For those unfamiliar with the inspirations for Star Wars, among the most famous of them is Joseph Campbell’s A Hero of Thousand Faces.  As George Lucas determined his vision for Star Wars he used this book as well as others sources of inspiration from fiction to develop his space opera.  One of these inspirations was the use of a princess as one of the main characters, and with that the role of Princess Leia was born.  The character is a bit of an anachronism in a sense though.  Although considered to be a strong female character in relation to others in movies at the time, cinema has expanded women’s role since then, and her once higher status as an action/adventure science-fiction star is dwarved by others that have come after her.  The background of the character has been developed over the years, first by the admission of her true father in the Return of the Jedi, and thus that she was not really a princess, and later establishing her as the daughter of the Queen of Naboo and thus kind of establishing her as a princess once again.

What this new in-continuity series attempts to do is to explore some of the complexities which should be evident in this character but which have never been explored.  As Leia says within this issue, she has a title but no function, and while that is true of her plight following the Battle of Yavin, in some ways it could be equally true for her as a character as a whole.  Specifically this mini-series looks at Leia through the after effects of the destruction of Alderaan, and what effect that has on her as the regent of this adopted homeworld.  The resulting story of a regrouping of a diaspora is a common enough one in fiction, and maybe more so in science fiction, but it works here and works well.  Added to this is her own sidekick, a female Alderaanian pilot for the Rebel Alliance.  The pairing is not a natural one, but by the end of the issue it finds a way to work together.

The new direction that Marvel is taking Star Wars is an intriguing one.  This series is one that maybe no fans ever really asked for, but the question equally could have been “why didn’t they?”  The execution is not flawless, but the story is both engaging and entertaining enough to be an appropriate vessel for Star Wars’ first heroine.

Story: Mark Waid Art: Terry Dodson
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy