Poe Dameron Annual #2 Review: Emotional stories tie present with past

Poe Dameron Annual #2 weaves the past and present together in an emotional story.

Poe Dameron and Han Solo never met in the movies. But in Poe Dameron Annual #2, the two certainly came close.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Poe sets off on a mission to retrieve a high-value item for Leia. The Resistance needs money and the item will contain valuable information they will be able to sell. Little does Leia know someone else is after the same thing – Han Solo and Chewbacca are working on their own plan to get the intel to pay off some of their own debts.

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It was good to see Han Solo and Chewbecca in action. They pretended to be members of the First Order, but were found out at the last moment. Han knows how to work himself out of sticky situations and this time he needed to blaster his way out.

As the skirmish is going on, Poe and the rest of the Black Squadron show up and take part. Poe boards the ship to find the target for his mission, but Han Solo finds it first.

Just as Han is about to take the box, he hears Poe and BB-8 and immediately recognizes them as part of the Resistance, which immediately means Leia.

This part of Poe Dameron Annual #2 was by far the most emotional and best part of it. Just seeing Han Solo think back on his and Leia’s life together made it all worth it. Their meeting, their blossoming relationship and their child. Even with all the bad that happened between them and with Ben falling to the Dark Side, the memories are of only their best times.

Photo credit: Poe Dameron Annual #2/Andrea Broccardo, Marvel Comics/Disney.

So Han drops the smuggler routine and leaves the box for Poe to find while also clearing the way for the ace pilot.

It turns out the remnants of Alderaan’s library are sealed in this box in a device. Apparently, scholars had gotten out before Alderaan was destroyed in fear something terrible could happen. Since they did, the knowledge of Alderaan lives on.

Poe Dameron Annual #2 was particularly emotional tying back to moments from the Original Trilogy with Han’s memories and Leia finding the lost texts of Alderaan. There was a good mixture to show the leadership of the old guard while showcasing how the newbies are the next generation to lead the Resistance against evil in the galaxy.

The one thing lacking from the annual was the artwork. While the characters were portrayed as they were in the movies, there was still something off about their faces. They were a resemblance of the characters, but not really that close. While being too perfect in details could be a distraction, this was a distraction in the other direction.

Still, the story was definitely worth it.

Pick up Poe Dameron Annual #2 at your local comic store.