The deal with the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover keeps getting larger all the time! Initially it seemed like this would be a simple crossover that led to a miniseries, but it became clear that was just a small part of Marvel’s big plan for this storyline. Over at the official site, they’ve spent most of the week unveiling variant covers from artist Giuseppe Camuncoli (Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith), though they ended with a neat look with artist Steve McNiven behind-the-scenes of the upcoming Alpha issue that launches the whole crossover, and the announcement of 4 extra tie-ins that flesh out the crossovers’ story. Head below for all the new details!
War of the Bounty Hunters is the upcoming mega-crossover from Marvel comics, which sees Boba Fett loses the frozen popsicle that is Han Solo and the massive hunt that follows. It kicks off in May with War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha #1, spills into the on-going series of Doctor Aphra (Vol. 2), Darth Vader (Vol. 3), Star Wars (Vol. 2), and Bounty Hunters with “Prelude” issues, then in June the War of the Bounty Hunters miniseries begins, with the story continuing to branch out across the other series alongside it. Revealed this week, July will also see the start of an additional 4 single-issue tie-ins, from different writers and artists, starting with War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt #1, written by Justina Ireland with pencils by Luca Pizzari and cover art from Mamud Asrar; I wasn’t kidding when I said this was a mega-crossover!
Here’s the newly revealed synopsis of the Jabba the Hutt one-shot, which we’ll see again later this month when July’s full solicitations launch:
JABBA NEVER FORGIVES! JABBA NEVER FORGETS!
JABBA THE HUTT is one of the most powerful and ruthless gangsters in the galaxy—and BOBA FETT, his most trusted bounty hunter, has failed him. How will Jabba deal with betrayal? VIOLENTLY. And what does this have to do with a bounty hunter with ties to the HIGH REPUBLIC?
Justina Ireland is one of the luminous authors behind the other epic-sized publishing initiative, The High Republic, so it makes sense her issue here would have some ties to the era. It’s also her first Star Wars comic, so congrats to her and I can’t wait to see how she takes to the medium. I’ll be curious to learn who will feature in the other three one-shots, characters-wise, as well as which writers and artists they’ll have roped in as well; I especially hope it’s more non-traditional creatives getting a chance to try out comics!
Beyond the new one-shot series announcement, the official site had Steve McNiven dive into some of his sketches of the upcoming Alpha issue. He’s usually only pencils, but he revealed he’ll be doing his own inks for the first time ever, though don’t go expecting any spoilers from the chat with him or what he shows off. There is a new spider-like enemy Boba Fett faces at one point, see the image above, but that’s about the only new thing seen.
As for the variant covers, the ones by Giuseppe Camuncoli include Doctor Aphra, Jabba the Hutt, Princess Leia, Beilert Valance, Darth Vader, and of course Boba Fett, as seen above. There was supposed to be 40 (yes, you read that right and your wallet isn’t happy with it) other variant covers revealed but that’s been pushed as they seemed not to be ready, but Star Wars Book News’ Twitter account complied a few in this thread, though so far they are just Boba Fett with different colored armor, so your mileage will vary.
Everything starts May 5 with the Alpha issue, so head back to the Manor and join us on the journey of reviewing this big-mega-crossover!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.