Princess Leia #1

The Good

This is another case where having the current Star Wars comics at Marvel take place immediately after the events of Episode IV make sense. I always felt it was a little weird that Leia witnessed the destruction of her homeworld and everyone she knew yet was consoling Luke Skywalker over the death of a guy he knew for maybe a day or so. There's also the question why all the rebels were standing around celebrating in a location the entire Galactic Empire was aware of. Just because the Death Star was destroyed, that doesn't mean they don't have any other ships that could come and attack. Of course Mark Waid takes on these issues (and more) and fully justifies them.

With the issue picking up right at the closing scene of Episode IV, we see the celebration is short-lived. There is a lot that needs to be done. As everyone is scrambling on their new missions, Leia is left wondering what her duties are and what she'll be allowed to do. Being able to explore this time in this way opens up the character and timeline in a way you don't usually think about. We're used to seeing a movie's credits role and if there's a sequel, the events usually start up some time after. Leia is paired with a great new character with an attitude to keep Leia on her toes.

The art by Terry and Rachel Dodson fits the story nicely. With the characters from the movie and the action picking up right at the end of the movie, there's a lot of familiar characters and places to see. Capturing the likeness is a big deal in becoming immersed in the story. With colors by Jordie Bellaire, it's a guarantee it will all have a nice polish.

The Bad

As great as the likeness was, the first time we see Han felt off a little.

I was a little confused why there was a statue of a couple characters at the Massassi Temple. It could be it was quickly constructed for a memorial and perhaps the statue-constructing technology makes this easily possible. It's also been said the Rebels occupied this temple for about a year before attacking the Death Star.

I'm not sure about the mission Leia takes on. It's definitely interesting and it's a matter of waiting to see how it plays out. This issue does have to establish the set up. Next issue we're likely to dive deep into the action.

Chewbaccastill didn't receive a medal or any recognition.

The Verdict

From the beginning, Princess Leia showed she could easily stand up the evil forces of the Galactic Empire, including Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. Now in her own series, she has to figure out what's next for her after the destruction of her homeworld. Mark Waid picks up the action immediately following the events of Episode IV and helps to establish more to the timeline for the characters. Despite taking place during the original trilogy's time period, Waid makes it exciting by leaving us wondering what will happen next and simply being able to see how great Leia is. The art by Terry and Rachel Dodson along with colors by Jordie Bellaire works wonderfully. This series reminds us why we fell in love with Star Wars so long ago.

Fraid I have to pass on this one.

@the_stegman: Psssh.

Looking forward to reading it tonight. So far the Star Wars books have exceeded my expectations

I was disappointed with issue. I just had a hard time getting into it. I did have expectations, seeing how I'm a fan of the other star wars books. This book left me cold. I mean it could grow into a better series but the other star wars books came out guns blazing. We'll see.

Cool

I try pretty much anything Star Wars but Mark Waid writing a Star Wars book means it's an automatic buy. I'll be hitting up comixology later tonight for this. Looking forward to it.

Mark Waid? Terry and Rachel Dodson? Sold already.

oh, you're saying it's a Star Wars book? SIGN ME UP FOR LIFE!

Am I the only one who prefers the stylized artwork of this comic over the photo-realistic artwork of the other Star Wars comics?

@chubzhac: theres usually a correlation between photorealistic artists and who marvel considers top talent... With that being said I'm sure marvel will only keep the photorealistic artists on the book just long enough to solidify a fan base then they will yank them away ( classic marvel bait and switch )

@staypuffed: Too bad it's only scheduled for 5 issues.

Came back to give my post-read thoughts. If I'm being honest, I was a bit disappointed. I'd give it a 3 stars because I don't think it was a bad comic but it didn't ring true in the way that Star Wars and Darth Vader have from Marvel. Surprising considering how much I like Waid. Ultimately, this was very set-up oriented (something to be expected from a number 1) but the other two Marvel Star Wars comics managed to have a set-up to a larger story while also giving us a great deal of excitement. Most of this issue was fairly boring. I wasn't too fond of Luke's characterization in the issue either. I also can't say the relationship between Leia and Evaan felt at all natural. Especially that moment where Leia hugs her after they pull their little trick. That felt out of character completely. The art was good but not great. A couple of times characters look really off (creative interpretation is one thing but Han and Luke looked really weird). Dodson did manage to draw some gorgeous looking ships in a few scenes and the color work was good as well.

Overall, I think there is potential here but I never felt excited reading this. Obviously, I plan to read the whole mini series but I do hope the series picks up in a big way. I'd be disappointed if this Leia mini series turns out to be average or below. Especially since I think Leia is a character that should get more exploration in this new canon.

It was a good issue but I wasn't as hooked as I was for the Star Wars and Darth Vader books

I got myself a Press Pass to my hometown's Con and both Mark Waid and Carrie Fisher will be in attendance which means I'll have this issue autographed by both of them :)

Same here.

I was trying to hold out on all the Star Wars stuff.... but I caved and backordered Star Wars and Darth Vader a couple days ago. I didn't order this one, but I guess I may as well pick it up too.

Also, I like how Marvel prints the issue numbers w/ three digits as if they'll ever let a series get that high again.

How is this 4 stars? Liea acts like a distressed 14 year old girl.

Also what was with The R2 hologram part?

The story feels like the writer does not know where he wants to go from page to page, and Dodson is off his game on the art. I'm reading for free though, so I guess I can't complain too much.

to explain the statues of Bail and Breha Organa, they were probably whipped up in the SW universe version of a 3D printer (or in Star Trek language: a replicator)

Ehh picked this up yesterday but just now had time to read it, can't say I enjoyed it all that much! Maybe it's because of how great and focused the main Star Wars and Varder books have been so far but this one just seems VERY unfocused in my opinion. The only thing I seemed to enjoy was the art makes book feel different than SW or Vader. But the story and character of Leia seem so incredibly unfocused. One minute she is the stone cold ruler, the next a 12 year old drama queen throwing a temper tantrum. It just seems like the writers have no idea how they want portray Liea. I really hope the next issue picks up a quite a bit but #1 feels like a half baked rushed idea from Marvel which is very unfortunate. I would only give it 2/5

Yeah, I was not super impressed with this. The art isn't very good, and the story didn't suck me in at all.

The art was a huge distraction and the characterization felt off. Everyone felt to young. I hope it gets better in the next issue but I'll probably go all 5. I'm just a SW:EU junkie like that. (I know this is new EU)

It was hard to put my finger on but I found Leia's characterization all over the place. Aside from that this book was fine. I mean it had a lot to live up to... meaning the previous Star Wars and Darth Vader #1's. I'll get the rest of the issues, I'm sure it'll be fun and I like the art.

I really liked how much he played into Leia being a princess.

I can find no fault with the pencils and colouring in this issue. I usually enjoy Terry Dodson, but he can come off a little too repetitive in female characters looking similar to each other outside of hair style. While there were a couple of times he skirted it closely here, I very much appreciated the care put into facial expressions and this was reflected in all the players in this book. Bellaire is the cherry on top. Her colouring can do no wrong.

This was the only book I had intended to pick up with the new Star Wars line up, and while maybe I can be accurately accused of being too lenient in my lack of criticisms for it, I do sincerely believe this was a great issue and a great start to what seems to be a great adventure for Leia and her new accomplice. It was clever, it was believable and it had dialogue and interaction between characters that I enjoyed. Not a bad reaction from someone like me who doesn't consider herself a Star Wars fan in any great capacity.

Definitely looking forward to the next issue of this mini series.