Star Wars #7: The Rise Of Commander Zahra

A fight is about to brew. A fight between the sole heir to a planet and throne destroyed by the Empire, and the protégé of Wilhuff Tarkin. The audience already knows Leia, the plucky and commanding warrior princess. However, her new adversary is a mysterious figure. Commander Zahra is a career driven follower of Governor Tarkin of A New Hope fame. This issue is almost entirely about her backstory and how she narrowly escaped the destruction of the Death Star and witnessed her master’s demise, only to root a deep-seeded desire for revenge. Princess Leia Organa created a powerful enemy that day. Leia Organa had made many enemies, but this is one who commands a Star Destroyer ravaged by the destruction of the Death Star which has been refitted stronger than ever and renamed “Tarikin’s Will.”

The whole point of this issue was to develop motivation and character for Commander Zahra, and this is an excellent start to an arc. There are countless times the Marvel Star Wars run has allowed for characters like this to develop into long running fan favorites. This particular chapter really slows down and gives a very precise snapshot of Zahra and her connection to Tarkin, and yet further establishes her deep hatred of Leia. Yet there are also times where seemingly strong characters like her get cut down quick, so it’s anybody’s guess as to how long she will last. The amount of development into her backstory and hatred of Leia denotes the former. It would be relatively safe to expect this character to survive for a bit longer. Frankly, giving Leia a new nemesis is refreshing, as she dealt with her last one from the previous series in Queen Trios.

Giving a revenge factor into an Imperial character is nothing new. In fact, female characters idolizing Tarkin who go on to attempt to avenge his death is also not new in Star Wars. Hardcore fan may be reminded of Admiral Natasi Daala, or Imperial pilot Ciena Ree for instance. New canon loves to borrow from old, and this move seems to follow the vein in the very best way.  Soule seems to continue to pump new life into Star Wars’ flagship series. Switching to colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, who has been working on Doctor Aphra as well, has seemed to add a bit more depth to the art that matches that of the original series. This was a great start to a new arc. Looks great. Zahra is developed well. The die is cast.