Leia, Princess of Alderaan Manga -- art and adaptation by Haruichi

Leia, Princess of Alderaan Manga -- original story by Claudia Gray, art and adaptation by Haruichi

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Oh my goodness this was such an engaging and fabulous read!! Getting visual representations of the characters that I grew to appreciate and love in the original young adult novel was such a blast. I cannot wait to read the second volume and see what the Chalhuddans look like (find out more about them in this Aphra's Artifacts video)!! Not to mention the artwork was spectacular. Plus, who can resist drawings of baby Leia...it's just too freaking cute!! The lettering was spot on as well. Even beyond the visuals, the way the story was told in dialogue and thought bubbles was very well planned and laid out. The whole package was simply brilliant. 

I won't go into details here about the plot since I've already reviewed the original young adult novel--check out that review HERE. But I will say that this first volume included from Leia's day of Demand through to her arrival on Crait and discovery of her father's involvement in the Rebel Alliance. In a cool twist though, there's a prologue inclusion of sorts that briefly covers the prequels in shiny full color pages--man are they gorgeous!! One image toward the end of the prologue skips ahead in the timeline and is of the heroes from A New Hope transposed on top of the Death Star I with the heroes from Rogue One reflected below them...I nearly passed out when I saw this image (check it out below).

Leia's fellow students in her pathfinding class (including Amilyn Holdo with the blond hair and goggles reclining on her side at the bottom) are shown below in a beautiful mashup image intro-ing the section of the story covering their first class. Also see the panel of the super buff and intense instructor, Chief Pangie, below!

If it isn't obvious already, I highly recommend this book!! I absolutely adored the original young adult novel in the first place and adding all these beautiful images to an already spectacular storyline is just *chef's kiss*. Such a fantastic addition to Star Wars canon...my fingers are remaining crossed that Vol 2 will make an appearance!!