– Spoiler Review –
Jumping eras once again, Dark Horse’s Hyperspace Stories #3 takes us to the sequel trilogy, where Poe and Finn find far more than they bargained for on a mission for supplies for the Resistance.
It won’t always be the case, but I’ve enjoyed these first three issues have each been in a different era of the films, spreading around the love and helping to prevent the Hyperspace Stories from feeling too similar. We’ll return to each era throughout the series’ 12 issues and somehow they’ll all connect, a fun little thread to follow and I’m interested to see how the team makes the connective tissue cohesive despite the back and forth, which so far they’ve done a good enough job I’m really curious to see where it all goes (I’ll talk more about how issue #3 continues the connective thread in a bit).
The dynamic between Finn and Poe rests largely on the shoulders of John Boyega and Oscar Issaac, and while writers have done a great job in the past on the page or comics, Cecil Castellucci strikes gold with these two. After her great sibling building in Hyperspace Stories #2 between Luke and Leia, I had high hopes for Castellucci’s writing going forward, and her Finn/Poe work is even better than the previous issue’s dynamic. I think most of it comes from how she captures the energy the two have on screen together, obviously feeding off one another with their comic tendencies and charisma, which brought their friendship to life quickly and spawned a ‘ship’ (the head canon of fans for their relationship) that’s always shown brightly despite the films’ best attempts to dampen them. I will say Castellucci doesn’t offer any real crumbs towards the ship, but their friendship and ease around one another through her writing is so clear it’s going to light up shipping fans and those who’ve wanted more of these two together. There’s a real fun story which unfolds in Hyperspace Stories #3, but it wouldn’t be nearly half as fun if it wasn’t for these two and how Castellucci writes them. The issue starts with them in straight up Old West outfits, haggling for livestock, finds them dancing with strangers to gain information, and later changing outfits on the fly as the situation on the train they board gets further out of hand; watching them go with the flow leads to many laughs and strengthens their friendship and bond in a way comics or books haven’t always been able to.
General Leia has tasked Finn and Poe with bringing food to the Resistance, as this is set sometime during the one-year gap between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, which brings them to Kamil, an agricultural hub. They are coming up empty and quick, all the livestock offerings bought up either before they get there or for a price too high for them, and while Finn thinks they might’ve failed, Poe finds the local dive bar and figures they can make important connections to find what they need. After some hilarious attempts at wheeling and dealing, and later some dancing, they find something better than the livestock they came for, someone with parts they desperately need to rebuild and repair their fleet. It all leads to more fun shenanigans, them switching outfits often as they board a local train and try to locate the contact, finding themselves on the run from the First Order. Of course all goes well and they not only get more parts but the food they need, they come back with a little surprise that ties into the series’ larger story.
When the first issue dropped in August, it included a mysterious object being placed in a young Wookiee’s doll. Issue #2 wasn’t as clear in how it connected to the doll and what might be in it, but it made it seem like Leia potentially had it when she was growing up at one point. And now the doll happens to be in the train’s luggage cart, falling out as Finn and Poe tussle with the First Order after being cornered. The doll even comes to aide in their fight, Finn using to knock an officer out and it happens to land next to the one item they need, and while it edged on campy with how it was ‘involved,’ if the lead up to the moment hadn’t been filled with shenanigans between Finn and Poe exploring the train, it would’ve fallen over the other side. While we’re still no closer to learning what the Wookiee Senator hid in the doll, Finn brings it back to Rey at the Resistance base, who embraces it with joy. She’s headed to Kashyyyk in Hyperspace Stories #4, unfortunately now not out until January 18, 2023, so maybe we’ll start to uncover more details then!
Andy Duggan’s art, with Dan Jackson on colors plus Tyler Smith and Jimmy Betancourt lettering, also helps build Castellucci’s script’s energy. Nothing encapsulates this more than two different parts of the issue. The first is the scene of Finn and Poe, decked in their Western finest that has just enough Star Wars to it (ponchos have always been a thing in SW!) it fits, dancing in a saloon with strangers for information. The bisected panels make each dancing pair separate but ties the action together, while their dancing poses is what brings the laughs. Poe is back-to-back with the alien he’s speaking with, the dialogue serious but him getting his boogey on, swinging his hat around, is hilarious, while Finn is a little reserved, dancing a little at a distance, since he’s more worried about the mission than Poe is, while the vivacious colors from Jackson, and Smith/Betancourt SFX and word bubble placement, sell the line dancing/clubby vibe of the saloon. I love how this marries story and fun, as they are still on mission but able to enjoy themselves a bit here. The second part of the issue which really stood out from me by the art team is the full page of the Finn and Poe running from the First Order. With three separate panels, one on top of another, it’s a continuous scroll of their run through the train, presented in a way only comics could, the little slices containing laugh-worthy moments, be it Gamorrean chef getting out of their way as Poe throws its knife at their pursuer or using the hanging meat to knock out another pursuer, it’s just a fun way to display their flight through the train.
Here’s one other thing:
- Issue #5 is set to come out mid-February 2023, so when this month’s solicitations for February had issue #6 dated for early-February, I would easily imagine the issue will slip to March.
Hyperspace Stories #3 has energy and fun worthy of the pairing of Finn and Poe fans of all-ages will enjoy.
+ Finn and Poe dynamic
+ Art captures story and characters’ energy
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy of this comic from the publisher at no charge in order to provide an early review. However, this did not affect the overall review content. All opinions are my own.