Written by: Charles Soule
Art by: Angel Unzueta & Frank D’Armata
Publisher: Marvel
About three quarters of the way through Poe Dameron, I stopped to take a screenshot of an error that editorial had pretty clearly missed. I’m not sure it will make it into the final issue. Anyways, that text box isn’t the point, the point is that after saving the screenshot, I forgot that I hadn’t finished the issue. I scrolled through Twitter for a solid 15 minutes before deciding to start the review, at which point I remembered that I didn’t know how the book ended.
I think that if I chose to end the review there, it may be enough to tell you whether or not Poe Dameron #7 is worth buying. I’m not going to, but if you’ve already figured out that this issue is incredibly boring, I won’t feel bad if you just stop reading here.
Now, there are some of you who will read this despite my words of warning. If, like me, you’re a Star Wars completionist, then whatever. By all means, read it, despite it being not so great. In all likelihood you’ve read Splinter of the Mind’s Eye as well, and there’s no way this is worse than that. In fact, I’m not even sure that Poe Dameron #7 is a bad comic.
Really, it’s just dull. I don’t actually have that much to say about it, so this review is likely going to be short. Even the Angel Unzueta art is kind of bland – it’s a bit too photorealistic. On top of that, the colors aren’t great at all, so it’s not even particularly interesting to look at the book. It’s not ugly, but again, it’s just dull. And that’s not a good thing.
I guess, aside from just being boring, the biggest criticism I can level against this issue is that it’s overwritten. Soule seems to be going out of his way to explain things that really don’t need to be explained. It all just feels like a rather clunky affair, and it’s difficult to read as a result. I guess that’s part of the reason I was so bored by this issue.
I mean, if that were the only fault, the book should have still been at least somewhat interesting. I mean, this is Poe Dameron we’re talking about! He’s such an awesome, fun character, in the vein of Han Solo. This issue completely misses that. The execution of Poe’s tone is completely off, and the book really doesn’t feel like Star Wars. And that’s a bummer.
In fact, this review just bums me out. Star Wars should always be great, and always be something I’m looking forward to. Instead, I finished this issue out of a weird sense of duty. I have to consume ALL THE STAR WARS or I’m just doing life wrong. Which, you know, is true, I just wish that I liked all of it.
