Princess Leia #5, the conclusion to Mark Waid and Terry Dodson’s brilliant miniseries, is out in comic stores today and, well, I am not ready for this book to end. So let’s take a spoiler filled look at not just the final issue but this lovely book as a whole and its wonderfully nuanced portrayal of Leia Organa.
Tag Archives: Terry Dodson
Review: Princess Leia #4
Did you think that Princess Leia #3 was too slow? Too formulaic? BOY DO I HAVE A COMIC FOR YOU THEN. Princess Leia #4 by Mark Waid and Terry Dodson is out in comic stores today and it DEFINITELY takes things up a notch.
Thus far, Leia’s mission to save her remaining Alderaanians have been successful with only a few bumps along the way. Problem is, they have an unknowing traitor in their midst in the form of young Tace and her sister Tula. Add in the reunification talks with Espirion and there’s a lot at stake for the remnants of Alderaan.
Waid manages to pack a lot into about twenty pages worth of story; enough that it’s rather impressive. This is one of those issues where we really get to see all the facets of Leia as a person and as a leader. It’s not hard to see the lessons learned from Breha and Bail about ruling by listening to your people and caring about them as opposed to being totalitarian. It’s fitting for a woman who carries the guilt of her planet’s destruction on her shoulders along with the responsibility for all those left.
Evaan has taken a bit of a more backseat these last two issues but she’s still definitely the standout new character in these books who will hopefully have a lot of staying power in this new canon. The evolution of her relationship with Leia has been absolutely fascinating to watch especially when contrasted with the other prominent Alderaanians featured in the book.
Terry Dodson’s art continues to be lovely and Jordie Bellaire’s colors elevate the book to whole new level of pretty. Everything about Tace’s hair and nails is just spot on perfection. Honestly, what else is there to say at this point?
Princess Leia #4 gets a strong 4/5 from me this month along with lots of anticipation for the finale issue.
Review: Princess Leia #3
Leia and Evaan have found some Alderaanians and are now off to Sullust in search of more, unaware of the traitor in their midst. Princess Leia #3 by Mark Waid and Terry Dodson is out today in comic stores and continues to live up to the high standards of the previous issues. Naboo may not have gone completely according to plan but Sullust… Sullust is really not what Leia expected. The Alderaanian Enclave there is lead by a woman who calls herself Preserver Jora Astane and she is really not a fan of the Princess.
There are some mild spoilers in this review.
Review: Princess Leia #2
Princess Leia’s mission to track down all her remaining Alderaanian survivors continues as she lands on Naboo with her new accomplice and fellow Alderaanian Evaan. Mark Waid, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson, and Jordie Bellaire knock it out of the park yet again with the second issue that’s in stores today!
This review contains mild spoilers.
Our Alderaanian heroines arrive on Naboo to find retrieve the Melodic order; a famous performance group from their homeworld. It will hardly be an easy task though to elude Imperial detection… even with the help of Leia’s old friend Lord Junn.
Review: Princess Leia #1
Remember back in August when I wrote about what I hoped for with a Mark Waid Leia comic? Yeah, he nailed it. I won’t beat around the bush here. I loved this issue. Go to your comic store right now and pick up Princess Leia #1 by Mark Waid with art by Terry Dodson, inks by Rachel Dodson, and colors by Jordie Bellaire. Need another reason why? Well read on for a mostly spoiler-free review.
The book picks up immediately after the Battle of Yavin with the medal ceremony and Leia giving a very brief speech commemorating the losses of all those who gave their lives fighting the Empire and especially Alderaan. There is no time for sorrows though as the Rebels must immediately dismantle the base and flee. Leia, however, wants to embark on a mission of her own: to find and protect all the remaining Alderaanians in the galaxy… with or without the Alliance’s approval.
My Hopes and Dreams for Princess Leia
Or more specifically: My Hopes and Dreams for the Star Wars: Princess Leia comic by Mark Waid.
When Joe Quesada announced the three new Star Wars comic books at San Diego Comic Con the other week, one series in particular thrilled me more than the others. We were finally going to get a book staring Princess Leia! Mark Waid was instantly a choice that I approved whole-heartedly of to write my beloved Leia Organa and that was even before I saw his interviews talking about the book. Terry Dodson on art just made it even better. They are both perfect choices for a Leia story. Dodson is perhaps the easier to immediately see. I’ve never found a reason to complain about his art style and judging from the cover we’ve seen? We’ll get to see some pretty neat outfits on everyone’s favorite princess that are all logical for her to be wearing. Dodson also draws a killer action scene so we’ll undoubtedly have a few of those to look forward to.
Waid, on the other hand, might be a little tougher to get. For me, the gut reaction of perfect! came from his work on Indestructible Hulk over the past few years. Bruce Banner can be a tricky character to get right but it wasn’t his great work with the Hulk that got me. No, it was how he handled one Maria Hill who is not a character that all writers get right. They might get the ‘bitches-get-stuff-done’ aspect of her but miss that there’s more to her than that. Mark Waid, however, nailed writing her hook, line, and sinker. Factor in his solidly good work on Hulk and Daredevil in recent years and I was sold.
What doubly sold me were his interviews. In an interview with StarWars.com, he describe Leia as
I think that she is often misunderstood as short-tempered or what have you, and I think that’s unfair. She’s direct. She’s not necessarily impatient, she’s just exasperated easily by people who are not as smart as her. She’s not bossy…well, okay, alright, she’s bossy. But she is a princess, after all, so you have to allow her a little bit of that.
…and I let out a giant sigh of relief. It’s these aspects of Leia’s personality that are so important to who she is and how she reacts to situations. Reading what he had to say about what sort of person she is at her core made me even more confident about how he’ll handle writing her.
SDCC 2014: Marvel Takes Back Star Wars
Just as expected, the Marvel Cup O’Joe Panel at San Diego Comic-Con gave us our first real look at what Marvel will be doing once they take back the Star Wars license in January.
First up, (and to me, the most exciting!) we’ll be getting a miniseries titled Star Wars: Princess Leia with script by Mark Waid and with art by Terry Dodson. The first issue will be released in March.
We’re also getting two ongoings of which is the first is the expected ‘Star Wars‘. That will have Jason Aaron on script and John Cassaday on art. The first issue hits in January and will feature our usual suspects amongst the main cast.
And finally, there will also be a Star Wars: Darth Vader ongoing series written by Kieron Gillen with art by Salvador Larroca. (Note that the cover below is by Adi Granov.) The first issue will be released in February 2015.
The two ongoing series will take place concurrently as they will back up after the Battle of Yavin. Apparently the Vader series picks up right after Vader’s fighter goes spinning into space while Star Wars picks up two weeks later. Jordan White will be the editor for all three books.
One of the questions at the panel did ask whether we’d be seeing Expanded Universe characters in the comics and the answer is that it is up to the Lucasfilm Story Group. Apparently we will also see Boba Fett at some point but it’s a tricky time period.
The Official Site has interviews up with all three writers of the new books.
As for other questions from the panel, someone asked if characters from the old Marvel comics might show up. The answer was that Jason Aaron will try but Jordan White might stop him. The Marvel crew found Patton Oswalt’s Star Wars pitch hilarious but don’t think they have the rights to make that into a comic. Also apparently Axel Alonso is trying to make ‘The Punisher Kills The Star Wars Universe’ a thing that happens.