Review: Poe Dameron Vol. 4- Legend Found
Quick Summary
Pros: The main storyline has an entertaining heist operation that creates a lot of suspense. The comic balances out tense moments with exciting moments of action. The characters continue to be great throughout this book.
Cons: The annual issue is lackluster.
Overall: The penultimate volume in the Poe Dameron series continues the comic’s penchant for unique storytelling and entertaining escapades. It takes a traditional Star Wars story and adds a heist angle to it, allowing for the development of thrilling moments of suspense and the execution of an enjoyable plan. While this is going on, solid characters continue to add to the book as a whole. There are a few minor issues but these do not take away from the volume’s successes. Anyone who likes Poe Dameron or who has enjoyed previous volumes of this series may want to check this book out.
Story
Poe Dameron Vol. 4: Legend Found, by Charles Soule, is another win for this comic and contains one of the best stories in the entire series. The central storyline here combines the thrilling strategy one would expect from an Ocean’s Eleven-style operation with the action one would expect from a typical Star Wars adventure. The end result is something unique and definitely entertaining. The entire volume also performs well in highlighting the comic’s secondary cast members and ensures that their character development is worthwhile. The only problem is that the volume’s final story is mediocre, however, this does not negatively affect the quality of the main storyline.
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The central storyline in Legend Found is a heist operation wherein the Resistance attempts to liberate Lor San Tekka before he is executed by a banking clan. It has Leia infiltrate the banking clan through a series of deceptions, has Poe sneak in through an unorthodox manner, and has the members of his squadron provide an action-packed distraction from the stars above. The entire operation combines thrilling bursts of action with a satisfactory level of general suspense. It also stands out as something unique in the Star Wars universe, as most Star Wars do not contain the subterfuge and trickery seen in this particular story.
This operation then concludes with a direct showdown between the heroes of the Resistance and the villains of the First Order. The final showdown is quick but is packed with plenty of exciting action. It also gives some resolution to the character development that has been taking place among the members of Poe’s squadron. Each member is able to grow in some way and comes out of this story better than they entered it.
The most satisfactory example of this is Terex, who is also given a worthwhile send-off that fits his character rather well. He breaks free of the First Order’s control, abandons them, and launches a final gambit that pits his two biggest adversaries against one another. It is a thrilling sequence of events that show how capable he is as a character. It also works as a fitting end to his role in this series, one that honors his abilities as a man of action but does not go so far as to set him up as some sort of hero.
The only real problem with Legend Found is that the final chapter collected here, Annual #1, is rather lackluster. It has Poe and BB-8 sneak aboard a First Order ship and create all sorts of chaos. The problem here is that BB-8’s actions are pretty ridiculous and often unbelievable. He starts the chapter by creating fire in the vacuum of space and goes on to defeat a surprisingly large number of Stormtroopers. However, the entire adventure does have a certain over-the-top charm to it that may appeal to some fans.
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Art
The artwork in Legend Found continues the cinematic aesthetic seen in the previous volume. Angel Unzueta does good work throughout this book and maintains solid levels of detail and structure on all of the pages. This volume’s unique storyline also gives Unzueta more opportunities to show off creative environments, which help add to the overall characterization of the worlds seen in this book. This helps the comic stand out more than the previous volume and gives it a bit of an artistic edge in general. The only problem is that the artwork in the Annual issue is not nearly as visually impressive and has a few moments where it fails to convey exactly what is happening. Overall, this is still a volume with good artwork but the work in the Annual chapter prevents it from being as good as it could have been.
Continuity
Poe Dameron Vol. 4: Legend Found continues the story from Poe Dameron Vol. 3: Legends Lost (Review). Both stories take place right before Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens.
The story here continues in Poe Dameron Vol. 5: The Spark and the Fire (Review).