The adventures of Black Squadron continue in Legend Lost and War Stories! I think this is about the point where things start to really ramp up and get super cool. Black Squadron flies into action for a fuel run, Terex Intel, and even some PR stuff! It’s great to see unusual mission stuff for Black Squadron to deal with as opposed to the usual jumping into a cockpit and blowing stuff up. But more importantly, Poe’s big character arc that pays off in The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, really starts with the seeds planted here.
Let’s get into it!
SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Funeral
The story starts with a funeral for their lost pilot. As a reader of this series and Shattered Empire, I was really taken with how well written the entire scene is done. The comic was also written/released shortly after the untimely passing of Carrie Fisher so a lot of these things hit me really hard at the time. The art and writing feel like it speaks directly to me and the loss we were all feeling at the time.
Actually, from around here on out, every appearance of Leia became really important and such a beautiful blessing and reminder of what she means to us.
Our Luminous Princess
Case in point, this is one of my favorite Leia moments in any media. The art and writing really capture the essence of Leia…
… and I can see Carrie shining through.
Cyber Terex
After the failure of the last few arcs, Terex is punished by getting those crazy cybernetic implants that strip away his humanity. In some cases, it’s a little sad (See the Lando comic series) but here I had a lot less empathy for Terex.
Downtime
It was just a nice moment here to play at the romance between Snap and Karé. And get a snappy joke from Jess.
This Bus Can’t Drop Below 50!
This whole plot of the bomb is straight up the 90’s Keanu Reeves movie Speed.
And I’m here for it.
Coming in Hot!
Having the fighters have to come in for landings on moving craft brought in some cool rough landings. This is also something I enjoyed a lot of recently in season 2 episodes of Star Wars Resistance!
Hyperspace Rings
Having the hyperspace rings we haven’t really seen since the Clone Wars era made for a fun plot point. It reminded me of the episode of The Clone Wars R2 Come Home. I love the idea of being able to take out an escape plan.
They Were Noble Astromechs
Jess Pava lives up to her namesake with her newest astromech’s noble sacrifice!
Sanitation
In the War Stories arc, we also catch up with our favorite Squamatan Suralinda Javos! She’s currently working sanitation on D’Qar which is a fun reminder that even in a galaxy far, far away, some jobs are universal!
Good Ol’ Y-Wings
It’s fun to see Y-Wings show up!
And to hear X-Wing pilots express their disdain for them!
Super Cool Sneaking Outfits
On the stealth/PR/Intel gathering mission, Jess and Kare switch into their sneaky gear! Which looks pretty cool!
Jess’s Memories
There are a couple of parts where we are given glimpses into Jess’s back story. They don’t really have any dialogue but the imagery is really powerful and the art is perfectly done.
Zero-G Shenanigans
Poe and BB-8 in space.
That’s it. That’s the tweet.
Heroes Don’t Win Wars
For me personally, this is where the Poe Dameron series really starts to hit its stride. I love the time the comic spends with the rest of the background characters of Black Squadron, but I also love how much of the film character growth of Poe is set up here. In this arc particularly you can see so much of Leia trying to get Poe to see what she sees in him. Well worth the read for the Poe and Leia moments alone!
The Rogue Rebels 