Star Wars: Poe Dameron Ongoing Series Announced by Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics is launching a new ongoing series in their Star Wars lineup, and this one stars the best pilot in the galaxy. Poe Dameron will launch with writer Charles Soule and artist Phil Noto, telling the ongoing story of Poe’s work in the Resistance. The first issue ships April 2016.

The series, announced Thursday on USAToday.com, will show how Poe became to be known as the greatest pilot in the Resistance. Handpicked by General Leia, Poe Dameron and a squadron of pilots fly the most dangerous and top secret missions against the First Order.

“To see people reacting to him so strongly now just feels like we’re hopefully in a great position,” Soule told USAToday.

Poe Dameron’s backstory already started by way of comic books, as his mother Shara Bey was the star of Star Wars: Shattered Empire. The comic book mini-series gave Poe two parents who were both in the Rebel Alliance, and a childhood home of Yavin 4, something actor Oscar Isaac, who portrays him on film, was thrilled about.

“Sometimes it can feel like the Star Wars universe is so well trodden and so many stories have already been told. But the way the Episode VII galaxy is set up, there are opportunities for new archetypes almost, and the bad guy we’re working with is going to feel fresh and cool,” Soule teased of the first arc.

Soule has worked on several Star Wars comics for Marvel already, including the Lando mini-series, and the current Obi-Wan and Anakin series that fills in the large swathe of time between Episodes I and II. This will be his first ongoing series in the lineup, though, joining Star Wars and Darth Vader. It’s also the first ongoing series that takes place after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.

Noto, meanwhile, provided the art for the mini-series Chewbacca at Marvel Comics. He also did cover art and illustrations for several of the “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens” novels, including a rendering of Poe Dameron for “Before the Awakening.” The artist said he’s looking at Isaac’s movies (not just The Force Awakens) to see how to draw him in different physical and emotional situations.

“Seeing so much of him on screen, it’s easier in a way to act that part out in my head while I’m drawing: How would Oscar Isaac act in this situation as Poe Dameron?” Noto said.

Soule noted as well that Poe Dameron is unique because he “grew up the way we did, hearing all of these stories” about his parents and the Rebellion. Now, we get to hear stories about him, too.