Star Wars #1 by Brian Wood is coming in January and we asked fans to share their excitement with all of you. This week we share Matt Johnson's thoughts on Princess Leia.
Princess Leia is a badass. Brian Wood knows this too. The main reason I am so pumped for the upcoming Star Wars comic book series is that it seems like we’re finally going to get some new stories that show just how amazing Leia is. When most people think of Leia, all they conjure up is images of the bikini or the hair buns. But her character is so much more than that, just like Obi-Wan is so much more than a beard or Han is more than a waistcoat and a blaster.
When captured by the Imperial Empire, does Leia panic and hide? Hell no. She slips away and sets a plan in motion that ends with the destruction of the Death Star. When captured and confronted by both Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader, two of the most terrifying people in the galaxy, she keeps her composure and refuses to crack. Later she’s tortured and is forced to watch the obliteration of her home. Yet she never caves in. Meanwhile, if I were in her position, I’d be a blubbering mess by the time Luke came to my rescue. How about murdering a Hutt with nothing but a chain? I’d be too busy hoping Salacious Crumb doesn’t laugh at me again. There are countless other examples across the trilogy of how tough she really is.
I’d go so far as to say that Leia is one of the strongest women in all of science fiction; she deserves far more credit than she gets. Brian Wood’s new series from Dark Horse returns to a time period that’s right in the middle of the conflict. It’s when the Rebel Alliance are just getting going and when Leia is needed the most. She has a huge amount of responsibility on her young shoulders. It’s the prime opportunity to let Leia loose and show her kicking some Imperial behind. What makes me absolutely ecstatic is that from what we’ve seen and heard so far she’s getting the star role she deserves.
The Star Wars movies had a disappointing lack of female pilots, but this new comic has Leia herself in an X-Wing pilot seat. Which is absolutely perfect. The Rebel Alliance are woefully understaffed; having Leia sit around while everyone else are getting their hands dirty would be downright dumb. Since Leia is a pilot this time, it makes me really excited to see where the rest of the series goes and what else she’ll do as the issues go by.
There are a lot of reasons I’m clamoring for this new series, but the number-one reason is I want to see what happens when a resilient princess is tasked with taking down the tyrannical organization that annihilated her home. The Empire had better watch out.
—Matt Johnson