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Star Wars Adventures
Star Wars Adventures: Princess Leia and the Royal Ransom
Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewie are racing to deliver vital information to the Rebel Alliance. But Han allows himself to be distracted with the idea of earning some fast credits…
Ignoring pleas from Leia and the threat of trailing Imperial Star Destroyers, Han makes an unscheduled stop at a hot smuggling hub to pick up some cargo. Unfortunately, the crate he takes aboard the Millennium Falcon doesn't contain the kind of contraband he was led to believe. It's not simple or harmless…It's the kidnapped femme fatale Princess Mi!
• Star Wars Adventures is a series of graphic novellas created specifically for younger readers, but with an appeal for Star Wars fans of any age!
Ignoring pleas from Leia and the threat of trailing Imperial Star Destroyers, Han makes an unscheduled stop at a hot smuggling hub to pick up some cargo. Unfortunately, the crate he takes aboard the Millennium Falcon doesn't contain the kind of contraband he was led to believe. It's not simple or harmless…It's the kidnapped femme fatale Princess Mi!
• Star Wars Adventures is a series of graphic novellas created specifically for younger readers, but with an appeal for Star Wars fans of any age!
80 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2005
5 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Barlow
200 books30 followersEisner Award nominated writer and editor—and your only hope.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 25 reviews
June 24, 2022
An enjoyable, if short, spacefaring galaxy adventure.
June 14, 2016
Why does the art look so blurry??? This and the rushed story that wasn't very exciting killed this for me.
April 7, 2022
I know, shocking that I’d rate a book starring Princess Leia in it anything less than 5 stars.
But it was just SO SEXIST.
The drawings of all the women were unnecessarily sexualized in every. single. frame. It got to the point where I looked at the creative team who made this book to see if any women were on the team. Nope. Only men were.
Which I think is utterly ridiculous. Princess Leia is a feminist icon. She is the literal definition of kicks butt and takes names. The one time she was dehumanized by an abuser, she strangled him. With the chain he used to enslave her.
#WHATAQUEEN
So, you’re telling me, team of creative writers that somehow does not include any women, that this same woman would take all of Han’s derogatory and sexist comments???
For example: Han does something stupid. Leia calls him out on it. Han makes a comment about Leia not being good enough, or being too uptight, or being too much “like a Princess” or “not being ENOUGH like a Princess.” Then Leia just takes it and the scene moves on.
UHM
NO.
NO FREAKIN WAY WOULD THE REAL LEIA DO THIS!!!!
Yeah, maybe your male-fantasy Leia who exists to cheer you on and be your sexy sidekick lady would.
But that is in no way our Princess and General Leia Organa.
In fact, she would probably come down and strangle you guys for twisting her into that.
It’s not looking good for you.
And finally: Han Solo. He was such a trashbag in this book. In the movies, he gets away with some teasing that could be considered sexist, except his delivery is always just that: teasing. I know for some women, this is enough to hurt them. And that is COMPLETELY valid. The way I look at it though, the way he conveyed his teasing was all right. Because Leia teases him right back. And she is perfectly capable of not caring a hoot what he thinks. Don’t underestimate our Leia. She’s far stronger than Han Solo and even most of us even think. So don’t let her short stature, personal tragedy, and royal title lead you to put her in a box. Because she’ll break out of any box you try and put her in. With #style.
The way I see it is, MovieHan never means any of his teasing in an offensive way. He’s just trying to find a way to relate to this girl that he is hopelessly in love with - guaranteed, in a very childish and dumb way. And I don’t mean to enable men who try to use meanness to attract women. Because that is evil. But there is a difference in my mind between that and what MovieHan comes across as. I mean, there’s a reason why Han and Leia are one of the greatest love stories in all of Star Wars.
But, in this book, Han does not come across as someone trying (and mostly failing) to be charming. Since we get no inflection behind his words, they come across as sharp and cutting. Coupled with the artwork - which often portrays Han as surly and angry - this paints a picture of someone Han could easily have become in the movies - a poster child for the patriarchy - but someone that he ultimately did not morph into due to the acting talent of Harrison Ford.
To sum up: In this book, Han is cruel to Leia and she just takes it. That’s about as OUT OF CHARACTER as you can get.
2 STARS ONLY FOR LEIA CONTENT (AND THAT ONE TIME SHE SAVED THE OTHER PRINCESS’S LIFE WHICH WAS AWESOME).
But it was just SO SEXIST.
The drawings of all the women were unnecessarily sexualized in every. single. frame. It got to the point where I looked at the creative team who made this book to see if any women were on the team. Nope. Only men were.
Which I think is utterly ridiculous. Princess Leia is a feminist icon. She is the literal definition of kicks butt and takes names. The one time she was dehumanized by an abuser, she strangled him. With the chain he used to enslave her.
#WHATAQUEEN
So, you’re telling me, team of creative writers that somehow does not include any women, that this same woman would take all of Han’s derogatory and sexist comments???
For example: Han does something stupid. Leia calls him out on it. Han makes a comment about Leia not being good enough, or being too uptight, or being too much “like a Princess” or “not being ENOUGH like a Princess.” Then Leia just takes it and the scene moves on.
UHM
NO.
NO FREAKIN WAY WOULD THE REAL LEIA DO THIS!!!!
Yeah, maybe your male-fantasy Leia who exists to cheer you on and be your sexy sidekick lady would.
But that is in no way our Princess and General Leia Organa.
In fact, she would probably come down and strangle you guys for twisting her into that.
It’s not looking good for you.
And finally: Han Solo. He was such a trashbag in this book. In the movies, he gets away with some teasing that could be considered sexist, except his delivery is always just that: teasing. I know for some women, this is enough to hurt them. And that is COMPLETELY valid. The way I look at it though, the way he conveyed his teasing was all right. Because Leia teases him right back. And she is perfectly capable of not caring a hoot what he thinks. Don’t underestimate our Leia. She’s far stronger than Han Solo and even most of us even think. So don’t let her short stature, personal tragedy, and royal title lead you to put her in a box. Because she’ll break out of any box you try and put her in. With #style.
The way I see it is, MovieHan never means any of his teasing in an offensive way. He’s just trying to find a way to relate to this girl that he is hopelessly in love with - guaranteed, in a very childish and dumb way. And I don’t mean to enable men who try to use meanness to attract women. Because that is evil. But there is a difference in my mind between that and what MovieHan comes across as. I mean, there’s a reason why Han and Leia are one of the greatest love stories in all of Star Wars.
But, in this book, Han does not come across as someone trying (and mostly failing) to be charming. Since we get no inflection behind his words, they come across as sharp and cutting. Coupled with the artwork - which often portrays Han as surly and angry - this paints a picture of someone Han could easily have become in the movies - a poster child for the patriarchy - but someone that he ultimately did not morph into due to the acting talent of Harrison Ford.
To sum up: In this book, Han is cruel to Leia and she just takes it. That’s about as OUT OF CHARACTER as you can get.
2 STARS ONLY FOR LEIA CONTENT (AND THAT ONE TIME SHE SAVED THE OTHER PRINCESS’S LIFE WHICH WAS AWESOME).
March 11, 2019
Eesh. Last, and unfortunately least. I'm not a huge fan of the art, but it's the dialog that kills this one. The stereotypical damsel in distress who keeps talking about shoes and shopping...because she's a woman...get it?! Gah. The whole plot felt like a mess. And the ending? Oh, no.
September 22, 2011
If I were a ten year old little boy or even just interested in Star Wars I probably would have loved this book. However, I am not either one of those so the book was just, dare I say cute, for me. The graphics were impeccably done and I could see what would draw in the avid Star Wars fan. I am just not a fan of the futuristic science fiction. On the positive side, I did laugh out loud at all the "BOOM!" and various other fighting expressions. It made me think of the old Batman cartoon with the comic book "POPs" and "POWs" they used to express the fighting noises. I will say my nine year old son could not put this book down and, let's face it, that is the intended audience for this book. I'm sure if he was writing this review he would have rated this book awesome considering I couldn't get him to put it down until he was finished. The dialogue, quite surprisingly, was sophisticated enough to keep me from falling asleep and even held a little suspense. I do think it helped that I had a preexisting knowledge of the characters due to the fact these movies are usually playing at my house at least once a week. I love a woman in a story who can take care of herself so I did appreciate the fact Princess Leia was shown to be brave and not take any guff from anyone. I didn't pay much attention to the setting of the story because, like I said earlier, I'm not really into the science fiction of it all so all those strange names for the planets did not stick in my brain. (I honestly couldn't even pronounce some of them). This story pretty much relayed the whole good vs. evil concept and, without giving away the ending, the outcome was pretty much as expected.
I could definitely see a classroom of young boys (and possibly a girl or two) performing a little skit or drawing up some amazing posters as a response activity for this book. I think whatever gets the children interested in reading rates top notch in my eyes and Mr. Barlow's book has opened my son up to a whole new genre of reading material, so for that, I am grateful.
I could definitely see a classroom of young boys (and possibly a girl or two) performing a little skit or drawing up some amazing posters as a response activity for this book. I think whatever gets the children interested in reading rates top notch in my eyes and Mr. Barlow's book has opened my son up to a whole new genre of reading material, so for that, I am grateful.
August 19, 2021
It's hard to have art this bad in a comic.
April 15, 2021
It was a fun quick read, but I'd say nothing of substance. I don't wanna diss on the artists, but I disliked the art because some of the proportions were really wrong and there was even one face where you could see where they erased and cropped the nose and put it higher 😂 The pencil-y style reminds me of the Ender's Game graphic novel though, and I liked the resemblance of Han and Leia to the actors (but this wasn't consistent). The story is pretty basic, and OH I was expecting Princess Mi to be Asian and not a white girl 😂 oh well. I was pleased to have finished it for my quota pretty quickly though. I wouldn't recommend it.
March 8, 2022
star wars books are good, fun little 20 minute reads. i enjoy these very much. my favorite character was han solo. he is so mischievous and nieve, but most of the time smart and courageous. princess leia is a fun character too, she just has it all figured out. the target audience is anyone who like star wars. i gave this book a 4 star because it didn't quite hit my expectations. it was kinda cheesy and easy to guess the outcome. but that's what you get when you read a kids book. comic books are really fun to read, because of the pictures. in conclusion this book was pretty good.
May 18, 2024
Another less-than-stellar adventure. Some writers really don't "get" how to capture the banter between Leia and Han (it's too easy to take it too far, I think). This is the kind of story that would not have felt out of place in the 1970s and 1980s, but it didn't work for me in 2009 (and it worked a lot less during today's reread).
May 31, 2019
A nice little adventure; plus, good to see a character from the Star Wars: Rebellion series reemerge :-)
February 20, 2020
A decent story with terrible art.
May 16, 2022
Çizerinden ötürü okunmayacak kadar kötü bir çizgi roman. Hikayesi de aman aman başarılı değil. Okumassanız hiçbir şey kaybetmeyeceğinizden emin olabilirsiniz. Daha fazla söz sarf etmeye gerek yok.
November 4, 2022
Book Is terrible.
July 17, 2021
Star Wars Legends Project #274
Background: Princess Leia and the Royal Ransom was published in July of 2009, the second in the Star Wars Adventures series of graphic novellas. It was written by Jeremy Barlow with art by Carlo Soriano. Barlow wrote a few dozen issues of various comics, including 3 from this series, and was editor for the Clone Wars Adventures graphic novellas that preceded it, as well as the first half of the Knights of the Old Republic run. This is Soriano's only Star Wars credit.
Princess Leia and the Royal Ransom takes place about 2 years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Han Solo and Princess Leia, along with Chewbacca, and has an appearance by the crime lord Raze. The story takes place in various locations (but mostly aboard the Millennium Falcon).
Summary: While hurrying to deliver important information to the Rebellion, Han makes an unscheduled stop-off to pick up some smuggling cargo. But he and his companions are shocked to learn that his new cargo is a kidnapped princess, which puts them all at the center of a much more complicated adventure than they were expecting.
Review: This is a reasonably fun story that's fast-paced and action-packed. It's perfectly serviceable and suits the format and length of the series very well. What I want to know is, why is Leia's story in this series actually about Han? He already had his story, and she wasn't even in it. So why is she stuck playing second-fiddle to him in her own story? This is just an incredibly shoddy way to treat her character. She doesn't make any of the important decisions that drive the plot and she spends the entire narrative following Han around complaining (rightly!) about his incredibly poor choices. I don't understand how this book made it through an entire approval process without anyone raising an objection and suggesting a rewrite . . . It's not like Leia can't carry a story, for crying out loud. So . . . regardless of how entertaining the story is judged by other criteria, I can't forgive it that nonsense.
C
Background: Princess Leia and the Royal Ransom was published in July of 2009, the second in the Star Wars Adventures series of graphic novellas. It was written by Jeremy Barlow with art by Carlo Soriano. Barlow wrote a few dozen issues of various comics, including 3 from this series, and was editor for the Clone Wars Adventures graphic novellas that preceded it, as well as the first half of the Knights of the Old Republic run. This is Soriano's only Star Wars credit.
Princess Leia and the Royal Ransom takes place about 2 years after the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Han Solo and Princess Leia, along with Chewbacca, and has an appearance by the crime lord Raze. The story takes place in various locations (but mostly aboard the Millennium Falcon).
Summary: While hurrying to deliver important information to the Rebellion, Han makes an unscheduled stop-off to pick up some smuggling cargo. But he and his companions are shocked to learn that his new cargo is a kidnapped princess, which puts them all at the center of a much more complicated adventure than they were expecting.
Review: This is a reasonably fun story that's fast-paced and action-packed. It's perfectly serviceable and suits the format and length of the series very well. What I want to know is, why is Leia's story in this series actually about Han? He already had his story, and she wasn't even in it. So why is she stuck playing second-fiddle to him in her own story? This is just an incredibly shoddy way to treat her character. She doesn't make any of the important decisions that drive the plot and she spends the entire narrative following Han around complaining (rightly!) about his incredibly poor choices. I don't understand how this book made it through an entire approval process without anyone raising an objection and suggesting a rewrite . . . It's not like Leia can't carry a story, for crying out loud. So . . . regardless of how entertaining the story is judged by other criteria, I can't forgive it that nonsense.
C
January 20, 2016
Han & Leia are two of my favorite characters from the Star Wars saga. When I stumbled across this graphic novel in a used bookstore a few days before The Force Awakens I snapped it up right away. Dark Horse comics did a wonderful job keeping the Star Wars fandom afloat with their comic book adventures.
This story takes place a year before The Empire Strikes Back. This story find Han & Leia on a solo adventure that goes from bad to worse. After stealing some Imperial intel Han convinces Leia to let him drop off some cargo on the way back to the Rebels.
Nothing goes smooth with Solo's plans however and the two soon find themselves transporting a kidnapped princess.
Their adventure leads them to planet hopping and alien encounters. This book had everything I love about Han and Leia, lots of bickering and light romance. The art in this story is a little inconsistent but overall it's a great story with one of my favorite couples.
This story takes place a year before The Empire Strikes Back. This story find Han & Leia on a solo adventure that goes from bad to worse. After stealing some Imperial intel Han convinces Leia to let him drop off some cargo on the way back to the Rebels.
Nothing goes smooth with Solo's plans however and the two soon find themselves transporting a kidnapped princess.
Their adventure leads them to planet hopping and alien encounters. This book had everything I love about Han and Leia, lots of bickering and light romance. The art in this story is a little inconsistent but overall it's a great story with one of my favorite couples.
August 29, 2009
Wow, a rare treat for all you Han/Leia shippers! I was tipped off about this yesterday and ran out today to buy it. It's set not long after the events of A New Hope, and we get a glimpse of Han and Leia having to work together to solve an awkward dilemma. It's actually got moments of squeeness, along with humor, action, and the sort of fun that made us fall in love with these characters to begin with. All I can say is it's about damned time!
September 2, 2010
Meant for preteen and up readers, this Star Wars graphic novel follows the exploits of Han Solo and Leia as they try to deliver cargo to planets while avoiding trouble. I didn't care for the artwork style but the story is interesting and will entertain young readers and hopefully get them involved in the world of Star Wars. A great book for reluctant readers.
September 25, 2010
Cute story featuring Han Solo and Princess Leia working together on a mission for the Rebels. The mission goes a little awry when a detour sets off a chain of events that nearly gets them killed. I can definitely see this being a missing scene or between movies, it's very well written and very much in character.
June 11, 2013
A graphic novel that takes place between New Hope and Empire (I think). It was quick and all right.
I love Leia. I kind of wished she wasn't the only tough chick in the room on this one. We have the other princess who is "not Leia" who needs rescuing. I guess I just didn't need to see the damsel in distress next to Leia to realize that Leia kicks ass. We already know that.
I love Leia. I kind of wished she wasn't the only tough chick in the room on this one. We have the other princess who is "not Leia" who needs rescuing. I guess I just didn't need to see the damsel in distress next to Leia to realize that Leia kicks ass. We already know that.
April 15, 2015
Leia and Han are on a mission to return vital data to the rebellion. They get caught up in the kidnapping of another princess. This is a lot of fun, the story is incidental to Han and Leia's conversations. A good read.
February 5, 2016
Honestly, how do pencils this bad make it to print? Even Atiyeh, who is usually a really good colorist, seems to be phoning it in. It's just such a lazy looking comic.
August 2, 2016
This was a fun simple story and I'm sure it isn't Canon to the rest of the Star Wars story. I just wish the artwork wasn't so awful.
August 16, 2016
Fun Star Wars read for Princess Leia fans, includes Han Solo in an adventure.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 25 reviews