REVIEW Marvel’s Star Wars Shattered Empire #1 And An Interesting Theory About Poe Dameron

Shattered EmpireToday, we bring you our special review of Marvel’s Shattered Empire #1.  Joining me are two very special guests, Cantina members Lady Musashi and Hard Case.  The three of us discuss the issue itself, it’s implications, and where it fits into the Star Wars Universe.

 

Because this is such a momentous occasion in the Star Wars comic landscape, we thought it would be great to post the review of this issue as a conversation.  No matter what you take away from the discussion between Lady Musashi, Hard Case, and myself…BOTTOM LINE:  THIS ISSUE IS FANTASTIC!  If you are a Star Wars fan, get to a comic book store right now and hand them your cash.  Nothing in this issue will let you down.  Without further delay, here is what we talked about.

 

The story of this issue covers a little bit of the clean-up the Rebel Alliance must do on Endor the day after the Battle of Endor.  That’s all I’m going to say because this issue should not be spoiled.  If you want to read some spoilers, see below, but we are still leaving plenty for you to discover yourself.

 

 

BEWARE THE SPOILERS, BOTH FOR THE ISSUE, AND POTENTIALLY, THE FORCE AWAKENS.

 

 

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KYLE:  What struck you both about this first issue?

 

LADY MUSASHI:  The art.  The art is beautiful!  Especially the space battles, which were excellent and made you feel as if you were in it.

 

HARD CASE:  Let me just say “Wow!”.  I loved this issue and I think it speaks volumes of what is to come.  The first thing that stood out to me was the artwork.  Checchetto and Mossa just did some beautiful work.

 

K:  The artwork for me, as well.  I felt like they really captured that World War I-era dogfighting Lucas originally went for in Star Wars.  It gave me such nostalgia for the first time I watched Return of the Jedi as a child.

 

HC:  Absolutely.

 

LM:  I also liked the little touches, like Shara’s scar.

 

HC:  This was the first time, in all the Marvel comics, I feel like the artist nailed Han Solo.

 

LM:  Yes, the spirit of Han Solo!  The banter between him and Lando and the ship was on point.

 

HC:  I loved the bit where he chided Lando for the “scratch” the Falcon got under his care.

 

K:  Especially when Lando puts the “old smoothie” moves on Mrs. Dameron.  I guess we should probably talk about that elephant in the room.  We have just met Poe Dameron’s parents and may very well have met them the night he was conceived!

 

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HC:  OMG! My jaw dropped and I was like “No Way!” And then I felt silly when I realized I really know next to nothing about Poe.  That’s how good of a job TFA marketing has been.  We already love these characters and we hardly know them.

 

LM:  I am thinking Shara and/or Kes will withess many personal moments for our old heroes.  There is a frame where Shara is biting her lips while waiting for Han, Kes & Co. to exit the base. Very effective.

 

K:  It didn’t seem at all gimmicky to me.  It seemed like a logical setup for what Poe’s motivations may be in The Force Awakens.  Especially, since we learned Leia views Poe as something of a protege in Moving Target (the young adult Leia JTFA novel released this past Friday).  I have a crazy theory.

 

LM:  Yes?

 

K:  What if the Damerons, Kes and Shara, don’t make it out of this series?  What if Leia or Han raise Poe?

 

HC:  That’s interesting… what if Leia takes Poe in and he’s like a son to her? Maybe this causes problems with Han?

 

LM:  It is possible, considering that we have an indication (Shara is alone on the covers of 2 and 3) that Kes is a gonner. Personally, I have connected Leia’s words aout Poe to her dilemma from Moving Target: cause vs. people. As in she sees Poe as driven, cause-oriented, he should stop and smell the roses.

 

K:  I agree.  It’s as if she sees so much of her youth in him.  If it turns out to be that Rey and Kylo Ren are children of whatever the Han/Leia union is, maybe that gives Poe Dameron a “Jon Snow” quality.  He’s racing to Jakku in the opening of TFA to save his adoptive-sister, who may or may not even know who he is at that point.  Kylo Ren resents him because Leia kept him around.  Kylo has some abandonment issues.  It could create some interesting dynamics between the three characters.  That whole piece of speculation is based on rumors that may or may not be true, so that’s as far as I’ll take it.

 

LM:  Let’s get back to Shattered Empire.  I like subtle inclusion of Luke.

K:  Yes, me too.  I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s all we saw of him.

 

HC:  I definitely think we’ll see Leia in the next issue, as she was the only main character absent from this issue (excluding the cover).  I do worry about the longevity of Kes Dameron…I mean technically he has served his purpose already if they decide to kill him off.

 

K:  I don’t think either of them will make it out of this series alive.  A lot of foreshadowing when Shara approaches the hut he may or may not be in on Endor.

 

HC:  After reading Lost Stars and now this comic,  I feel like they could make an entire film devoted to the Battle of Endor as well. A LOT of behind the scenes stuff going on, and I’m digging it.

 

K:  Do either of you think there will be any major time jumps from issue to issue in this series?

 

LM:  Not too far, I don’t think. I think it may cover a few first months when everything is confusion on all sides.

 

HC:   I think that would be really cool to have some time jumps in this series.  Maybe show us a young Poe?

 

K:  It feels like the material we have received in the new literature and comics of the canon is set very close to either a few years before or after A New Hope.  This issue says to me that we need a lot more material covering the 30-year gap leading up to this next trilogy.  Maybe even have special “Shattered Empire” editions of the current Star Wars character series Marvel has released.

 

HC:  Now there’s a thought.  They could tell a series of different yet related story arcs that lead up to TFA.

 

LM:  You can bet they will!  But, only after TFA.  It’s 30 years!  The two remaining books in Aftermath should be out before VIII. Once they see who are fan favorites, you can bet we will get more of their stories.

 

K:  I say more Shattered Empire!  This is what I’ve waited for since it was announced we would have books and comics covering this time gap.

 

HC:  Hear! Hear!

 

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K:  It was nice to see Han Solo taking charge.

 

HC:  Yeah, Han really came to the front in this issue.

LM:  Yes, the Han as a general was nice.  I’m really sad this is only four issues.

 

HC:  All I know is I want more Shattered Empire and if the rest is as good as issue #1… then Marvel can shut up and take my money.

 

K:  Yes, Marvel can take my money.  Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Disney can have it all if they keep making Star Wars stories as good as this one.

 

 

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Head on over to our thread in the Cantina and discuss this excellent addition to the Star Wars Universe!  Thank you to our guests Lady Musashi and Hard Case!

 

+ posts

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson lives in Portland, Oregon. When he's not running trails, he's reading and writing.

30 thoughts on “REVIEW Marvel’s Star Wars Shattered Empire #1 And An Interesting Theory About Poe Dameron

  • September 11, 2015 at 2:08 am
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    Great review guys, I especially like the speculation about Leia possibly raising Poe.

  • September 11, 2015 at 2:22 am
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    Thank you!!

  • September 11, 2015 at 2:36 am
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    I see that they really are setting up the new Cannon to almost completely ignore the world before the OT. It’s as if the thousands of year old Republic really hadn’t left a glimmer of hope. To me that is unrealistic.

    And the absence of Luke in everything so far really is starting to annoy me. I love the idea of Fin and Rey, but their stories can be told for decades. Luke, Han, etc. are quite literally running out of time.

    • September 11, 2015 at 2:55 am
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      really i saw a billion and one prequel references in most of the comics so far

      • September 11, 2015 at 4:02 am
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        Yeah even Mace Windu and the Battle of Genosis was mentioned in like the 2nd or 3rd chapter of Lost Stars

        • September 11, 2015 at 4:21 am
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          Yeah. I thought that was cool. Apparently in the Imperial history books Mace Windu is the one that started the Clone Wars by interfering with a legal execution on Geonosis.

          • September 14, 2015 at 6:52 am
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            I thought it was really cool too! I would love to see what the Imperial history books has to say about all those events I think that would be a cool little book they could put together rather easily. It wouldn’t be necessarily changing events from the past just twisting them to help paint the Empire in a good light and to help paint the Old Republic/Jedi/Rebellion in a bad light. I know I would at least think it would be a neat thing to see.

      • September 14, 2015 at 10:29 pm
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        Billion? Hardly, a few references designed to explain away why much of the PT doesn’t impact the ST.

    • September 11, 2015 at 3:13 am
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      Totally agree. I want more of the original characters already.

    • September 11, 2015 at 7:36 am
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      I want more Luke too but Kathleen Kennedy did say that one of the themes to the new Trilogy will be “who is Luke Skywalker, and what has he been up to?” as like part of the mystery. like it’s kinda obvious that EP VII will be the search for Luke when Rey and Fin find Anakin’s lightsaber and to search for someone who can train them the ways of the force. So basically if Aftermath, or shattered empire were to cover Luke, then that would be a spoiler for the new movies.

      • September 11, 2015 at 6:12 pm
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        I agree. I think the Lambada shuttle with Luke escaping the Death Star is the only time we will see him in the series. I hope I’m wrong but they are most likely going to withhold a lot when it comes to him.

        I want to see a mysterious figure visiting the pyre of Darth Vader and scooping up his mask. My theory is that will be the last page of issue #4.

      • September 14, 2015 at 10:27 pm
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        That’s the problem, I’ve been searching for Luke for 3 decades.

    • September 11, 2015 at 7:53 pm
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      i agree. im kinda tired of luke being almost non existent in these storylines. to me star wars is luke skywalker. i wanna know what the hell he was doing after he sees the force ghost and leaves endor. it wouldnt spoil much to show a little bit out of a 30 year gap. i mean come on just show us something! also when is this damn trailer coming out?

    • September 11, 2015 at 9:50 pm
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      We’ll get more Luke. But not until TFA hits the big screen. They’re obviously trying to hide everything about him … because they know that he’s the central character to the mythos. Once the Big Reveal occurs in TFA, we’ll see plenty of properties covering the 30-year gap in his life.

      The lack of Luke right now is ALL about anticipation.

  • September 11, 2015 at 3:10 am
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    Both Aftermath and Shattered Empire #1 ended up not being what I expected. I enjoyed them both for sure but I guess I was hoping for more insight on characters within The Force Awakens. I’m not upset that they didn’t and I understand why for sure. I suppose my excitement for TFA clouded reality. I love what they are doing as far as painting the picture of the political climate of the galaxy and the revelation in Shattered Empire was cool. I’m looking forward to more

  • September 11, 2015 at 3:31 am
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    Loved this issue. I liked how humorous it was (for once). My favorite joke: the guy who was loving the Ewok food despite not knowing what it was (because… You know.)

    • September 11, 2015 at 4:17 am
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      I don’t know!

      • September 11, 2015 at 4:25 am
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        It’s human or any other aliens that the Ewoks don’t mind cooking up for their feasts.

      • September 11, 2015 at 4:31 am
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        Really? OK. It is (or seems obvious to me, anyway) a reference to an old, bit of a sick, joke among fans. We see lots of campfires during those celebration scenes. So, what *are* those Ewoks roasting?

        We obviously don’t know a lot about the Ewoks’ diet, but what is the *one thing* that we know they don’t have any objection to cooking? Remember that scene with Han?

        At some point we see an Ewok playing drums using stormtrooper helmets. What happened to those troopers? In fact what happened to any of the captured troopers? Yikes!

      • September 11, 2015 at 2:27 pm
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        I’m willing to bet a few stormtroopers were served up fresh on Endor that night. Probably even used those helmets as bowls before they flipped ’em over and started drumming on them. Waste not…want not. 🙂

    • September 11, 2015 at 7:51 pm
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      ugh that just makes me hate them even more. thats disturbing to think they were just eating people while the rebels were celebrating. kill them all!

  • September 11, 2015 at 4:37 am
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    Gotta say, this issue was just the best! Readng it, the story seems to be waiting to explode, and really it’s all about the Dameron’s, Gary Rukka is a genius!

  • September 11, 2015 at 9:12 am
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    Solid comic. Great way to open up the story we already know. I’m curious if reading this comic will be required to understand who Poe is in TFA.

    • September 11, 2015 at 10:34 am
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      Doubt it will be “required”… movies are not made like that generally. It will probably just serve to add more dimension and depth to Poe’s character but not be actually required to understand what’s going on.

      • September 11, 2015 at 8:10 pm
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        That is exactly why I don’t buy the whole Sana Solo thing. The Star Wars movies are made so that you just have to had seen the previous films to understand what is going on. They aren’t going to introduce some crazy change to a character off screen and expect the audience to keep track. The moives are connected to the comics/games/novels but are still very independent pieces of media.

  • September 11, 2015 at 12:45 pm
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    Is this available in the UK?

    • September 11, 2015 at 6:09 pm
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      I’m not sure, but it should be by now. Check your local comic store (it may have sold out by now), Marvel.com, or comiXology. You can also order it from Amazon, occasionally, but I encourage you to find a local shop and support them first.

      • September 11, 2015 at 9:48 pm
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        Thanks Kyle, will see if I can find it here.

  • September 11, 2015 at 11:07 pm
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    So Poe is 30 years old in TFA. I feel like he was conceived after that sex scene of his parents

  • September 12, 2015 at 1:30 am
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    After reading Shattered Empire #1 and Moving Target, I had that exact same theory about Leia raising Poe. The way she talks about him in Moving Target does sound kinda motherly, and I can totally see Shara and her husband not making it out of all 4 issues of Shattered Empire alive. Even if Shara survives (I highly doubt her hubby does), maybe she and Leia become close, and Leia helps raise Poe, like a surrogate aunt, basically.

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