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Star Wars: Princess Leia (2015) #1-5
Star Wars: Princess Leia
When Princess Leia Organa was captured by the Empire, she never betrayed her convictions - even after the complete destruction of her home world, Alderaan. When her rescue came, Leia grabbed a blaster and joined the fight, escaping back to the Rebel Alliance and helping strike the biggest blow against the Empire - the destruction of the Death Star! But in the aftermath of that victory, the question remains...what is a princess without a world? As Leia comes to grips with her loss, a new mission leads her to the underground world of Sullust. The Empire is rounding up fugitive Alderaanians, and that doesn't sit well with their Princess! But what can one woman do against the Galactic Empire? They're about to find out! Join the galaxy's toughest Princess on a quest to save her people and rebuild her life!
COLLECTING: PRINCESS LEIA #1-5
COLLECTING: PRINCESS LEIA #1-5
120 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2015
About the author
Mark Waid
3,188 books1,165 followersMark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 751 reviews
June 30, 2016
Since this is the third Star Wars comic collection I’ve reviewed this month you might be wondering why I’ve been binge reading these. Most of you probably missed this because there was hardly any marketing done for it, but there was a little indy movie called The Force Awakens that got made by some tiny studio. I think it’s only playing at art house theaters, but I managed to catch a showing. It got me craving more stories about the Star Wars universe and for some reason Marvel released a new line of comics so that was fortunate timing.
I think maybe Marvel has some kind of association with the same fly-by-night studio that made the movie? Anyhow, that’s why I’ve been reading all these. And if you get a chance to catch the movie I highly recommend it, but you better hurry because I hear it’s tanking at the box office and probably won’t be in theaters long.*
What we’ve got here is Princess Leia going on her own solo adventure shortly after the events of A New Hope, but before the events of the main Star Wars comic. Leia is reeling a bit because her old home planet of Alderaan got blown to smithereens by the Empire, and it was kinda sorta her fault. So she takes it on herself to go gather up the remaining Alderaanians (Alderaans? Alderaanicans? Figure it out for yourself, nerd!) and find them a new home to protect them from Imperial vengeance.
I had pretty high hopes for this since it was written by Mark Waid, and I’ve loved what he did on Daredevil, but this fell short of my expectations. The artwork is pretty good, and he adds some nice layers to Leia by exploring the responsibility she feels to her people as the last surviving member of their royal family which is an angle the movies never had time for.
However, it suffers from some of the problems inherent to any tie-in novel or comics like the other spin-off about Darth Vader that depends on introducing new story and characters. I’m just not all that interested in those new elements and people I've never seen in the movies because I know they really don't matter. When Leia appoints a new character, Evaan, as her right hand woman to help her out with this mission I can’t get too invested in her because I know she wasn’t in Empire Strikes Back so she’s not that important in the long run or she’s dead meat walking.
The main Star Wars comic title worked very well because it was all about Luke, Leia, Han, Vader, Chewbacca, etc., etc. When you do an off-shoot story that depends on just one of them than it’s almost always disappointing because you can’t help but wish the gang would get back together.
So it’s a good tie-in title that has some interesting things, but it didn’t blow my hair up into cinnamon buns over my ears.
* The first two paragraphs of this review contain irony in which I knowingly wrote false statements in order to get some laughs based on the success of the new Star Wars movie. Sadly, my Goodreads history has taught me that I must make disclaimers like this for people who read everything literally with no sense of humor and then tell me what an idiot I am in the comments. The joke is on you, nerf herder!
I think maybe Marvel has some kind of association with the same fly-by-night studio that made the movie? Anyhow, that’s why I’ve been reading all these. And if you get a chance to catch the movie I highly recommend it, but you better hurry because I hear it’s tanking at the box office and probably won’t be in theaters long.*
What we’ve got here is Princess Leia going on her own solo adventure shortly after the events of A New Hope, but before the events of the main Star Wars comic. Leia is reeling a bit because her old home planet of Alderaan got blown to smithereens by the Empire, and it was kinda sorta her fault. So she takes it on herself to go gather up the remaining Alderaanians (Alderaans? Alderaanicans? Figure it out for yourself, nerd!) and find them a new home to protect them from Imperial vengeance.
I had pretty high hopes for this since it was written by Mark Waid, and I’ve loved what he did on Daredevil, but this fell short of my expectations. The artwork is pretty good, and he adds some nice layers to Leia by exploring the responsibility she feels to her people as the last surviving member of their royal family which is an angle the movies never had time for.
However, it suffers from some of the problems inherent to any tie-in novel or comics like the other spin-off about Darth Vader that depends on introducing new story and characters. I’m just not all that interested in those new elements and people I've never seen in the movies because I know they really don't matter. When Leia appoints a new character, Evaan, as her right hand woman to help her out with this mission I can’t get too invested in her because I know she wasn’t in Empire Strikes Back so she’s not that important in the long run or she’s dead meat walking.
The main Star Wars comic title worked very well because it was all about Luke, Leia, Han, Vader, Chewbacca, etc., etc. When you do an off-shoot story that depends on just one of them than it’s almost always disappointing because you can’t help but wish the gang would get back together.
So it’s a good tie-in title that has some interesting things, but it didn’t blow my hair up into cinnamon buns over my ears.
* The first two paragraphs of this review contain irony in which I knowingly wrote false statements in order to get some laughs based on the success of the new Star Wars movie. Sadly, my Goodreads history has taught me that I must make disclaimers like this for people who read everything literally with no sense of humor and then tell me what an idiot I am in the comments. The joke is on you, nerf herder!
July 4, 2015
Princess Leia is the third release from Marvel’s new 2015 Star Wars line - and it’s also the worst so far!
Like the other two books, this series is set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Leia’s home planet Alderaan has been blowed up by the Death Star so she decides to fly off with Artoo and a female Alderaanian pilot called Evaan, and collect as many surviving Alderaanians from the rest of the galaxy to… uh... and then the books ends after five issues!
I think Mark Waid’s forgotten how to write interesting comics. They’re always competently written but by god are they tedious to read! My biggest problem with this limited series was how completely boring it was! Leia’s quest is vague - just go, somewhere, and find some people - and lacked a villain - the Empire are just hovering in the background as always. There’s no drive to the story which isn’t that great a premise to start with anyway, and no tension. Waid finds second gear early on and never leaves it for the remainder of the book.
Waid doesn’t do much with Leia. She’s the same character at the end as she was at the start and the same character that she was from the movies. For all the focus, Leia is as Leia does and the extra space doesn’t expand her character from strong-willed female protagonist to anything more.
If you thought Waid would look deeper into her character to maybe show her grief over losing her homeworld, you’d be wrong - a handful of panels are devoted to some semblance of emotion over her people’s genocide before it’s brushed aside again.
The book ends so abruptly too - I guess she saved enough Alderaanians? Or maybe that was all there was of them, in two locations? Eh, whatever!
Terry and Rachel Dodson’s art was pretty good - very warm, flowing lines in contrast to the sharpness of Salvador Larocca’s in Darth Vader and John Cassaday’s in Star Wars. I did have a problem with issue #3 where Leia and co. are halted by a group of armed guards who are shown to be at least 10-15 feet away from them but in the next panel Leia is stood right next to a guard and easily swipes his gun - no-one shoots at her either! Sloppy spatial distortion and bad plotting.
Speaking of bad plotting, in issue #5 on the surface of the desert planet Skaradosh, a spaceship rescues Leia and co. out of nowhere. One of the Empire’s goons says “No ship could have gotten by us undetected” - so why did it? Because plot convenience!
Oh yeah, and who isn’t a fan of the shitty prequels? Leia makes a pit stop at Naboo to remind us Natalie Portman was her mum (though Leia’s unaware of this). Any reminder of those movies is bad juju, at least for me, and didn’t make me like this book any better. At least we didn’t see that loathsome creature - you know the one. Even the sarlacc would spit him out!
Mark Waid’s Princess Leia is a character-driven story that doesn’t show us anything new about the character or tell a memorable tale. Boring, aimless and eminently skippable, Princess Leia shows us why Star Wars works best as an ensemble space opera.
Like the other two books, this series is set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Leia’s home planet Alderaan has been blowed up by the Death Star so she decides to fly off with Artoo and a female Alderaanian pilot called Evaan, and collect as many surviving Alderaanians from the rest of the galaxy to… uh... and then the books ends after five issues!
I think Mark Waid’s forgotten how to write interesting comics. They’re always competently written but by god are they tedious to read! My biggest problem with this limited series was how completely boring it was! Leia’s quest is vague - just go, somewhere, and find some people - and lacked a villain - the Empire are just hovering in the background as always. There’s no drive to the story which isn’t that great a premise to start with anyway, and no tension. Waid finds second gear early on and never leaves it for the remainder of the book.
Waid doesn’t do much with Leia. She’s the same character at the end as she was at the start and the same character that she was from the movies. For all the focus, Leia is as Leia does and the extra space doesn’t expand her character from strong-willed female protagonist to anything more.
If you thought Waid would look deeper into her character to maybe show her grief over losing her homeworld, you’d be wrong - a handful of panels are devoted to some semblance of emotion over her people’s genocide before it’s brushed aside again.
The book ends so abruptly too - I guess she saved enough Alderaanians? Or maybe that was all there was of them, in two locations? Eh, whatever!
Terry and Rachel Dodson’s art was pretty good - very warm, flowing lines in contrast to the sharpness of Salvador Larocca’s in Darth Vader and John Cassaday’s in Star Wars. I did have a problem with issue #3 where Leia and co. are halted by a group of armed guards who are shown to be at least 10-15 feet away from them but in the next panel Leia is stood right next to a guard and easily swipes his gun - no-one shoots at her either! Sloppy spatial distortion and bad plotting.
Speaking of bad plotting, in issue #5 on the surface of the desert planet Skaradosh, a spaceship rescues Leia and co. out of nowhere. One of the Empire’s goons says “No ship could have gotten by us undetected” - so why did it? Because plot convenience!
Oh yeah, and who isn’t a fan of the shitty prequels? Leia makes a pit stop at Naboo to remind us Natalie Portman was her mum (though Leia’s unaware of this). Any reminder of those movies is bad juju, at least for me, and didn’t make me like this book any better. At least we didn’t see that loathsome creature - you know the one. Even the sarlacc would spit him out!
Mark Waid’s Princess Leia is a character-driven story that doesn’t show us anything new about the character or tell a memorable tale. Boring, aimless and eminently skippable, Princess Leia shows us why Star Wars works best as an ensemble space opera.
July 7, 2022
“Whatever happens Leia...you must keep Alderaan alive.”
Set directly after the Battle of Yavin, Princess Leia sees the titular character go on a mission to save every last surviving son and daughter of Alderaan after it got blown up in A New Hope. She brings along Evaan, a rebel pilot from Alderaan who seems to have a problem with the princess for some reason. Their mission seems like it may go smoothly until it turns out the Empire is searching for the last survivors of Alderaan too.
Mark Waid scripts all 5 issues while Terry and Rachel Dodson take care of the pencils and inks, respectively, and it’s always nice seeing Jordie Bellaire’s colors in a Star Wars book. The team of artists do an impeccable job throughout every single issue of this series. The Dodson’s splash pages are breathtaking throughout this, and each page always feels like it’s being constructed with a unique panel layout. The main problem for me was Mark Waid’s writing, which sucks since I usually like Waid a good deal.
I think his writing mostly fell flat here because even though I love Leia, everything about this book is regarding Alderaan, and like who cares? I mean I know some do, but I sure as fuck don’t care about anything regarding Alderaan. I get why Waid went this route for the story and everything, but you can’t expect me to just care about Alderaan and this book does nothing to make you. Alderaan’s only purpose in the original Star Wars was to get blown up, and that’s because George Lucas needed a planet to get blown up by the Death Star. That’s it. I get trying to add personality and background to a place and its people, but this planet’s only purpose in this universe is to be the place where Leia hides from Vader growing up before it gets blown up. That’s it. I even rolled my eyes every time it popped up in Kenobi, like I really don’t care about this place.
I would’ve preferred this being set in between the Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy, with Leia flashing back to this mission or even another one later down the line, and how what she learned during it connects to her current Jedi training. Or just anything interesting because the flashbacks we got just weren’t. I get Disney has a tight leash on what these creators can do, but this was weak. Leia can also come across as a bit desperate and clueless here, which are two words I would have never used to describe her before reading this. I did LOVE the scene of Leia on Naboo seeing a stained glass of Padme, it was a great emotional moment that ties this franchise together.
Unless you are a massive Princess Leia or Terry Dodson fan, I would recommend skipping this. Even if the art is incredible, the story is serviceable at best and Waid just wasn’t the right pick for this story. He doesn’t have the best voice for Leia and this was pretty creatively bankrupt, even for a Star Wars comic. This is a pretty nothing story with some pretty art.
Set directly after the Battle of Yavin, Princess Leia sees the titular character go on a mission to save every last surviving son and daughter of Alderaan after it got blown up in A New Hope. She brings along Evaan, a rebel pilot from Alderaan who seems to have a problem with the princess for some reason. Their mission seems like it may go smoothly until it turns out the Empire is searching for the last survivors of Alderaan too.
Mark Waid scripts all 5 issues while Terry and Rachel Dodson take care of the pencils and inks, respectively, and it’s always nice seeing Jordie Bellaire’s colors in a Star Wars book. The team of artists do an impeccable job throughout every single issue of this series. The Dodson’s splash pages are breathtaking throughout this, and each page always feels like it’s being constructed with a unique panel layout. The main problem for me was Mark Waid’s writing, which sucks since I usually like Waid a good deal.
I think his writing mostly fell flat here because even though I love Leia, everything about this book is regarding Alderaan, and like who cares? I mean I know some do, but I sure as fuck don’t care about anything regarding Alderaan. I get why Waid went this route for the story and everything, but you can’t expect me to just care about Alderaan and this book does nothing to make you. Alderaan’s only purpose in the original Star Wars was to get blown up, and that’s because George Lucas needed a planet to get blown up by the Death Star. That’s it. I get trying to add personality and background to a place and its people, but this planet’s only purpose in this universe is to be the place where Leia hides from Vader growing up before it gets blown up. That’s it. I even rolled my eyes every time it popped up in Kenobi, like I really don’t care about this place.
I would’ve preferred this being set in between the Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy, with Leia flashing back to this mission or even another one later down the line, and how what she learned during it connects to her current Jedi training. Or just anything interesting because the flashbacks we got just weren’t. I get Disney has a tight leash on what these creators can do, but this was weak. Leia can also come across as a bit desperate and clueless here, which are two words I would have never used to describe her before reading this. I did LOVE the scene of Leia on Naboo seeing a stained glass of Padme, it was a great emotional moment that ties this franchise together.
Unless you are a massive Princess Leia or Terry Dodson fan, I would recommend skipping this. Even if the art is incredible, the story is serviceable at best and Waid just wasn’t the right pick for this story. He doesn’t have the best voice for Leia and this was pretty creatively bankrupt, even for a Star Wars comic. This is a pretty nothing story with some pretty art.
July 7, 2022
I expected more from this book given the creative team. Waid's writing felt bland and felt like just a stock story. Terry Dodson is a fantastic artist but he's changed his art to give it more of an animation feel. It's not as detailed as his previous work and I didn't really care for it. It just felt sloppy when I can normally get lost in his pages.
November 16, 2015
This is the least of the first three Marvel Star Wars comics, which doesn't mean that it's bad. It starts with a plausible, reasonable plot to assign to a solo Leia book: Leia wants to gather together the remnants of Alderaan. Ok, that makes a certain kind of sense. And Waid seemed to have a decent handle on the character of Leia as of a A New Hope. But the problem is that it never quite goes beyond a decent plot and decent characterization. For one, the plot is way too big to be assigned to a short, five issue miniseries. The work of uniting the survivors of Alderaan to settle a new planet is so obviously not going to be accomplished in five issues that Waid just kind of has Leia hand the task off and go on her way. I guess we're supposed to take it that she's done enough to get the ball rolling, but it just felt abrupt and unsatisfying. Add to that the fact that Waid fails to do anything interesting with Leia as a character. It felt very superficial at times, and it does nothing to advance her character or give new insight into her personality at all. This isn't a bad book, and it has good spots. It just could have been a lot better with a more contained storyline and a bit more insight.
December 28, 2015
I quite liked this one. I thought it started well, but lost its way a bit in the middle. Fortunately, Mark Waid seemed to steer it back on course for a strong finish.
I usually like Terry Dodson's artwork, and this was no exception, but he really seemed to struggle with capturing a likeness for Leia, which let it down a little bit.
Overall, I liked it but it could have been better.
I usually like Terry Dodson's artwork, and this was no exception, but he really seemed to struggle with capturing a likeness for Leia, which let it down a little bit.
Overall, I liked it but it could have been better.
December 10, 2015
3.5 stars
What is the best thing to do when you hear that there is a Star Wars spy story with Princess Leia, has well written dialogues, sharp humor and political intrigue and it is written by Mark Waid? Well… to read it of course, duh!
What is the best thing to do when you hear that there is a Star Wars spy story with Princess Leia, has well written dialogues, sharp humor and political intrigue and it is written by Mark Waid? Well… to read it of course, duh!
January 5, 2016
I think I stopped buying and reading comic books at approximately the same time that I discovered that girls were willing to have sex with me.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying comic books were a symbol of my immaturity, that my coming of age required a putting away of childish things, and some of those “childish things” included comic books. That’s not it at all.
In actuality, I just didn’t have time to read them anymore, and I certainly didn’t have the money to buy them. All of my time and money was basically spent in pursuit of young ladies’ affections.
Time and money wasted, in retrospect.
Which is why, now that I’m married and have a kid, I’ve got all the time and money I want to spend on comic books. The problem: I’ve been out of the loop so long, I haven’t a clue where to even start.
I walked into a comic book store several months ago, for shits and giggles, with the intention of spending roughly $20.
There used to be a time when I could walk out of a store with a decent pile of comic books for $20.
Holy crap, comic books are expensive nowadays.
I was hard pressed to find a comic book under $5. That’s ridiculous.
As I perused some of the familiar titles, I noticed that these weren’t the same characters I knew growing up. Literally. While the costumes of the superheroes I knew hadn’t changed, the people in them had. That was weird and disappointing. In my time away from the comic book world, I had missed too much.
Another disappointing thing: comic books have become extremely violent and gory and way too sexualized for young audiences. Granted, I’m well aware that the demographics for comic books have changed, but kids are still buying them.
It may sound curmudgeonly of me, but it’s a new reality that I don’t like about comic books, especially now that I’m a parent of a child who may one day read comic books. I certainly won’t stop my daughter from reading them---in fact, I will, most likely, encourage it---but I am certainly planning on being more vigilant and picky about the stuff she reads.
Sadly, I walked out of that store without buying anything. I’m not sure how long I spent in there---half an hour to an hour, at most---but it was enough time for me to realize that I had officially outgrown comic books. Or they had outgrown me. Whichever the case, I knew that I could never go back.
Until now.
Marvel Comics, who has reinvigorated the superhero genre with their phenomenal series of films based on “The Avengers”, has recently released a new line of comic book series set in the “Star Wars” universe, appropriately in time to usher in the much-anticipated J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Wars:The Force Awakens”, a movie coming out in mid-December, and, by all accounts, is already setting box office records as pre-order tickets have already sold out.
It’s no coincidence, of course, that both Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm are now owned by Disney, which seems to be the last bastion of decent, well-made, original family-friendly entertainment out there.
(Seriously, Disney is worshipped in our household the way some families worship God, Jesus, Buddha, or Allah. At some point every day, “Frozen” or one of the “Toy Story” movies is playing at the request of my two-year-old, and the TV rarely deviates from the Disney Junior channel. When it does, it’s to watch ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, both of which are, of course, created by Disney Studios. The only non-Disney show I watch is “The Walking Dead”, and I have a sneaking suspicion that there are some Disney executives right now attempting to capitalize on the popularity of zombies in order to make them more “family-friendly”. Hell, if anyone can do it, it’s probably Disney...)
My first comic book purchase in almost 20 years is the compilation of the first five issues of “Princess Leia”, written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Terry Dodson.
Ostensibly, the purchase was for my daughter, who is obviously much too young to appreciate (or read) it. In actuality, the purchase was for myself, as I am a sucker for anything “Star Wars” but also because I have had a crush on Princess Leia since I first laid eyes on Carrie Fisher’s ruby-red lips, doe-like eyes, and pastry-shaped hair buns when I was five years old. She made me tingle in places I didn’t have names for yet.
Thankfully, Dodson’s artwork does not devolve into the pre-adolescent tendency of some comic book artists for drawing female characters with breasts the size of watermelons and hour-glass waists so thin that an actual hour-glass would implode under its own weight. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a guy, so I will concede that there is a time and place for huge boobs---namely, behind closed doors in front of a computer screen when no one else is home---but desecrating a cherished Alderaanian princess and childhood heroine is not it.
The Leia in Waid/Dodson’s series is adorable and a badass, which is the way it should be.
The story takes place immediately after the events of the original film, “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope”.
The success of the Rebel Alliance’s destruction of the Emperor’s Death Star at Yavin is small comfort to the millions of now-homeless Alderaanians scattered throughout the galaxy.
Leia, who would have been next in line to rule Alderaan, is now left without a home planet to rule. She does not have time to mourn her loss, however, as she plans on rounding up the scattered Alderaanians, as the Emperor---simply to add insult to injury---has dispatched orders to kill any remaining survivors of the lost planet.
She recruits the help of an Alderaanian soldier named Evaan to help her in her search. Evaan doesn’t like Leia much, at first, believing her to be reckless and cold in her lack of apparent upset at the loss of their home planet, but she gradually begins to have respect for Leia.
Together, Leia, Evaan, and trusty little R2-D2 travel the galaxy to gather up survivors in order to recruit them into the Rebel Alliance as the last remaining Alderaanian force. Unfortunately, an Imperial Star Destroyer is hot on their trail.
There’s not really a lot of depth to Waid’s story, and the character development is basically limited to Leia and Evaan’s growing respect for each other, but it’s still entertaining and fun. Dodson’s artwork is minimalist but beautiful, and his depiction of Leia is spot-on. Did I mention she is adorable?
There are several more graphic novels in the Marvel Star Wars line, including “Lando”, “Darth Vader,” and “Kanan” (a new character featured on the Disney XD TV show “Star Wars Rebels”, which is damn good for a kid’s show), and more to be published in the next couple of months.
I think my love of comic books is slowly being rekindled...
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying comic books were a symbol of my immaturity, that my coming of age required a putting away of childish things, and some of those “childish things” included comic books. That’s not it at all.
In actuality, I just didn’t have time to read them anymore, and I certainly didn’t have the money to buy them. All of my time and money was basically spent in pursuit of young ladies’ affections.
Time and money wasted, in retrospect.
Which is why, now that I’m married and have a kid, I’ve got all the time and money I want to spend on comic books. The problem: I’ve been out of the loop so long, I haven’t a clue where to even start.
I walked into a comic book store several months ago, for shits and giggles, with the intention of spending roughly $20.
There used to be a time when I could walk out of a store with a decent pile of comic books for $20.
Holy crap, comic books are expensive nowadays.
I was hard pressed to find a comic book under $5. That’s ridiculous.
As I perused some of the familiar titles, I noticed that these weren’t the same characters I knew growing up. Literally. While the costumes of the superheroes I knew hadn’t changed, the people in them had. That was weird and disappointing. In my time away from the comic book world, I had missed too much.
Another disappointing thing: comic books have become extremely violent and gory and way too sexualized for young audiences. Granted, I’m well aware that the demographics for comic books have changed, but kids are still buying them.
It may sound curmudgeonly of me, but it’s a new reality that I don’t like about comic books, especially now that I’m a parent of a child who may one day read comic books. I certainly won’t stop my daughter from reading them---in fact, I will, most likely, encourage it---but I am certainly planning on being more vigilant and picky about the stuff she reads.
Sadly, I walked out of that store without buying anything. I’m not sure how long I spent in there---half an hour to an hour, at most---but it was enough time for me to realize that I had officially outgrown comic books. Or they had outgrown me. Whichever the case, I knew that I could never go back.
Until now.
Marvel Comics, who has reinvigorated the superhero genre with their phenomenal series of films based on “The Avengers”, has recently released a new line of comic book series set in the “Star Wars” universe, appropriately in time to usher in the much-anticipated J.J. Abrams-directed “Star Wars:The Force Awakens”, a movie coming out in mid-December, and, by all accounts, is already setting box office records as pre-order tickets have already sold out.
It’s no coincidence, of course, that both Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm are now owned by Disney, which seems to be the last bastion of decent, well-made, original family-friendly entertainment out there.
(Seriously, Disney is worshipped in our household the way some families worship God, Jesus, Buddha, or Allah. At some point every day, “Frozen” or one of the “Toy Story” movies is playing at the request of my two-year-old, and the TV rarely deviates from the Disney Junior channel. When it does, it’s to watch ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, both of which are, of course, created by Disney Studios. The only non-Disney show I watch is “The Walking Dead”, and I have a sneaking suspicion that there are some Disney executives right now attempting to capitalize on the popularity of zombies in order to make them more “family-friendly”. Hell, if anyone can do it, it’s probably Disney...)
My first comic book purchase in almost 20 years is the compilation of the first five issues of “Princess Leia”, written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Terry Dodson.
Ostensibly, the purchase was for my daughter, who is obviously much too young to appreciate (or read) it. In actuality, the purchase was for myself, as I am a sucker for anything “Star Wars” but also because I have had a crush on Princess Leia since I first laid eyes on Carrie Fisher’s ruby-red lips, doe-like eyes, and pastry-shaped hair buns when I was five years old. She made me tingle in places I didn’t have names for yet.
Thankfully, Dodson’s artwork does not devolve into the pre-adolescent tendency of some comic book artists for drawing female characters with breasts the size of watermelons and hour-glass waists so thin that an actual hour-glass would implode under its own weight. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a guy, so I will concede that there is a time and place for huge boobs---namely, behind closed doors in front of a computer screen when no one else is home---but desecrating a cherished Alderaanian princess and childhood heroine is not it.
The Leia in Waid/Dodson’s series is adorable and a badass, which is the way it should be.
The story takes place immediately after the events of the original film, “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope”.
The success of the Rebel Alliance’s destruction of the Emperor’s Death Star at Yavin is small comfort to the millions of now-homeless Alderaanians scattered throughout the galaxy.
Leia, who would have been next in line to rule Alderaan, is now left without a home planet to rule. She does not have time to mourn her loss, however, as she plans on rounding up the scattered Alderaanians, as the Emperor---simply to add insult to injury---has dispatched orders to kill any remaining survivors of the lost planet.
She recruits the help of an Alderaanian soldier named Evaan to help her in her search. Evaan doesn’t like Leia much, at first, believing her to be reckless and cold in her lack of apparent upset at the loss of their home planet, but she gradually begins to have respect for Leia.
Together, Leia, Evaan, and trusty little R2-D2 travel the galaxy to gather up survivors in order to recruit them into the Rebel Alliance as the last remaining Alderaanian force. Unfortunately, an Imperial Star Destroyer is hot on their trail.
There’s not really a lot of depth to Waid’s story, and the character development is basically limited to Leia and Evaan’s growing respect for each other, but it’s still entertaining and fun. Dodson’s artwork is minimalist but beautiful, and his depiction of Leia is spot-on. Did I mention she is adorable?
There are several more graphic novels in the Marvel Star Wars line, including “Lando”, “Darth Vader,” and “Kanan” (a new character featured on the Disney XD TV show “Star Wars Rebels”, which is damn good for a kid’s show), and more to be published in the next couple of months.
I think my love of comic books is slowly being rekindled...
February 24, 2018
This one's pretty bad. And I should have seen it coming. The reviews on this site were mixed. In a video where he talked about the new Star Wars Canon, Kristian Harloff said that this was the worst of the comics. And after reading the first issue of Mark Waid's Princess Leia comic that was included in the trade paperback for Shattered Empire, I was expecting even less. And yet... did it really have to be THIS bad?
THE STORY: Immediately after duping Chewbacca out of that medal during the awards ceremony at the end of A New Hope, Princess Leia is all of a sudden treated like little baby and not allowed to leave the house... GAAAAWWWDD the opening issue is horrible. Right now I wish my goodreads pal Crystal Starr Light could come in and read this comic so she could help me out with this review by providing a snarky plot summary like she did with her Fatal Alliance review.
Ok, ok... the real version. But honestly, it's almost as bad.
So this comic BRILLIANTLY sets up how great its going to be by opening with the medal ceremony at the end of A New Hope and reminding us about how Chewy never got his medal. Leia wants to go about her normal duties with the rebellion, but General Dodonna doesn't let her do anything except mourn the loss of her homeworld of Alderaan because.... she has a bounty on her h....ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? *GROAN* I'll get to this later.
Anyways, it turns out this blond rebel pilot girl named Evaan is an Alderaanian, and after she reminds Leia of some Alderaan royalty mumbo-jumbo they pair up and go on an adventure, with R2-D2 joining them, to try and round up as many surviving Alderaanians as they can to allow the people and culture to survive.
And... that's it. It's just Leia and Evaan on a road trip in space, picking people up like a pair of soccer moms. Throw in a star destroyer commanded by a throw away imperial officer to serve as a villain, and you're set.
Does this sound half-baked yet? Trust me, we're just getting started! uugghh, let's just get this over with....
THE BAD: I was dissapointed by this comic series even after going in with low expectations.
The characters are awful. The side characters have little to no personality and are quite forgettable. There are multiple instances where characters flip flop in their decision making quite rapidly just to move the plot along. Evaan is strong, and that's it. The leader of the Sullustan Alderaanians is bigoted and distrustful. That's it. The imperial officer characters are just... imperials. The only purpose of them is to be an obstacle so that there can be a battle at the end.
Now for Leia. This is the first time I have seen a character inaccurately portrayed in the new canon. She often comes off as way to harsh and mean spirited in this book, and it really doesn't work.
The story is pretty weak. It ends up being painfully boring pretty much up until the last issue. Most of it is just talking, talking, and more talking. The addition of the star destroyer and the imperials felt very forced and phoned in. Nien Nunb had no reason to be included in the story whatsoever.
I hate the artwork. When it doesn't look cheap, it's inexcusably cheesy. The action is boring and the character designs are incredibly lazy, with Leia and Evan looking almost exactly alike except for different hair colors. There is the absolute minimal detail in the character's faces, really just to show their gender. The worst part though? A panel with stars floating above a thug's head to show that he got hit. No, just... no. I never expected to see something so stupid in a Star Wars comic. I'm not saying that comic artwork always has to be as great as Salvadore Larocca or Marco Checchetto, but this level of quality is unacceptable.
And finally, the writing. Good god, it's atrocious. When it isn't dull, it's cringe-worthy. The majority of the dialogue is boring. The scene transition is unbearably sloppy. And the way the rebels acted with Leia... *SIGH* This is some of the worst writing I have ever scene. It's disgraceful, sexist, and beyond contrived. A BOUNTY ON HER HEAD AND YOU FORCE HER TO STAY AT THE BASE? This... just... NO! Leia is more than capable of taking care of herself. Did you forget that she had those death star plans and even after getting captured refused to reveal the location of the base after her home planet was destroyed? If you were so worried about her getting captured, why did you let her handle the mission with the death star plans? SHE'S A FREAKING REBEL AGENT YOU MORONS, SHE RISKS CAPTURE ALL THE TIME!!!!!! Oh, and then you just let her come back without any repercussion. Um... Ok. At least Revan gives understandable reasons for Bastila to stay home. THIS... this is offensively bad.
THE GOOD: Well... it was better than Fatal Alliance... I guess that's a plus, right?
One of the only things that stood out as kind of interesting was the subplot between Tace and Tula. It was kind of cool to see Tula manipulate her emotionally unstable sister to allow the empire to find Leia and the missing Alderaanians. It also leads to some of the only decent moments where Leia is actually in character and interesting. But even that subplot is hastily wrapped up in a forgettable way.
At least the last issue is sort of fun, when we had those amassed ships that reminded me of the fleet from Battlestar Galactica and we had that admittedly cool speech from Leia. I will also say the resolution was legitimately satisfying, and not just because I wanted to finish reading this comic faster. But we still have to deal with the lame art work that took me out of it.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 0.5 stars.
This comic is garbage. As you can tell, I'm going to tell you to skip it, because I hated it. I really wish this could have been good, for the Princess Leia comic was a huge wasted opportunity to tell a fun star wars story with a cast dominated by female characters that oozed with girl power. But alas, the force just had to be sexist this time. Lame.
THE STORY: Immediately after duping Chewbacca out of that medal during the awards ceremony at the end of A New Hope, Princess Leia is all of a sudden treated like little baby and not allowed to leave the house... GAAAAWWWDD the opening issue is horrible. Right now I wish my goodreads pal Crystal Starr Light could come in and read this comic so she could help me out with this review by providing a snarky plot summary like she did with her Fatal Alliance review.
Ok, ok... the real version. But honestly, it's almost as bad.
So this comic BRILLIANTLY sets up how great its going to be by opening with the medal ceremony at the end of A New Hope and reminding us about how Chewy never got his medal. Leia wants to go about her normal duties with the rebellion, but General Dodonna doesn't let her do anything except mourn the loss of her homeworld of Alderaan because.... she has a bounty on her h....ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? *GROAN* I'll get to this later.
Anyways, it turns out this blond rebel pilot girl named Evaan is an Alderaanian, and after she reminds Leia of some Alderaan royalty mumbo-jumbo they pair up and go on an adventure, with R2-D2 joining them, to try and round up as many surviving Alderaanians as they can to allow the people and culture to survive.
And... that's it. It's just Leia and Evaan on a road trip in space, picking people up like a pair of soccer moms. Throw in a star destroyer commanded by a throw away imperial officer to serve as a villain, and you're set.
Does this sound half-baked yet? Trust me, we're just getting started! uugghh, let's just get this over with....
THE BAD: I was dissapointed by this comic series even after going in with low expectations.
The characters are awful. The side characters have little to no personality and are quite forgettable. There are multiple instances where characters flip flop in their decision making quite rapidly just to move the plot along. Evaan is strong, and that's it. The leader of the Sullustan Alderaanians is bigoted and distrustful. That's it. The imperial officer characters are just... imperials. The only purpose of them is to be an obstacle so that there can be a battle at the end.
Now for Leia. This is the first time I have seen a character inaccurately portrayed in the new canon. She often comes off as way to harsh and mean spirited in this book, and it really doesn't work.
The story is pretty weak. It ends up being painfully boring pretty much up until the last issue. Most of it is just talking, talking, and more talking. The addition of the star destroyer and the imperials felt very forced and phoned in. Nien Nunb had no reason to be included in the story whatsoever.
I hate the artwork. When it doesn't look cheap, it's inexcusably cheesy. The action is boring and the character designs are incredibly lazy, with Leia and Evan looking almost exactly alike except for different hair colors. There is the absolute minimal detail in the character's faces, really just to show their gender. The worst part though? A panel with stars floating above a thug's head to show that he got hit. No, just... no. I never expected to see something so stupid in a Star Wars comic. I'm not saying that comic artwork always has to be as great as Salvadore Larocca or Marco Checchetto, but this level of quality is unacceptable.
And finally, the writing. Good god, it's atrocious. When it isn't dull, it's cringe-worthy. The majority of the dialogue is boring. The scene transition is unbearably sloppy. And the way the rebels acted with Leia... *SIGH* This is some of the worst writing I have ever scene. It's disgraceful, sexist, and beyond contrived. A BOUNTY ON HER HEAD AND YOU FORCE HER TO STAY AT THE BASE? This... just... NO! Leia is more than capable of taking care of herself. Did you forget that she had those death star plans and even after getting captured refused to reveal the location of the base after her home planet was destroyed? If you were so worried about her getting captured, why did you let her handle the mission with the death star plans? SHE'S A FREAKING REBEL AGENT YOU MORONS, SHE RISKS CAPTURE ALL THE TIME!!!!!! Oh, and then you just let her come back without any repercussion. Um... Ok. At least Revan gives understandable reasons for Bastila to stay home. THIS... this is offensively bad.
THE GOOD: Well... it was better than Fatal Alliance... I guess that's a plus, right?
One of the only things that stood out as kind of interesting was the subplot between Tace and Tula. It was kind of cool to see Tula manipulate her emotionally unstable sister to allow the empire to find Leia and the missing Alderaanians. It also leads to some of the only decent moments where Leia is actually in character and interesting. But even that subplot is hastily wrapped up in a forgettable way.
At least the last issue is sort of fun, when we had those amassed ships that reminded me of the fleet from Battlestar Galactica and we had that admittedly cool speech from Leia. I will also say the resolution was legitimately satisfying, and not just because I wanted to finish reading this comic faster. But we still have to deal with the lame art work that took me out of it.
THE CONCLUSION: Final rating is 0.5 stars.
This comic is garbage. As you can tell, I'm going to tell you to skip it, because I hated it. I really wish this could have been good, for the Princess Leia comic was a huge wasted opportunity to tell a fun star wars story with a cast dominated by female characters that oozed with girl power. But alas, the force just had to be sexist this time. Lame.
February 13, 2017
We are alderaan.
We answer rage with wisdom.
We answer fear with imagination.
We answer war with hope.
Alderaan is gone and what is a princess without a kingdom?
The story is a quest of Princess Leia, to keep Alderaan alive through its survivors. The story started off well and ended well but somewhere in the middle, it stretched out a bit. The artwork is great and the series is action packed but not something that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
We answer rage with wisdom.
We answer fear with imagination.
We answer war with hope.
Alderaan is gone and what is a princess without a kingdom?
The story is a quest of Princess Leia, to keep Alderaan alive through its survivors. The story started off well and ended well but somewhere in the middle, it stretched out a bit. The artwork is great and the series is action packed but not something that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
November 29, 2015
What girl doesn't want to be Princess Leia?!! I adored this comic. And if someone could send me all of The princess clothes that would be terrific. Look forward to the next comic. Princess Leia is so badass.
May 24, 2017
could have been gay, was not gay
April 10, 2016
Leia finds herself without a home or a role in the rebellion and the few of her people that remain don't think too highly of her ice queen persona. Why doesn't she grieve, they wonder? As if everyone must grieve in the same way. Leia imposes herself on an Alderaanian pilot named Evaan with whom she wants to be friends, though the woman keeps herself at a carefully caustic subservient distance. They take off to scour the galaxy for pockets of survivors to gather them together before the Emperor wipes them out completely.
The exploration of Leia's feelings and actions following the death of her planet has the potential to be a great read, but that's not really what we get here. In fact, I can't really say that this is a Leia story at all since the character often doesn't resemble Leia at all in her actions. She's brash and bold, and quick to drop pretenses and subterfuge -- which is good since every time she "disguises" herself, everyone immediately recognizes her. Probably because she wears bright white and has got that telltale hair thing going on. She impresses the wayward Alderaanians with her courage and willingness to sacrifice herself, but the storytelling just doesn't dig deep enough to make any of this convincing. This is a complaint I've had with a few graphic novels recently where perhaps too many assumptions have been made about the character and their survival to tell a convincing story. I suspect that some of the problem is the medium. The limited space in a comic doesn't give a lot of time for exposition and character introspection. Alternatively, perhaps if Leia's mission had focused on one or two groups rather than bouncing around to three, it would have allowed for greater detail and depth. I found myself comparing this to Martha Wells' Razor's Edge that dealt with a similar adventure but (a) the format allowed for more depth, and (b) the plot stayed put in one place, with one group of Alderaanians.
The art was Terry Dodson standard which is to say that it is good and I like it, but in my maturity, I've grown tired of "same face" syndrome. Occasionally Leia looks like Carrie Fisher, but mostly she just looks like every other character in the book and every other character Dodson has ever drawn.
www.bibliosanctum.com
The exploration of Leia's feelings and actions following the death of her planet has the potential to be a great read, but that's not really what we get here. In fact, I can't really say that this is a Leia story at all since the character often doesn't resemble Leia at all in her actions. She's brash and bold, and quick to drop pretenses and subterfuge -- which is good since every time she "disguises" herself, everyone immediately recognizes her. Probably because she wears bright white and has got that telltale hair thing going on. She impresses the wayward Alderaanians with her courage and willingness to sacrifice herself, but the storytelling just doesn't dig deep enough to make any of this convincing. This is a complaint I've had with a few graphic novels recently where perhaps too many assumptions have been made about the character and their survival to tell a convincing story. I suspect that some of the problem is the medium. The limited space in a comic doesn't give a lot of time for exposition and character introspection. Alternatively, perhaps if Leia's mission had focused on one or two groups rather than bouncing around to three, it would have allowed for greater detail and depth. I found myself comparing this to Martha Wells' Razor's Edge that dealt with a similar adventure but (a) the format allowed for more depth, and (b) the plot stayed put in one place, with one group of Alderaanians.
The art was Terry Dodson standard which is to say that it is good and I like it, but in my maturity, I've grown tired of "same face" syndrome. Occasionally Leia looks like Carrie Fisher, but mostly she just looks like every other character in the book and every other character Dodson has ever drawn.
www.bibliosanctum.com
April 29, 2017
Mark Waid fundamentally doesn't understand Leia as the Slytherin princess-general of my heart. But hey, points for giving Leia a woman friend? And the art?
Let's not talk about the plot.
Let's not talk about the plot.
November 30, 2018
I don't think this comic did much for me in terms of Princess Leia's story. It felt a bit like filler. The art is absolutely gorgeous though, which doesn't always happen with Star Wars comics.
January 23, 2018
"We are Alderaan. We answer rage with wisdom. We answer fear with imagination. We answer war with hope. We are, each of us, important. Alderaan survives."
- Princess Leia
I'm in complete and total awe of this graphic novel. It's not a good thing. I enjoyed Mark Waid and I know he can write good or great graphic novels. However, I cannot forgive him for making a saga with PRINCESS LEIA boring. That's exactly what he did!
Star Wars: Princess Leia is only five issues long making this volume very scant. It takes place immediately after the ending of Star Wars: A New Hope. Dealing with the destruction of her homeworld, Alderaan, Princess Leia goes on a mission to gather up the remaining citizens of Alderaan, whom happened to be off-world.
Now, in and of itself, that plot seems like it could be interesting. Not only does a part of Alderaan survive for Leia, she'll also have new recruits for the rebellion. However, nope. Star Wars: Princess Leia was incredibly boring that I was wondering if I actually reading something about her or some jobber.
There were some aspects I liked from it. Her president from Independence Day type speech at the end is one. Also, there's a part where she has to go to Naboo and sees a stained glass window of Queen Amidala, a.k.a, Leia' s birth mother. It transfixed her for a bit until she shrugs it off. I thought it was poignant and sad.
Another is Terry Dodson. He's the artist of Star Wars: Princess Leia and he made Leia look damn beautiful. I loved it! Props to Rachel Dodson as well for awesome inking skills.
Honestly, Star Wars: Princess Leia left me wanting more than this paltry installment. She is my favorite SW character and I certainly adored her portrayer, the late Carrie Fisher. I want more adventure. I wanted more conflict. I wanted more something. Something that would make this graphic novel a complete waste of my time.
This was a sorely disappointing read.
- Princess Leia
I'm in complete and total awe of this graphic novel. It's not a good thing. I enjoyed Mark Waid and I know he can write good or great graphic novels. However, I cannot forgive him for making a saga with PRINCESS LEIA boring. That's exactly what he did!
Star Wars: Princess Leia is only five issues long making this volume very scant. It takes place immediately after the ending of Star Wars: A New Hope. Dealing with the destruction of her homeworld, Alderaan, Princess Leia goes on a mission to gather up the remaining citizens of Alderaan, whom happened to be off-world.
Now, in and of itself, that plot seems like it could be interesting. Not only does a part of Alderaan survive for Leia, she'll also have new recruits for the rebellion. However, nope. Star Wars: Princess Leia was incredibly boring that I was wondering if I actually reading something about her or some jobber.
There were some aspects I liked from it. Her president from Independence Day type speech at the end is one. Also, there's a part where she has to go to Naboo and sees a stained glass window of Queen Amidala, a.k.a, Leia' s birth mother. It transfixed her for a bit until she shrugs it off. I thought it was poignant and sad.
Another is Terry Dodson. He's the artist of Star Wars: Princess Leia and he made Leia look damn beautiful. I loved it! Props to Rachel Dodson as well for awesome inking skills.
Honestly, Star Wars: Princess Leia left me wanting more than this paltry installment. She is my favorite SW character and I certainly adored her portrayer, the late Carrie Fisher. I want more adventure. I wanted more conflict. I wanted more something. Something that would make this graphic novel a complete waste of my time.
This was a sorely disappointing read.
December 14, 2015
This is as good as you can do with a Princess Leia book Mark Weid? Here's what I wanted:
- Character growth
- Girl Power
- Fun adventure
Here's what I got:
- Slight variations on her two hairstyles from A New Hope.
- A quest that even she seems confused by.
- An ending that basically hits the reset button on the whole thing.
There's a reason that they only gave this book 5 issues. I will say this: The artwork was beautiful. So, yeah, maybe just look at the pretty pictures and don't read the words, I guess?
- Character growth
- Girl Power
- Fun adventure
Here's what I got:
- Slight variations on her two hairstyles from A New Hope.
- A quest that even she seems confused by.
- An ending that basically hits the reset button on the whole thing.
There's a reason that they only gave this book 5 issues. I will say this: The artwork was beautiful. So, yeah, maybe just look at the pretty pictures and don't read the words, I guess?
December 4, 2016
I need more Leia comics in my life.
April 16, 2016
"We answer rage with wisdom.
We answer fear with imagination.
We answer war with hope."
We answer fear with imagination.
We answer war with hope."
August 8, 2022
princess slaya organa is not beating the bisexual allegations
December 26, 2023
Set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, this story is about Leia dealing with the pain of losing her family and the entire planet of Alderaan. Immediately after the medal ceremony, Leia approaches General Dodonna to see how she can help and discovers that surviving Alderaan citizens who were off-world when the planet was destroyed are being hunted down by Imperial forces. Leia quickly finds pilot Evaan Verlaine, a fellow Alderaanian, to help her find and save their brethren. With a few slick maneuvers they escape to Naboo to find an enclave of musicians who keep their culture alive. I did appreciate the few panels that showed Leia seeing her birth mother represented in stained glass and feeling a connection without knowing why. Smuggler and pilot Nien Nunb joins the women as they continue searching other worlds for survivors, and there is an intriguing subplot about what makes a true Aldaraanian when they discover an outpost of survivors that have intermarried with natives of that planet.
Author Mark Waid, who has written Kingdom Come and Strange Fruit, two favorites of mine, gives Leia a story to work through her grief. He addresses some hard questions: Is Leia still a princess without a world? What parts of a culture are worth saving? Should descendants of people who now look and act differently be considered valid citizens of Alderaan? This one-off graphic novel tries to pull together many threads but isn’t able to delve deep into many of the issues. I ended up wanting a bit more from this story than Waid could deliver.
The artwork was a mixed bag for me. The most glaring issue for me was that Princess Leia did not look like Carrie Fisher. Artist Terry Dodson made Leia a hottie with form-fitting outfits and sexy come hither eye makeup and hair-dos. And it’s not as if he couldn’t replicate the actors who portrayed them in the movies, as the depictions of Padmé and Bail Organa looked very accurate. There were several panels that lacked detail and definition; in particular, there was a scene of Leia as a child where she looked like a monkey with her face in profile and her hair flowing out like a tail. I typically love the way Jordie Bellaire colors, but in this book, the coloring was just standard, with some odd shading of faces.
All in all, this was an enjoyable outing with Leia that looked at a gap in the Star Wars narrative that helps explain how the loss of her people shaped her into the general she became in later years. (Actual rating 3.5/5)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2019/02/0...
Author Mark Waid, who has written Kingdom Come and Strange Fruit, two favorites of mine, gives Leia a story to work through her grief. He addresses some hard questions: Is Leia still a princess without a world? What parts of a culture are worth saving? Should descendants of people who now look and act differently be considered valid citizens of Alderaan? This one-off graphic novel tries to pull together many threads but isn’t able to delve deep into many of the issues. I ended up wanting a bit more from this story than Waid could deliver.
The artwork was a mixed bag for me. The most glaring issue for me was that Princess Leia did not look like Carrie Fisher. Artist Terry Dodson made Leia a hottie with form-fitting outfits and sexy come hither eye makeup and hair-dos. And it’s not as if he couldn’t replicate the actors who portrayed them in the movies, as the depictions of Padmé and Bail Organa looked very accurate. There were several panels that lacked detail and definition; in particular, there was a scene of Leia as a child where she looked like a monkey with her face in profile and her hair flowing out like a tail. I typically love the way Jordie Bellaire colors, but in this book, the coloring was just standard, with some odd shading of faces.
All in all, this was an enjoyable outing with Leia that looked at a gap in the Star Wars narrative that helps explain how the loss of her people shaped her into the general she became in later years. (Actual rating 3.5/5)
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2019/02/0...
December 27, 2019
This one is amazing! I hope to get more books of Leia's journey before she joined the rebels. Also, I ship her and Evaan. They are too cute to be lovers. 😍👩❤️👩
November 3, 2015
I have no idea why this one is rated so low compared to the other comics that marvel has released? Actually there is a small hint, and its probably due to the fact its Princess Leia headlining instead of Han or Luke (who both barely make an appearance in this comic).
I really enjoyed this narrative, it dealt with the emotional fallout of losing an entire planet, and demonstrated why Leia was one of the rebellions top commanders and all around badasses that the empire feared and wanted captured.
Yes it dabbled a little in politics but not to the extent of episodes 1-3 where it started to drag down the story. Honestly I can only assume the people who read this and complained about the lack of action only watch star wars for the scenes where the death stars explode and absolutely nothing else.
I really enjoyed this narrative, it dealt with the emotional fallout of losing an entire planet, and demonstrated why Leia was one of the rebellions top commanders and all around badasses that the empire feared and wanted captured.
Yes it dabbled a little in politics but not to the extent of episodes 1-3 where it started to drag down the story. Honestly I can only assume the people who read this and complained about the lack of action only watch star wars for the scenes where the death stars explode and absolutely nothing else.
September 25, 2017
The nostalgia factor - the initial two issued hit all the right marks with the references - may be clouding my rating decision like a Jedi mind trick. (Maybe it's all about timing, too - I coincidentally watched Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking on HBO the same weekend.) This was a fun solo adventure - well, that's bad choice of words - for the kick-ass princess and I would continue reading the series. The Evaan character (the X-wing pilot) is also interesting.
May 4, 2017
this was so good! I loved the friendship between Leia and Evaan. and the Alderlaan plot. kickass ladies in space make my world go around
full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2017/0...
full review here: https://catshelf.wordpress.com/2017/0...
April 9, 2016
An exciting and fun look at one of the best-loved characters in the original Star Wars trilogy.
April 4, 2020
We are alderaan. We answer rage with wisdom. We answer fear with imagination. We.. are incredibly boring and our faces look on every page different and we look like physically damaged and retarded and boha to bolo proste zlé z každého uhla pohľadu. Nechápem, ako mohol Waid napísať niečo tak nezaujímavé, ako mohol postavu písať tak, aby na začiatku bola nejaká a na konci taká istá, bez akejkoľvek zmeny/vývoja charakteru a celkovo nudný príbeh, kde tomu niečo skrátka chýba. Napísať v piatich zošitoch ako len hľadá ľudí a nič sa nedeje.. super.
November 15, 2015
This is one of the most lightweight Star Wars stories I've yet read. Writer Mark Waid begins with an intriguing premise: If there are people from Alderaan living on other worlds at the time of the planet's destruction, then doesn't that make Princess Leia their queen? Unfortunately, that initial hook becomes a rather silly, vapid story that ignores the deeper issues.
The story picks up at the awards ceremony on Yavin after the Death Star's destruction. Leia decides she needs to accept her responsibility as Queen of Alderaan and gather all the other survivors from throughout the galaxy. At her side is her trusty and eminently forgettable sidekick, an X-wing pilot named Evaan (who seems to have stolen Luke's outfit from the awards ceremony). By the end of the book, after some mildly Star Wars-y adventures and many moments of self-doubting and soul-searching, Leia has managed to collect a large number of Alderaanians, who have now left the planets where they had been living comfortably for years and are drifting together in a space fleet, with no home and with the Empire presumably hunting them down forever. Waid didn't convince me that this is a good thing.
Throughout this story, Leia seems off, and the book as a whole feels more like an episode of the old Droids cartoon than actual Star Wars--though still not as awful as the Holiday Special. Crafting a story that features almost entirely female characters is kind of a clunky way of bringing feminism to Star Wars, and the end result (for me, at least) was not that Princess Leia looks like a stronger or more interesting character than in the movies. Even learning the origin story of Nein Nunb wasn't enough to rescue this book.
The artwork is fairly bland and simple. It has the look of having been completed quickly, or with a too-short deadline. It's not terrible, but I just didn't see anything special in it.
Graphic novels should be a place for Star Wars--always a very visual storytelling world--to shine. But it didn't happen with Princess Leia.
The story picks up at the awards ceremony on Yavin after the Death Star's destruction. Leia decides she needs to accept her responsibility as Queen of Alderaan and gather all the other survivors from throughout the galaxy. At her side is her trusty and eminently forgettable sidekick, an X-wing pilot named Evaan (who seems to have stolen Luke's outfit from the awards ceremony). By the end of the book, after some mildly Star Wars-y adventures and many moments of self-doubting and soul-searching, Leia has managed to collect a large number of Alderaanians, who have now left the planets where they had been living comfortably for years and are drifting together in a space fleet, with no home and with the Empire presumably hunting them down forever. Waid didn't convince me that this is a good thing.
Throughout this story, Leia seems off, and the book as a whole feels more like an episode of the old Droids cartoon than actual Star Wars--though still not as awful as the Holiday Special. Crafting a story that features almost entirely female characters is kind of a clunky way of bringing feminism to Star Wars, and the end result (for me, at least) was not that Princess Leia looks like a stronger or more interesting character than in the movies. Even learning the origin story of Nein Nunb wasn't enough to rescue this book.
The artwork is fairly bland and simple. It has the look of having been completed quickly, or with a too-short deadline. It's not terrible, but I just didn't see anything special in it.
Graphic novels should be a place for Star Wars--always a very visual storytelling world--to shine. But it didn't happen with Princess Leia.
May 21, 2017
The braids, the skill, the sass! Leia proves that she's not just a pretty princess, she's a fierce and determined fighter who will do anything for her people.
I love the relationship between Leia and Evaan and how it shifts from Evaan begrudgingly teaming up with Leia out of respect as a royalist to Leia winning Evaan's friendship and respect through her actions. Leia's mission to gather and save the remaining Alderaanians is admirable, and I love that she fights even against her allies to achieve her goal.
This story really shows off Leia's cleverness as well as her amazing fighting skills. She's a warrior princess, willing to put herself in harm's way to protect people, but she's smart enough to have a plan up her sleeve and rely on her friends to help. The way she's able to inspire others to follow her shows that Leia truly has a noble heart that shines for all to see.
Also loved the little scene on Naboo where Leia encounters the mural of Padme and a later scene where Leia wistfully mentions that she wishes she had a sibling. They're sad but sweet little touches, that help show that Leia has a softer side.
The artwork in this novel is really great, and I love how much attitude the artists manage to portray in even just a single frame. The characters are true to the versions we know and love, and the action really pops.
Overall, this story is pure girl power, fantastically written and visualized. Leia has a goal, and she kicks butt, outsmarts the Empire, and inspires her people to achieve it. Anyone who thinks Leia doesn't deserve her own medal for heroism should read this story.
I love the relationship between Leia and Evaan and how it shifts from Evaan begrudgingly teaming up with Leia out of respect as a royalist to Leia winning Evaan's friendship and respect through her actions. Leia's mission to gather and save the remaining Alderaanians is admirable, and I love that she fights even against her allies to achieve her goal.
This story really shows off Leia's cleverness as well as her amazing fighting skills. She's a warrior princess, willing to put herself in harm's way to protect people, but she's smart enough to have a plan up her sleeve and rely on her friends to help. The way she's able to inspire others to follow her shows that Leia truly has a noble heart that shines for all to see.
Also loved the little scene on Naboo where Leia encounters the mural of Padme and a later scene where Leia wistfully mentions that she wishes she had a sibling. They're sad but sweet little touches, that help show that Leia has a softer side.
The artwork in this novel is really great, and I love how much attitude the artists manage to portray in even just a single frame. The characters are true to the versions we know and love, and the action really pops.
Overall, this story is pure girl power, fantastically written and visualized. Leia has a goal, and she kicks butt, outsmarts the Empire, and inspires her people to achieve it. Anyone who thinks Leia doesn't deserve her own medal for heroism should read this story.
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