Star Wars #8: Leia’s Nemesis

Commander Zahra, the protégé of Grand Moff Tarkin, gets the spotlight in this chapter. In the last issue her backstory as the mentee of Tarkin played out, while also jumping to her present chase of the Alliance. This issue follows the same formula. It starts out with a quick flashback that establishes how she got into the position he is currently in, being personally recommended by Darth Vader himself for the job. The rest of this issue involves Zahra’s plan to corner and intimate Leia to gain Imperial glory by hurting it’s greatest leader/warrior. This is something she plans to take great satisfaction in.

This story is jam packed with everything one could want from a Star Wars issue. It has starfighting, character development, appearances by fan favorite characters, infiltration, personal conflict, and a set up for a compelling further storyline. Soule and crew really push the limits here. Ships look faithful to screen counterparts. Action splashes throughout the entire vividly colored issue beautifully. The only drawback is that characters  from the films don’t quite mirror the images of their respective actors recognizably. This is something the precursor series did extremely well. Most characters can be recognized by context and wardrobe, but the facial likenesses are lost in this one.

A second part of any arc is extremely important. The first issue established the setting, players, and motivations. The second should establish the story trajectory and pacing for the rest of the arc. This issue accomplished this and then some. Zahra’s motivations are sharpened as well as her skills as a more than competent Imperial commander. The series also finds strength in sticking to the more familiar plotline restrictions of the films. The former series had three years of story to fill between the A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back timeline, three time more than this one does leading up to the next film’s event. Things seem to move much faster here. This gives this series a more satisfying, exhilarating  pace, leading up to Return of the Jedi.