Poe Dameron #22 Review

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General Organa leads Black Squadron on an Ocean’s 11 style heist in Poe Dameron #22.

This article contains plot details for Poe Dameron #22.

Poe Dameron #22

Writer: Charles Soule | Artist: Angel Unzueta | Colorist: Arif Prianto | Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna | Cover Artist: Phil Noto | Assistant Editor: Heather Antos | Editor: Jordan D. White

Sometimes the best solution to a problem is not jumping in an X-wing and blowing something up. General Organa teaches Black Squadron that lesson in the pages of Poe Dameron #22. Under the guise of needing a vault to store her departed mother’s dresses, Leia visited Cato Neimoidia with the purpose of finding a secure vault. The truth of the mission is that Baron Maccon is preparing to execute Lor San Tekka for infiltrating his palace and Leia needs him to find Luke Skywalker. Therefore, Leia needs a heist, and she learned from her husband, Han Solo, and other smugglers how to pull off the perfect Ocean’s 11 style heist. That is the plan in Poe Dameron #22.

The Unfolding Plan Montage

Of course, Leia can’t wander into Baron Maccon’s palace and forcibly remove San Tekka. The Resistance doesn’t have the power and such a powerplay would create an intergalactic incident. So, Leia needs to steal Lor San Tekka from Baron Maccon. However, the palace is too well guarded to infiltrate. In addition, Lor San Tekka already proved that simple infiltration and stealth is unlikely to work. That is how he got caught in the first place.

Leia has an alternative plan though. This is where Ocean’s Eleven comes in. More specifically, the 2001 remake of the 1960’s classic. In Ocean’s Eleven, Danny Ocean leads ten other thieves in a robbery of three casinos in Las Vegas. Part of the narrative of the film is an unfolding plan montage. In the film, scenes of Danny Ocean and his right-hand man, Rusty Ryan, explaining their plan alternate with scenes of the actual execution of the plan. The film thereby avoids the complication of explaining the plan in detail and setting up an expectation it will fail.

The Montage in Poe Dameron #22

Similarly in Poe Dameron #22, panels featuring Leia explaining how the heist works are interspersed with panels featuring the execution of the plan. She explains how their plan requires three things. First is dishonesty, which is the ruse that they need some place to store the dresses in order to get into the palace. Second, they need misdirection. Leia needs them looking elsewhere while they execute their heist. Which brings Leia to the third thing they need: something to look at. This part of the plan is covered by Black Squadron invading Maccon’s airspace with three X-wings.

Leia’s plan has an added element in the inside man. Poe Dameron himself fills that role. The dresses were more than just a ruse. The shipping crates allowed Leia to smuggle Poe in. Once Snap, Karé, and Jess began their attack, Poe snuck out of his shipping crate and found Lor San Tekka. While Poe finds San Tekka, Leia helpfully explains that vaults are designed to keep people from breaking in, not out. Once Poe finds Lor San Tekka, it is time to smuggle him out much the same way Danny Ocean’s crew snuck the millions out of the casinos in Ocean’s Eleven. Unfortunately, there is a complication.

The Complication

Once Leia receives Poe’s signal that Poe found and rescued Lor San Tekka, she explains to Baron Maccon that she has second thoughts. The shipping crates with her dresses, Poe, and Lor San Tekka are brought back on board her ship. After that, Poe exits his crate to board his own X-wing. However, this is where the complication arises.

Before Leia and Black Squadron executed the final stages of the plan, two individuals invaded Leia’s ship and killed her crew. When Poe’s X-wing reaches the surface of Cato Neimoidia, one of them shoots BB-8 and hijacks the ship. This development is perfectly counter to the final bonus element Leia cites for a successful heist: luck.

To make matters worse, the thieves that make off with the Resistance ships are none other than Commander Malarus and Agent Terex.

Concluding Thoughts on Poe Dameron #22

Considering that Poe doesn’t catch up to Lor San Tekka until The Force Awakens, it isn’t too surprising that this plan wasn’t entirely successful. Despite that, Charles Soule’s use of the “unfolding plan montage” in Poe Dameron #22 is incredibly effective. The reader watches as the plan unfolds, and apparent failures and obstacles are overcome through advanced planning. However, Soule saves the best for last by altering the montage for the last, unaccounted-for element: luck. Leia and Black Squadron didn’t account for the First Order.

Not that they should have taken the First Order into consideration. Oddy Muva died a few issues ago. He was the mole in the Resistance. The First Order shouldn’t have known Leia and the Resistance would even be on Cato Neimoidia. Possibly Agent Terex’s knowledge of Poe and the Resistance provided the analysis that this would be the next move by the Resistance. Or, perhaps, the First Order simply heard that Lor San Tekka was held captive on Cato Neimoidia, and they did some simple math to figure out Leia’s plans. Regardless, the development is still somewhat surprising.

This may be the most effective use of Commander Malarus to date though. In previous issues, Malarus came off as nothing more than a Saturday morning cartoon villain. She seemed incapable of this type of cunning and was more about evil and meanness for evil and meanness sake. There was nothing subtle about her. However, this development, although minor in this issue, adds some depth of character. What is her plan for the Resistance ships she just stole? Does she know she has Lor San Tekka on board? Soule set up many story-telling possibilities with this development. This was a fantastic issue.