– Spoiler Review –
Bounty Hunters returns after the long COVID-19 induced absence with its third issue, which sees Bossk and Beilert Valance duel while on the quest to catch up with the resurfaced Nakano Lash. But it’s not those two Lash needs to worry about…
Bossk and Valance punching it out reminds me of a line from the James Bond film GoldenEye, where Natalya Simonova says of Bond and his nemesis, an ex-00 Agent, “You’re like…boys with toys.” The two bounty hunters bashing it out feels about the same, and for me that’s not the most entertaining of content, especially without any attachments towards either hunter (unless you’re BoxerlessBossk!). And unfortunately when it comes to action sequences, the art from Paolo Villanelli is also not the easiest to follow (but that seems to change, issue to issue), with the hyper close-ups and aggressive facial work not making the whole thing appealing to me. You, dear reader, might enjoy this part of the series and there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not my cup of caf. Thankfully, the bounty hunter Ooris, a Thisspiasian, lets the boys be boys and plays the situation smart, stealing Valance’s droid, which has the coordinates to Lash, and gets to the elusive figure first. She’s a hunter with a penchant for collateral damage, and she’s a new and still unknown character, so she’s going to be an interesting one to deal with and watch as the series progresses.
Lash has with her a kid, and one has to wonder how they tie into the secret/reason she gunned down the unseen character in the opening issue. With such a long delay since the previous issue, my interest in this overall series, which was limited originally, hasn’t been rejuvenated and this mystery was the only part I was invested in but now I’m not so sure. It’s not the issue’s fault, and of all the ones to come back on, it doesn’t help the matter, but once we get back into the swing of more regular releases that might change.
Overall, Villanelli’s art, with Arif Prianto’s colors still fit this seedier world, giving every thing within a panel an even dirtier look than most Star Wars content out there. I’m really digging the design of the newcomer to the story, the woman in the black suit with purple cracks in it, Vukorah and I’m curious to see more of her. Lettering is from Travis Lanham, who at least makes some wildly entertaining fight sounds!
Here are a few other things:
- The next issue won’t be out until August 19, but it becomes monthly again as the 5th issue will be out September. I might move to an arc by arc review basis of this series after the end of the first arc.
- I appreciate the confirmation T’onga is another LGBTQ+ character, as it wasn’t quite clear in her initial introduction.
Bounty Hunters #3 reminds me why this series isn’t quite for me and the long COVID-19 break didn’t help matters, though I’m sure some fans will quite enjoy the battle within.
+ Unpredicatable but smart Ooris
– Mystery and characters aren’t pulling me in, pandemic break or not
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.