Star Wars: Poe Dameron vol. 4 — Legend Found

I’ve mentioned before how this series has felt hamstrung by its inability to really get out there and explore the state of the “Star Wars” universe prior to “The Force Awakens.”  Now imagine a comic that has to limit itself further by placing itself within the confines of the “Poe Dameron” series itself. That’s the state the “Poe Dameron Annual” from writer Robbie Thompson and artist Nik Virella finds itself in as Poe and BB-8 find themselves adrift in a First Order minefield and forced to take refuge on one of their ships to escape.  The whole thing is fine, yet feels deeply inessential even before you get to the final page reveal which indicates that the annual should’ve been collected in the previous volume. With “Poe Dameron” wrapping up soon we’ll at least be spared from more wastes of space like this one.

That being said, with “Poe Dameron” wrapping up soon writer Charles Soule has decided that it’s time for it to get back to it’s ostensible main plot:  Finding the mysterious Lor San Tekka. The good news is that he’s been found. The bad news is that he was caught breaking into a Neimoidian vault and is now in their custody.  Now Poe and the rest of Black Squadron, with General Leia Organa masterminding the operation, have to break him out in a fun little heist that’s easily one of the better stories we’ve seen in this series to date.  That’s even before Terex shows up again.

While the agent of the First Order was mostly robbed of his agency in the previous volume, he finds a way around that here, making things difficult for people on both sides of the conflict in the process.  Terex’s exploits here cement his status as the best thing about “Poe Dameron” as he’s had a really interesting arc to follow from Imperial loyalist to his current disillusionment with the First Order. While his story appears to wrap up here, I don’t doubt that Soule will find a way to fit him into the next volume, which will let us know what Poe and Black Squadron were up to when they weren’t on screen during “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi.”  That said, I can’t say it’s a good sign that I’m more concerned about a supporting character created for this comic than what’s in store for the title character himself.