– Spoiler Review –
Bounty Hunters #2 briskly moves the mystery of Nakano Lash’s reappearance forward, colliding old hunting buddies together.
Early in the issue, we get a flashback to Beilert Valance’s first meeting with Nakano Lash, who sees the angry cyborg and decides to take him under her wing, focusing his anger. Valance, maybe slightly drunk, notices no one is standing up to help a poor pickpocket the Empire is arresting and beating up, so with his anger over his own past with the Imperials and how he now knows their true villainous ways masquerading as order, he strikes down the troopers, but nearly dies in the process. The whole time he’s killing, he’s preaching to the dead troopers, telling them how the Empire has steered them wrong, like they did him. I’ve been struggling to connect with Valance since his (re)introduction in Han Solo – Imperial Cadet and his little rampage here, where maybe non-violence could’ve been the answer considering he’s seen stormtroopers and pilots like he was leave the Empire for better lives (Han, Kanina Nico), so why kill people he knows could be reformed or might not have totally bought into the Empire’s ways? I get that wouldn’t look ‘cool’ or be exciting, but his stumbling before rising up to be a “respectable” bounty hunter could have maybe been filled with a less murder-heavy scene. What Nakano sees in Valance, and what her return could mean for him, might start to lead him on a more interesting path, but we have to wait and see for now.
The mystery element, of the bounty hunters taking on the bounty and trying to track down Nakano is far more interesting at the moment. I’ll give Valance this: he’s a bit of a smart cookie, as he manages to search a recording to see where to begin the search, which Boba Fett is already a few steps ahead, while his understanding of Lash gives him some insight to a puzzle involving a grave on a cemetery planet (one of the more intriguing planet ideas). That other hunters are being opportunistic, like the Ooris following Valance, or fortunate, like Bossk who got decent intel from Doctor Aphra, shows the great variety and less than savory ways these characters can operate, opening up lots of potential. T’onga’s crusade to avenger to brother’s death due to Lash’s actions leads her to work with the leader of Mourner’s Wail, the father of Khamus* (who Lash killed Khamus killed something off panel that only Nakano saw), though she shows off some considerable skills and smarts to infiltrate their base; I’m hedging far more of my bets on Khamus having killed some children between him and their rival’s daughter. The issue ends with the first big brawl between hunters, Bossk and Valance, and we’ll have to wait until the next issue† to see how it plays out.
Paolo Villanelli’s art, with Arif Prianto on colors, was a little easier to follow on some action sequences, especially T’ongor’s infiltration the base of Mourner’s Wail, though it’s still a little too aggressive overall for my taste. I particularly enjoyed the look and spooky feel to Galmerah, as it really felt like a giant cemetery planet with its dark shadows and quiet stillness to the landscape. The floating bubble “headstone” was an intriguing idea and the art really made it feel like a respectful way to remember past loved ones.
Here are a few other things:
- *I’ve also, after reading this issue, realized that Khamus wasn’t a woman, but rather a man, as while it does say Khamus is the Mourner’s Wail heir in the first issue, he’s never addressed with pronouns and heir doesn’t automatically mean male. It’s not until Khamus’ father mentions Lash killed his son that it finally clicked into place. I had a similar misgendering with the pickpocket in the flashback, as Villanelli’s art with the long, flowing blonde hair and facial structure doesn’t always make it easy to distinguish. I updated my review of the first issue to reflect this correctly.
- †I put a note about the next issue because the release schedule is a little up in the air at the moment after the major comic distributor Diamond has halted shipping for the foreseeable future. The release of Doctor Aphra’s relaunch April 1 is still arriving, but as digital only, but I’m unsure if that’ll be for all comics until Diamond’s hold lifts or not. Otherwise, the next issue is tentatively out on April 8, so we’ll see what happens.
Bounty Hunters #2 doesn’t offer as much promise as the first issue, but it certainly keeps the mystery appealing.
+ Bounty hunters being bounty hunters
+ Creepy cemetery planet
– Valance misconnection continues
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
BOUNTY HUNTERS
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