While The Force Awakens did very well with critics and audiences, it’s not without some controversy. As far as I can tell though, Poe Dameron and BB-8 are pretty much universally loved. What better day to release the first issue of Poe’s ongoing series than the day after The Force Awakens releases on Blu-Ray. Or is it Blu-Rey? In any case, it’s time to review Star Wars: Poe Dameron 1.
Written by Charles Soule, Poe Dameron 1 takes place between Poe’s story in Before the Awakening and The Force Awakens, Before the Awakening being his story of transferring from the New Republic to the Resistance. In this series, he’s searching for Lor San Tekka to find out what the explorer knows about Luke Skywalker’s whereabouts. He arrives on a hidden colony that is slow to trusting, which leads to Poe easing the tension with the charming humour that makes him a great character. He shows off his flying skills while navigating a series of caves, and his Black Squadron is given some good character development as well. It’s worth noting that one of his squadron mates also appeared alongside his mother in Shattered Empire. Nice touch, even if he doesn’t mention Poe’s mother in this issue. The main story’s ending also promises a great fight in the next issue after the First Order tracked Black Squadron down.
The art and colouring by Phil Noto is great. The environmental detail shows how tight the cave is at times, and Poe’s facial expressions do a great job at conveying his confidence while flying his X-Wing, and his fear when the situation turns sour. Each of the Black Squadron members look like their movie counterpart, and the new characters in the colony have a neat design and environment.
There’s also a backup story written by Chris Eliopoulos and drawn by Jordie Bellaire, and it’s basically BB-8 being cute. If you like BB-8, this story is almost worth the $5 price on its own.
This is a great start to Poe Dameron’s solo series. It expands on the Resistance pilots’ personalities, gives Leia a decent conversation with Poe and it makes the search for Lor San Tekka compelling with just one issue. Fans of Poe’s character should pick this up.
8.5/10
healed1337 
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Great review! I really enjoyed Poe Dameron #1, what an excellent start to this series. Poe was a good character In the Force Awakens, so its great to see the characters origins explored
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You learn more about him in Before the Awakening too, a book that features one story each for Poe, Rey and Finn before the movie. It’s also written by Greg Rucka with illustrations by Phil Noto. It’s definitely worth looking into if you haven’t already.
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Oh right, cheers for letting me know, will have to check that out 🙂
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