Comics Commentary: Princess Leia #4

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Dennis takes on the penultimate issue in this historic miniseries.

Princess Leia #4

Writer: Mark Waid | Pencils: Terry Dodson | Inks: Rachel Dodson | Colorist: Jordie Bellaire | Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga

Princess Leia #4 begins with the Lord Junn meeting with the Mellcrawler in space. The Mellcrawler is under the command of Nien Nunb, Lando’s co-pilot on the Millennium Falcon in Return of the Jedi. Nien has smuggled weapons to Leia and her crew, and has actively participated in smuggling Alderaanians off of Sullust under the nose of the Empire and at great risk to himself. Leia rewards Nunb for his bravery by bestowing an Alderaanian honor upon him and then turns her attention to the Imperial spy that Preserver Jora Astane has discovered.

Jora still harbors some doubts about Leia, which seem to surface after Leia orders that Tace, the apparent spy, be released and left alone with the Princess. Leia comforts Tace and discovers that her transmissions were innocent attempts to communicate with her sister Tula. Tace was apparently unaware that Tula was in the service of the Empire and reporting on the whereabouts of Tace and the Alderaanians to her commanding officer the entire time.

Leia sends Uwa, one of the members from the cloister on Naboo that Leia liberated in issue two, and Jora to Espirion to attempt to recruit additional Alderaanians. Espirion is home to both an indigenous race of red-skinned beings as well Alderaanians, including some beings that are the result of unions of both species. Jora exhibits racist attitudes towards the mixed-race Alderaanians, and is unpleased with the thought of recruiting “dilute” Alderaanians to Leia’s cause. The Alderaanians on Espirion doubt the sincerity of Uwe’s message on behalf of Leia and deem Leia’s absence as lack of interest on the part of the Princess. The final panels concerning Espirion in this issue show a ragtag fleet of small vessels entering Espirion space for an unknown purpose.

After a clumsy attempt by Tace, supervised by Leia, to gain counter-intelligence from Tula fails, Tula’s Imperial commander has her sent to a detention facility. Leia offers herself to the commander for Tula as part of a prisoner exchange. Predictably, Evaan has finally started to admire Leia and develop a fondness for her. She is of course aghast by Leia’s plan to herself over to the Empire. The issue closes with Leia having exchanged herself for Tula and the Imperial Commander escorting her to his shuttle. Clearly, Leia has a trick up her sleeve, and her destiny does not lie in the clutches of the Empire. We know this of course because Leia appears in The Empire Strikes Back. In addition, the last scene and panel between Leia and Evaan concludes with Leia imparting some sort of “guidance” or plan to Evaan, which is likely what the rescue plan will be once Leia has turned herself over to the Imperials. Furthermore, in Leia’s goodbye to R2-D2, she asks him to take good care of Evaan and bids him farewell by saying she’ll see him on the other side. Leia’s crew apparently isn’t in on whatever the plan may be as they interpret Leia’s goodbye as Leia believing she will not survive. The remark by one crewman that Leia expects “to go to droid heaven” was both ridiculous and fell flat.

This book is not so much about Leia sacrificing herself, but more about choices. Leia counsels both Tace and Tula that they need to choose a destiny for themselves and not worry so much about serving the rest of the galaxy. Of course, the irony is not lost on those near Leia. Her crew has witnessed her set aside everything to serve both the Rebellion and Alderaan. Contrary to what the crew thinks, Leia has already learned the lesson. When General Dodonna attempted to keep Leia under his watchful gaze, Leia struck out on her own mission. She hasn’t let anyone else dictate what her path will be. It just so happens her path lies in service to the Rebellion.

The next issue in this mini-series will be the last. Presumably Evaan, R2-D2, and other Alderaanians and Rebels will carry out some sort of mission to rescue the Princess. The fate of Evaan and many of the other Alderaanians is the largest looming issue for the series.

Favorite Panel:

The art in this issue was fairly consistent. I still think Evaan is a smartly designed character. Her attire resembles what Luke Skywalker wears throughout many of the films, which suggests that his clothes may have been standard Rebel pilot gear. The Dodsons did well will drawing Nien Nunb as well. My favorite panel is the one that reminded me of the films the most. On the final page, Leia is being cuffed by a stormtrooper and is standing face-to-face with an Imperial commander taking her into custody. Although it isn’t onboard the Tantive IV, I very much felt A New Hope vibe from this panel between Leia confronting Imperial authority and barren desert world in the background. The nostalgic feel of this panel is my favorite of the issue.