After taking a break from its ongoing story last month to give us a badass Ben Kenobi side story, this week’s issue of Marvel’s Star Wars series gets ready to deal with the fallout from that insane twist that sent ripples through the new Star Wars canon. It also gives us Princess Leia being awesome.
Spoilers for Star Wars #8 ahead...
Princess Leia’s own self-titled standalone miniseries, fell a little flat for me—Mark Waid and Terry Dodson did an admirable job, but without familiar friends to bounce off of, and not really much time to really get into Leia as a character, it was a side story that didn’t really feel like the Leia we know from the films all that much. On the other hand, her appearance in the main Star Wars series, penned by Jason Aaron, has been fantastic—especially as Aaron has developed a particularly excellent knack for the snipe-y banter between Leia and Han Solo that makes them so fun to watch in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. And hoo boy, does our Highness get the chance to snap the hell out of Han in Star Wars #8.
The issue—the first with art from Stuart Immonen, replacing John Cassaday as the regular series artist and already doing a fantastic job, with some incredible, vivid panels—picks up where Star Wars #6 left off. Han and Leia, hiding on a small planet after fleeing some Imperial patrols, find themselves rudely interrupted in their hiding by Sana Solo—a Bounty Hunter from Han’s past, that is very adamant that she is Han’s wife.
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Star Wars #6 didn’t leave us with much in terms of being able to get reactions from Han and Leia. While Han seems less than happy (and very confused) that Sana has shown up, Leia is distinctly not pleased. In fact, Leia is quite frankly having none of Sana or Han’s shit, and wanders off to let them deal with their particular brand of craziness:
That is, until Sana threatens Leia. Being a Bounty Hunter—and also honestly kind of a jerk—when Sana recognises that Leia is Princess Leia Organa, she blasts Han and Leia’s ship to smithereens and promptly calls the Imperials encircling the planet in an attempt to claim the massive bounty on Leia’s head.
Sana Solo’s—and by extension, Han’s, as Leia is equally pissed off with him—big mistake? NOBODY THREATENS PRINCESS LEIA:
Told you Leia got to kick butt. Well, a butt, specifically. Marvel’s Star Wars series has been pretty grand so far, but that panel might just be my favourite so far.
The issue ends with the trio’s showdown being interrupted by the arrival of the Imperials Sana called down, but hopefully this just means we’re going to get to see Leia kick even more asses in Star Wars #9. Snarky, not having anyone’s shit, and ready to blast anyone who disagrees: This is the comic book Princess Leia we’ve always wanted.