World Famous Comics: The Warrior Princess (Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron, Volume 4)
The Warrior Princess (Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron, Volume 4)
By: Michael A. Stackpole Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 96 Publication Date: November 04, 1998 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: Rogue X-wing pilot Plourr is requested to return to her home planet . . . as a princess! While attempting to stop an internal rebellion, the planet's government finds that she may have her own way of running things.
Vader at play? My first foray with the X-Wing Rogue Squadron wasn't as satisfying as I'd hoped.
"The Warrior Princess" (Xena?) focuses on bald X-Wing pilot Plourr Ilo, who turns out to be the long-lost Princess Isplourrdacartha Estillo of Eiattu. With a backstory that conjures obvious comparisons to the the last tsar of Russia and the missing Princess Anastasia, this version follows through with a civil war that casts both the revolutionaries and the ruling nobles in a questionable light. Of course, the Imperial stormtroopers, TIE Fighter squadron and Grand Moff on the planet just add flavor to the mix.
But the story is fairly dull and uninspired. With the exception of the occasional twist, the plot is predictable, and you never feel for a moment like any of Our Heroes are in any real danger. The art is as wan and lifeless as the writing.
Of course, the book does give us the image of Darth Vader, in full black battle armor, playing with toys to the delight of a child, and after that you just know this creative team was out of ideas.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor
Satisfactory but not recommended reading The Warrior Princess is one Rogue Squadron comic I'm afraid is just satisfactory, not a must purchase. It is not essential reading in this series, in fact, is ideally bought if a discounted half-price copy is available.
The title, for starters, is painfully cliched. It brings to mind Xena images. Even later comics, like the Leia Organa story in the Empire series has similar titles, showing just how generic it is.
The art is just like Battleground: Tatooine, which I thought of as too light and sketchy. Here, in Eiattu's verdant swamps, it seemed even worse. Most of the new cast were typecast by their personalities: the revolutionary leader was a carbon copy of Earth equivalents, down to the "comrade" reference to his people; the new Rogues not quite as well presented as they are in later comics.
The dialogue was nothing fancy, but at least not the horror Tales of the Jedi was renown for. Plourr here lacks even her hair wig, bringing to mind how long you can look at a bald lady.
Having read Masquerade before this, I wondered what Tavira meant by Tycho's actions lost her control of Eiattu, which made her flee offworld. Unless I'm mistaken, I couldn't see what he did here that would have Tavira making that comment. He angered a pro-Imperial noble and escaped from Tavira's custody . . . but that's it. It wasn't he who liberated the world from Imperial ownership.
Tavira has better screen time in forthcoming comics, but not here. She's young and awfully cute but just doesn't offer more than the stereotypical Imperial governor scheming away. And if you're sharp enough, you might wonder why Plourr's brother looked too much like Hitler in his younger-years frames---something done, perhaps, just to emphasise his vicious villainy.
Only thing really going for The Warrior Princess is Plourr's revelation at the end, what happened behind the curtain of her shattered childhood. Otherwise, this is a comic to be bought for those uninterested in bad art, bland speech, predictable storyline to just complete a collection.
2.5 star rounded down to 2 stars, as worst X-Wing comic. Volume 4 Continues the decline started when we went from the highs of Vol 2 to vol 3. But hang in there Vol 5, Requiem is an big uptick in quality and Vol 6 through 9 are good.
Story gets 3, Pencils 2.0, ink 2.0 and cover 3 for a grade of 2.5, rounding down to 2 stars for the hugh number of poorly done panels in this comic.
This comic starts with a very well done space dogfight that lasts 7 pages. Then we get page 8 and some of the least inspiring pencil work you will ever see at Dark horse. Whats worse, is that the coloring and inking is equally mediocre and washed out. This badly done art and ink goes on for 15 pages! Finally on page 24 do we get a panel that resembles art and only because the color and inking is better. From there the quality, visually varies, from a 2 to at best 3.5. Only near the the end of the comic do we see anything approaching the richness of color that DH is capable of.
And what was with the dull, subdued cover that could have been pretty cool.
I am sorry to disagree with a fellow Tampa Bay resident over there in St. Pete, and with HandofThrawn but I own every Dark horse Star Wars TPB comic ever printed, and this one ranks in the bottom third in terms of quality.
To the lady readers, ask yourself, would you rather look like the Plourr draw by Biukovic in volume 2 TPA or the lazy art drawings by Nadeau. If this is a 5 star comic, where do you grade RFAR the next X-Wing comic which is vastly vastly vastly superior visually in every way.
The best part about this comic is the introduction of new people, who you will like a lot better in future works; Nrin Vakil a Quarren, Ibtisam from mon Calamari who is important to a novel to come, Feylis Ardele, a human, Leonia Tavira who appears in the novels and Herrian a Bith.
I read this comic once, nothing happens that is particularly important and it is depressing to look at that artwork here especially compared to the next TPB in this series.
Nothing wrong with a break in the action `The Warrior Princess' is probably my favorite first-half XWRS story arcs. Stackpole uses politics in an expanded role, and it won't be the last time. Plourr Illo is the main character here, for better of for worse. Her history and that of her planet are rather interesting and parts of them parallel of the Russian Revolution, which is good in the opinion of the speaking history buff, at least.
The art is by John Nadeau again, and he does it well. The architecture and landscape of Eiattu is well done, from the wide-open fields to the majestic royal hall. David Nestelle returns as colorist and does a superb job once again. Overall, `The Warrior Princess' is one of the most visually well-done XWRS comics.
Perhaps most important is the script by Scott Tolson. `The Warrior Princess' introduces four new Rogues: Nrin Vakil the Quarren, Ibtisam the Mon Cal, Herrian the Bith, and Feylis Ardele, ex-TIE pilot. Tolson writes good `banter' dialogue and sets up the four new additions well. He does a particularly good job setting up the relationship between Nrin and Ibtisam, and it is one that will continue to evolve for the rest of the series. It is also interesting to note that the lettering size is shrunk by about a third compared to the other arcs. Tolson likes to write a lot of dialogue, and he does it well.
Overall, it is a good read. Those who dislike Plourr may not be too fond of it, as she is the main character, but at the same time we also get a chance to see another side of the usually brash and loudmouthed pilot. The introduction of four new Rogues makes it worthwhile, though. And, like in `Battleground: Tatooine', it introduces a host of new characters that will appear later on, including Rial Pernon, Count Labaan, and Leonia Tavira of the `I, Jedi' fame.
Every comic-book series has its problems. This book is probably the worst of the Rogue Squadron series. It does have some of the things that we all love in the Rogue books like space battles and good characterization. However, it is not all woven together as convincingly as books like "Mandatory Retirement", or "In The Empire's Service." Plourr being a princess, (in case you didn't guess from the cover, don't worry, it isn't a spoiler, you find that out in the first 3-4 pages)is very implausible, and goes against everything Stackpole had before hand estabilished. Also, the story lacks the general importance in the SW world. In "In The Empire's Service", you felt the conflict to be a galactic concern, here it is nothing more than a small government squabble. Overall, this story just lacks the appeal of the rest of the series. I do have to give it points for good art, and a good flashback of Plourr's brother (you'll see), but overall, "In The Empire's Service", "Mandatory Retirement", or "Battleground:Tatooine" are miles above this story.Buy those instead.
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