Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories – Codebreaker #1 Review

Review by Henry Wood

Written by Ethan Sacks

Penciled by Marc Yarza Inked by José Marzan Jr. Colored by Nicola Righi

Lettered by Tyler Smith & Jimmy Betancourt

Edited by Spencer Cushing, Joe Cavanagh, Grace Orriss & Robert Simpson

Poe Dameron is back! In this new mini-series, chronicling an earlier adventure of the Resistance Ace Pilot, Poe Dameron is forced to go into Hutt Space alone as he faces down a new First Order pilot. Once on planet, Poe discovers that the mysterious ‘codebreaker’ he has been sent to destroy is not what it seems!

This is the first of a few new Hyperspace Stories mini-series that Dark Horse has announced this year. Ethan Sacks, of Bounty Hunters fame, teams up with Star Wars newcomer Marc Yarza as well as inker Jose Marzan Jr, and colorist Nicola Righi. The team tells of Poe Dameron’s mission to a Hutt controlled planet, Nar Kaaga, where he is sent by General Leia Organa to destroy a secret device known as a ‘codebreaker’ being used by the First Order.

The first issue has the high-flying action you’d expect from a Poe Dameron story along with guest appearances from Princess Leia herself, as well as Poe’s fellow pilot Snap Wexley, and the introduction of a new First Order ace codenamed ‘Banshee.’ While this new series hasn’t quite reached the heights of Marvel’s old Poe Dameron series, this first issue shows promise and has fun for the whole family. It is a lighter fare, which makes sense, being that it is for kids, and Sacks doesn’t quite have the voice for Poe down, making him a little more jokey and immature than he was in Soule’s series. But again, this is a book meant specifically for kids while the previous one is not.

The cliffhanger at the end of the issue sets up a lot of complications for Poe Dameron and gives readers somewhat of a road map for where the book can go in the next few issues, and it should be a lot of fun as Poe Dameron will doubtless have to face Banshee again.