Poe Dameron Vol. 3: Legend Lost: A great lead-up to the events of The Last Jedi

Star Wars: Poe Dameron Vol. 3: Legend Lost by Charles Soule & Angel Unzueta

The third collection in the POE DAMERON series, which detail the events that lead up to The Force Awakens through the eyes of the (current) best pilot in the galaxy is a bit more serialized this time around, with several adventures that feel unconnected until the final chapter.

General Leia Organa is the leader of the Resistance, working out of a secret base on the planet D’Qar and sending Poe Dameron and his Black Squadron on a series of reconnaissance missions to undermine the First Order. So far they’ve dealt with a traitor in their midst and a ruthless former Imperial; now Poe meets with an old friend (a journalist called Suralina Javos of an alien species I’d love to see on the big screen) who has some information for him.

There are space battles here, and double-crosses, and plenty of the camaraderie between Black Squadron that you’d expect from a STAR WARS story, but this edition also finds a way of delving into some moral ambiguity. For instance, there’s more of the relationship between Leia and Poe, which is one of my favourite dynamics of the new films, which shows them butting heads in a way that foreshadows the events of The Last Jedi.

Likewise, Agent Terex returns in a surprising capacity, one that really drives home the ruthlessness of the First Order. I found myself disappointed that he didn’t make it as far as the films, as he’s a great villain and an interesting foil to Poe (who doesn’t really have a villainous analogue in the movies).

And as always, Charles Soule provides plenty of little details that help enrich and expand the stories we see on the big screens. We get to learn more about characters like Snap Wexley and Jessika Pava, who both appeared as little more than extras in The Force Awakens, and there’s especial poignancy in the wake of Carrie Fisher’s passing, when Leia tells Poe that she’s grooming him to be her successor. As she puts it: “Sooner than we’d like… I’ll be luminous.”