also because Threepio’s interruption and complaints about their downer of a war story is priceless. But I jumped back to reread the opening because it’s such a compelling take on events from those you least expect or never hear, while it hearkens back to George Lucas’ original ideal of Artoo and Threepio always at the center of events, eventually being the ones who retell the story, which writer Charles Soule teases a bit in some choice dialogue from Artoo. Soule has mentioned he actually writes dialogue for BB-8 and other droid characters before the letterers change it to droid-speak, which we got a taste of the real dialogue awhile back, and it was great, this close to the series’ end, to have BB-8’s dialogue came through crystal clear. The droids’ discussion about the events of Starkiller is a sobering take on the film’s high flying battle antics and really paints how insane their attack on the planet-killing planet really was, while adds to the slow, but growing importance and focus on droids in the GFFA.

Threepio interrupts the two droids because he’s trying to help Rey translate those ancient Jedi texts Luke never got around to reading, which she totally stole from the library on Ahch-To without any intentions of returning them…good thing it burnt down or imagine the late fees! Seriously, while short, it’s fun to see Threepio taking advantage of his 6 million or whatever is now forms of communication, helping Rey study the Force and the old Jedi ways. Though since he’s been prone to error in translating before, Rey should be cautious when listening to him…he’s either going to help her become the ultimate Jedi or turn her to the dark side easier than Kylo Ren or Snoke ever could! The one thing Threepio translates, “The Force is the light, the Force is the dark. The Jedi choose the light for all it reveals,” is pretty Jedi-positive and Rey, initially confused, takes it to heart. I really can’t wait to see what type of Jedi she’ll become by the time of Ep. IX and what the events of that film will shape her into next, and it seems Artoo agrees with me because in his narration, even he’s impressed with her already. Now about that porg patiently reading over her shoulder, it also might be something to look out for…

While the Rey and Finn dynamic was sorely missed in The Last Jedi, the bromance of Finn and Poe got some decent screen-time, but I’ll never argue with a little more and Poe Dameron #28’s Stormpilot conversation is another of many highlights from this issue. Finn, despite coming around to taking up a side in the war, fighting for more than himself or a friend, is understandably feeling a bit of defeatism due to the events on Crait and Rose still being under. He doesn’t quite understand why Poe is so sure things can turn around, and listening to Poe explain it to him, while short, provides a good show of why he’ll be a great leader going forward. Leia could always pull hope out of any bad situation and power through, and if Poe can believe things will get better, even though he understands that logistically they might not, he can give hope to even more people than just Finn. That his belief in things going right, as Finn calls it, “The Poe Dameron Way,” when Threepio offers news about Black Squadron and their secret mission during The Last Jedi, only adds to his ability to inspire hope. I’d love to hear Finn say, “The Poe Dameron Way” aloud in Ep. IX to some amazed Resistance on-lookers after Poe, or even Finn, does something crazy.

Not only does Poe reveal the planning session of the Resistances’ escape from D’Qar when they find out the First Order is on its way, including a funny moment where everyone looks at him like he’s mad insane for suggesting his attack run seen at the beginning of TLJ, but we get some background on the booster strapped to Black One. But more importantly, we see Black Squadron both trying to join Poe on his crazy mission and Leia assigning them their off-screen mission: drumming up allies for the Resistance, so if they fail in their escape, the movement can live on. It’s a pretty big mission, with some potential implications for Ep. IX, though I highly doubt we’re going to get any reveals here unfortunately; I really, really hope to be wrong though, as it would be neat as all hell for them to plant a seed/give us a hint here. But the other, story related reasons I’m not so sure we’ll get any real teases? For starters, no one responded to the call for help on Crait, so that’s an ominous sign, and when Threepio brings Poe a transmission from Black Squadron, his warning it’s not good news only adds the feeling there is some unfortunate fates for Black Squadron and their mission. It’s a great cliffhanger, because while I was already curious to see what they got up to off-screen, hearing it might not have gone well is troubling though could lead to some very exciting final issues for the series.

Beyond Soule’s excellent writing, making even all these conversations compelling and deep with resonance across the galaxy and the saga’s greater messages, the art team provides a beautiful rendering of it all. Angel Unzueta (art) and Arif Prianto (colors) have been a damn delight since they took over the series from Phil Noto, with face work that hits that sweet spot of realistic but with some modifications of their own, while the big ol’ splash page in the beginning, with Starkiller base in the center and events from the films surrounding it, was a dynamic, easy to follow, and gorgeous thing to behold; Letterer Joe Caramagna helped with the final touches on that with the speech bubble placements. I still have many questions about this porg who’s reading along with Rey though…

Here are a few other things:

Having this issue be so excellent made it a blast to read and review, but the news of the series coming to a close at the end of this arc tinges my excitement with a sense of melancholy. Launching on April 7, 2016, Poe Dameron has been a fun action-adventure series its entire run and its 31st issue in September will be its last, just a little over two years later. I’m happy Poe got a stay of execution at issue #25 and was allowed to venture into the post-TLJ era, as this is an even more exciting setup for a series finale than the previous arc. Soule took to Twitter to calm concerns the series was cancelled, mentioning it was more due to ending it in a place that wouldn’t mess with what stories are coming down the pipeline aka Ep. IX and whatever else. We’ll have an arc review for “The Awakening” shortly after #31 is released later this year and a full, series review to follow, examining Poe‘s many, many ups, and a few, short downs.
Two weeks in a row and no release notes from Soule on his website…hopefully he continues those again soon! UPDATE: His notes for this week are up and he teased the end of the Poe Dameron series with issue 31 could be a temporary goodbye. More information once the 31st issue drops, I guess, so stay tuned for that!
Something that made me very excited was seeing Suralinda Javos in X-wing pilot gear, as an official part of Black Squadron! To have her go from the journalist who nearly sold out the Resistance’s secret location, to a janitor, then a hero on a mission, and now part of the illustrious Black Squadron is a really awesome arc for the character introduced way back in issue #7. She was an early favorite of mine and I’m happy she’s come so far…and now I’m going to be afraid for her life with those whole bad news about Black Squadron cliffhanger. Soule giveth and then taketh away!

Poe Dameron #28 shows why this series has been such a damn delight, right on the heels of the news it’s coming to an end soon. PICK. THIS. UP. NOW.

+ Droid POVs
+ Poe and Finn’s conversation about hope
+ Big tease of the rest of Black Squadron’s mission during The Last Jedi

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

Canon Comic Review: Poe Dameron #28

+ Droid POVs

+ Poe and Finn’s conversation about hope

+ Big tease of the rest of Black Squadron’s mission during The Last Jedi

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