Books like Star Wars: Poe Dameron, Vol. 3: Legend Lost

It’s weird to think that, when it started, “Star Wars: Poe Dameron” ranked among my most disappointing Marvel-Star-Wars-comics, both ongoing and mini. Early on in its run, writer Charles Soule and artist Phil Noto seemed way too confined by their story’s placement in the broader Star Wars timeline, to the point that the first two arcs felt stifled, telling stories that-while entertaining enough-didn’t feel like they were doing much more than treading water until the REAL story could start. As someone who was – and frankly, still is – craving more content in the post-Return-of-the-Jedi, pre-The-Force-Awakens-era, to have something so close to what I want fall JUST short of my hopes for it was frustrating, to say the least. And then something funny happened: over the course of its second volume, “Star Wars: Poe Dameron” improved. Like, a lot. Storylines became less focused on leading up to “The Force Awakens,” characters that we’d only been allowed to know tangentially in the first two arcs started to become fleshed out, and Soule’s overall pacing seemed to sharpen. By the end of Volume 2, “Poe Dameron” had slowly but surely gone from being among my least anticipated “Star Wars” comics each month to becoming easily my most anticipated. And Volume 3? It’s the best story yet. Artist Angel Unzueta takes over art-duties this volume, and while there’s definitely an adjustment period required in transitioning from Noto’s rougher, sandier look to Unzueta’s more fluid style, I’d argue that Unzueta’s technique fits the story and characters even better than Noto: whether it’s depicting epic space battles or just capturing the physical likeness of the characters, there’s just something about Unzueta’s art that feels perfectly “Star Wars.” It also doesn’t hurt that we’re now three volumes into the series, which means that Soule is at a point with these characters that he’s able to tell stories with Black Squadron that, just by virtue of our increased familiarity with them, feel weightier and more emotionally involved than they might have if they’d taken place during the first volume. Like a fine wine, “Star Wars: Poe Dameron” is series that has only improved with age. Here’s to Volume 4.