Comic Info
Comic Name: Star Wars: Princess Leia
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Terry Dodson
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2015
Reprints Star Wars: Princess Leia #1-5 (May 2015-September 2015). Aldaraan has been destroyed and its people have been scattered across the galaxy. When Princess Leia’s leadership as the Princess of Alderaan is questioned, she sets out with a pilot named Evaan Verlaine to find the survivors of Aldaraan in the hopes of saving her people…but Leia’s attacks on the Empire have made her a target that the Empire cannot allow to survive.
Written by Mark Waid, Star Wars: Princess Leia is a five issue limited series released by Marvel as part of their first wave of their Star Wars relaunch. The series is illustrated by Terry Dodson.
Princess Leia is a good idea. She’s a character that is relatively undeveloped (in film) and also is just a good role model as a powerful woman who is allowed to be strong willed. There has been a big push for positive comics for females. Princess Leia is a leader…but this comic leads nowhere.
Even when the new Star Wars issues were coming out, Princess Leia was rather weak. The series first off didn’t fit in well with the Star Wars and Star Wars: Darth Vader storylines which also were supposed to take place directly after Star Wars: A New Hope. Princess Leia’s jetset adventure isn’t mentioned in the story and her new supporting character Evaan Verlaine also doesn’t seem to be a factor (though they are fast friends here). I felt one of the advantages of the relaunch of Star Wars with Marvel was to streamline the stories and have a nice conciece universe that could be read and flowed together with the movies…unfortunately, it doesn’t.
I do like a lot of the art of the series. Terry Dodson has good style. It is different than the other Star Wars series and has a lighter and softer tone to fit with Leia’s character (without being too much of a cartoon). The series is a key example of how to reach both female and male readers since the character has wide appeal and Dodson’s art helps.
I would give another Star Wars: Princess Leia series a chance despite the fact that this one didn’t work for me. I like the character and she is a character worthy of a continuing solo title. I wish that this first volume had been better, but it just doesn’t work. The comic needed more spark and even Leia couldn’t provide it.
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