Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories: Codebreaker #2
On a remote Outer Rim planet, Poe Dameron and BB-8 discover a First Order base where the enemy keeps their fabled codebreaker, used to crack secret Resistance messages.
Can the two heroes infiltrate—and then escape—the high-security compound guarded by merciless stormtroopers?
And what mysterious technology will they find inside?
Writer: Ethan Sacks
Penciller: Marc Yarza
Inker: Jose Marzan Jr
Colorist: Nicola Righi
Letterer: Comicraft
Cover artist: Diego Galindo
Editor: Spencer Cushing
Publication date: July 2 2025
As Ethan Sacks is so very good at doing, we leap headfirst into the next issue without pausing for breath, and just as well as the situation Poe Dameron and BB-8 find themselves in requires (to steal a superhero phrase) maximum effort. Picking up from the first issue, Poe and BB have found Cheka, the codebreaker who is very much flesh and blood, much to Poe’s surprise. Dressed in First Order garb, he’s confident they can steal her out of the facility, but liffe’s rarely that easy and so it turns out to be as they lose the element of surprise, setting off an alarm and running into a squad of First Order Troopers.
Running, they evade for the moment until Cheka grabs a thermal detonator off Poe and hurls it at the troopers, incapacitating them long enough to flee and allow BB-8 a moment that would have been absolute gold in live action. He backs up, rolls at full speed and canonballs into the troopers, knocking them flying and them barrelling away to find them a ride out of the facility as we see the massed ranks of the First Order on high alert, ordered to look out for anything unusual as BB-8 rolls past.
Back with Poe and Cheka, they’re pinned down in a predicament that looks likely to end in death, until they blast open the window and leap into nothing, landing on a flatbed hoverspeeder below stolen and piloted by BB-8. They’re safe, for now, and we cut to the mysterious Banshee of Bestine aboard the Decimator as he walks through the rec hall, most present impressed at the legend of the First Order pilot but one – Major Vonreg – pointing out that one of his supposed kills was Resistance Poe Dameron, and it appears he survived their encounter and the crash afterwards.
We return to Naa Kaarga city as BB-8 races through the streets with Troopers everywhere, Poe blasting at them as they threaten to swarm them, and as one particulary tough trooper leaps onto the speeder with his electro-baton, it’s only a combination of BB-8 shocking him to distract, the appearance of a herd of puffer pigs and a low-clearance gate that knocks the trooper out.
We cut back to the Resistance commandship the Echo of Hope as they discover the trouble Poe in in, and the delicate nature of being so close to Hutt Space. Leia contacts regional Governor Skorshon, who immediately raises suspicion by fiercely denying any knowledge of Poe’s incursion into Hutt Space and hanging up. In short, Poe is in more danger than they initially thought, a point bourne out as we cut back to Poe and Cheka on Naa Kaarga as the Banshee of Bestine and his wingmen roar in, destroy Poe’s waiting X-Wing and we end with a classic ‘To Be Continued‘ as the First Order close in.
Another action-packed, snappy and most importantly fun issue as the trio manage to dodge danger at evey turn, with BB-8 covering for Poe’s bravado numerous times, but the peril still hot on their tails. We’re already halfway through the mini series, and hopes are high that there’s more series to follow (something Dark Horse did so well back during their tenure as sole keepers of the Star Wars flame) as this has been a pleasure to read (and hats off to Diego Galindo for some superb cover art).
