Princess Leia 1

Princess Leia 1

Princess Leia 1 is the first of five issues of thecanonMarvelcomic book mini-seriesStar Wars: Princess Leia. The issue, written byMark Waid with art byTerry Dodson, was released onMarch 4,2015 and was the highest-selling single comic book in March 2015.

The issue begins during theaward ceremony in theRebel base onYavin 4, picking up moments afterStar Wars: Episode IVA New Hope left off.PrincessLeia Organa grapples with her role in theRebel Alliance after thedestruction ofAlderaan and partners withEvaan Verlaine, a fellowAlderaanian, tosave the surviving Alderaanians from theGalactic Empire.

Publisher's summary[]

*When Princess Leia Organa was captured by the Empire as a Rebel spy, she never betrayed her convictions, even in the face of the complete destruction of her home world, Alderaan. When her rescue came, she grabbed a blaster and joined the fight, escaping back to the Rebel Alliance and helping strike the biggest blow against the Empire—the destruction of the Death Star. But in the aftermath of that victory, the question remains...what is a princess without a world?*Writer Mark Waid (Daredevil,S.H.I.E.L.D.) and artist Terry Dodson (Avengers & X-Men: Axis,Uncanny X-Men) bring us a story of Leia's quest to help her people and find her place in the galaxy.^[1]

Opening crawl[]

It is a time of both hope and mourningwithin the Rebellion. While on a secretmission to deliver stolen plans for theDeath Star to the Rebel Alliance,PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA was captured bythe Galactic Empire and forced to witnessthe battle station's power as it destroyedher home planet of Alderaan.With the help of a farmboy pilot and afast-talking smuggler, Leia escaped hercaptors and completed her mission.Using the plans, the Alliance was able todestroy the Empire's ultimate weapon.Having proven themselves a formidableenemy to the Empire, the rebels are inmore danger now than ever, leaving themwith little time to celebrate their triumph,or lament their loss....

Plot summary[]

After theRebel pilots returned from successfullydestroying theEmpire's greatest weapon, theDeath Star, the personnel of theYavin 4 honors newcomer heroes,Luke Skywalker,Han Solo andChewbacca, by orchestrating amedal ceremony for them, withPrincessLeia Organa handing them aMedal of Bravery.^[4] As the applauses end,GeneralJan Dodonna looks to Organa, silently letting her know the celebration is over, now being the time to reflect upon the lost. She starts by thanking the Rebels for their courage and sacrifice during the Battle of Yavin. She knows though, that their casualties were not small—Alderaan, an entireworld had beendestroyed, along withBail Organa andQueenBreha. They were not only the princess' parents, however, as Bail had been a founding member of theRebel Alliance. The Alderaanian asks the Rebels to take a moment of silence to honor them, and all those who had died when herhomeworld was destroyed. She wishes for them, and all the other beings lost, to be remembered forever.

General Dodonna takes over for Organa and states that this was not the proper time to mourn, though. The Empire knows their location, so now the Alliance's top priority is toevacuate Yavin 4. The Rebel fleet from throughoutthe galaxy are converging upon Yavin to assist in the evacuation, while others help in the effort of scouting for a new base location. With the ceremony over, the evacuation begins.

Before Solo, Chewbacca and Skywalker depart, Organa jokingly tells the owners ofMillennium Falcon that the Alliance could use the help of "a hairy beast and his copilot." Solo retorts that Chewbacca is the copilot not him, but Organa leaves it at two words: "I know." She greets Skywalker next, asking if he is staying with the Alliance. He insists he is not leaving any time soon, though he admits to feeling strange toward the princess. He feels that way because Organa had comforted him when he had lost his mentor,Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he wishes for her to have someone to comfort her for the loss of her homeworld and family. As Skywalker departs withR2-D2 andC-3PO, Organa notices a lone female in aflight suit, paying respects to a statue of Organa's parents.

Afterwards, Organa changes into a less luxurious outfit and goes to findAdmiralGial Ackbar to ask an audience with Dodonna. TheMon Calamari points her in the right direction after scolding several Rebel soldiers for their clumsiness. She approaches the General, who is currently searching for a location for the new base on a 3D holographic map. He greets her asSenator Organa, before remembering that, with theImperial Senate disbanded and Alderaan destroyed, the princess was no longer a senator. She informs Dodonna that she yearns to take action, if only to scout for a new base location. But the General disagrees, telling her the best thing for her to do for the time being is to grieve her losses as the Empire had placed a 10,000,000creditbounty on her just hours before. He states the princess will not leave Yavin "under anything less than a full military escort", and dismisses her.

Defeated, Organa leaves and again briefly runs into Ackbar. As she moves on, she hears two Rebel pilots, including the female pilot she had noticed earlier, talking about her.Evaan Verlaine refers to Organa as the "ice princess", before Organa barges in and dismisses the otherpilot. Verlaine bows to Organa, but she lets her know that formality is no longer required, only for her to ask the pilot why she had stayed behind earlier when the ceremony ended. Verlaine mutters a reply that Organa cannot hear, and the princess becomes frustrated. After coaxing Verlaine into revealing her past as a Royalist mentored directly by Queen Breha; she openly wonders why Verlaine respects the throne but not its keeper now. Verlaine lets her know she plans on preserving as much of Alderaan's culture as possible, before pledging herself to "Queen Leia Organa of Alderaan". Organa, however, disagrees in that she is no Queen; Verlaine tells her the Imperials are currently hunting down all surviving Alderaanians throughoutthe galaxy.

Shortly thereafter, Leia enlists the help of R2-D2 and records aholographic message of herself apologizing to Dodonna for disobeying his orders and leaving. She then sends the message and a decoy hologram of theastromechdroid to the General's quarters while he sleeps. Meanwhile, the trio make their escape at the dead of night in an elegantT-1 shuttle; their goal being to save all the remaining sons and daughters of Alderaan from the Empire. Just after departing Yavin 4, Organa insists that they both will be totally honest with each other. Verlaine agrees, yet tells Organa that leaving the Alliance's protection is ill-fated since Dodonna would put lives at risk to recover her. The princess dismisses her worry, and asks the small droid his opinion. R2-D2types his response on a screen: "I've got a bad feeling about this."

The next moment, Verlaine notices that they are being pursued by twoX-Wing starfighters piloted by Skywalker andWedge Antilles, the only two survivors ofRed Squadron during the Battle of Yavin. The two pilots order them to turn back, but Organa refuses. The fighters tries to box the T-1 in with a herding maneuver while Verlaine tries to outmaneuver the two of them. In the process, Verlaine recklessly collides with Antilles' X-wing, knocking off theshuttle'salluvial damper. As Organa accuses her pilot of deliberately sabotaging the mission because she disagreed with it, the two fighters back off, prompting Verlaine to hit thehyperdrive and escape the X-wings by jumping intohyperspace. Verlaine then explains to a confused Organa that the whole maneuver had been a ruse that she and R2 had cooked up. With her mind changed, Organa thanks Evaan for her magnificent work and asks her to get them toNaboo.

Development[]

OnSeptember 23,2015,^[5] Marvel re-releasedPrincess Leia 1 as part of its "True Believers" budget reprint program, which reprints popular comic titles for the suggested retail price of $1.^[6]

Release and reception[]

Star Wars: Princess Leia, Part I was the highest selling single comic book in March 2015.^[7]

Media[]

Editions[]

• UPC 759606081424;March 4,2015;Marvel Comics^[1]
• UPC 759606083824;September 23, 2015; Marvel Comics;True Believers^[5]
  • 00111; Cover A; Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson

Cover gallery[]

Cover Textless cover #1 by Terry Dodson Textless cover #2 by Terry Dodson Extended kid variant cover by Skottie Young Kid variant cover by Skotiee Young Textless movie variant cover by Lucasfilm Ltd. Movie variant cover by Lucasfilm Ltd. Textless preliminary teaser variant cover by John Cassaday Final textless teaser variant cover by John Cassaday Final teaser variant cover by John Cassaday Textless Dynamic Forces variant cover by Greg Land Dynamic Forces variant cover by Greg Land Previews variant cover by J. Scott Campbell Previews variant cover art by J. Scott Campbell Linked Previews variant covers by J. Scott Campbell Alex Ross textless variant cover by Alex Ross Alex Ross variant cover by Alex Ross Alex Ross sketch variant cover by Alex Ross Action figure variant cover by John Tyler Christopher Butch Guice variant cover by Butch Guice Mile High Comics variant cover by Gabriel Dell'Otto Mile High Comics textless variant cover by Gabriel Dell'Otto Textless Mark Brooks variant cover by Mark Brooks Mark Brooks variant cover Textless Midtown Comics variant cover by Mark Brooks Books a Million variant cover by Amanda Connor Books a Million black & white variant cover by Amanda Connor Blank variant cover Store variant cover by Alex Ross Textless Comicon variant cover by Adi Granov Comicon variant cover by Adi Granov Hastings variant cover by Mico Suayan GameStop variant cover by Greg Horn 2nd printing variant cover by Terry Dodson

Collected in[]

• Star Wars: Princess Leia trade paperback
• Star Wars: Shattered Empire trade paperback
• Star Wars: Heroes For a New Hope

Appearances[]

Sources[]

• Star Wars: Princess Leia #1 - Exclusive Preview! onStarWars.com(backup link)
• The Marvel Art of Star Wars

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• Princess Leia (2015) #1 onMarvel Comics'official website(backup link)