– Spoiler Review –
After one exceptional issue after another, the biggest question remaining was if Ethan Sacks and Luke Ross could stick the landing with the finale to the Jango Fett miniseries, but it shouldn’t be much of a surprise they did! Find out how in my review!
With most of the big reveals out of the way thanks to the penultimate issue, Jango Fett #4 had to find a satisfactory way to wrap up the story and its various twist, turns, and lingering threads, and writer Ethan Sacks manages it with ease. In fact, despite this being the last issue (for now….) with a few threads to close up, like who was behind the plot to steal the precious gem and why, and who was pulling the deeper strings, as well as all the other bounty hunters coming after Jango and Aurra Sing, Sacks is still introducing little tidbits which touch on what’s to come for Jango, other characters, and the galaxy at large. We get a scene which explores Nakano Lash’s trajectory into bounty hunting and why she does it by fostering a sense of family and community, which leads into a moment where Aurra digs at legacies and if Jango wants to leave one (aka Boba), while lastly Count Dooku’s role in the events answers some questions and hints at how he’ll come to enroll Jango in his Master’s larger schemes. This never feels like too much for the issue, let alone the whole series, and in fact it only left me wanting and hoping for more, like it has after each issue! There’s a hint more could be on the way, with a tease on the final page this is the end but only for now, so could an expansion be in the cards when the next era of Marvel’s Star Wars line kicks off sometime later this year? We can only hope, and it doesn’t seem like we’ll have to wait terribly long to find out what Marvel has in store next, now that its mainline Star Wars and Darth Vader series are coming to an end in September, as SDCC 2024 is in July and we’ve often got publishing updates there. And if there isn’t more, well, this at least should go down as one of the great miniseries since Marvel took over, as I’d put it up there with Charles Soule’s Lando, Marjorie Liu’s Han Solo, Jody Houser’s Age of Republic, and Justina Ireland’s Sana Starros, to name a few!
Like the issues before it, the finale offers up plenty of reasons for Jango’s reputation but manages to do it in a way which reveals the sharper mind and tactful planning we’d later see in the clone army, over just straight up kick-ass fighting skills, of which he struggles with and makes up with these smarts. His plan is pretty ingenious, taking the most circumstantial of evidence from Nakano to bring an accusation against one of the parties involved and essentially see what happens, helping confirm his suspicions there’s more going on than meets the eye. He’s smart for not wanting to get involved or pushing for more information though, as at the end of the day, he wants to get paid, upholding his line about being a simple man making his way through the universe. And even in the big battle where Vigor Struk returns, alongside several other bounty hunters, Jango teaming up with Aurra Sing and using all his suits’ tricks showcases more of his tactfully minded approach to fighting, as we know his over-confidence and going it alone doesn’t work out so well for him against Mace Windu. When it’s revealed the sneaky smile from governor Tok last issue meant she was working for Count Dooku, and through a HoloNet report we hear how the peace talks have faltered because the Nautolan senator was involved, I loved seeing these glimpses of what the repercussions were and how they furthered Sidious/Palpatine’s plans to weaken the Republic. Capturing a sense of both how Jango operates and still touching on the larger galaxy was just a recipe I will gladly eat right up.
Regardless if this comes back or not, we were lucky to have Luke Ross, with Nolan Woodard on colors, and lettering from Joe Caramagna while we did, as I feel like Ross is typically on a miniseries or less so a full series/on-going likely won’t see his return…but we can hope. The entire fight sequence is everything that was so effective about Ross and this team, where Woodard’s colors for each combatant or weapon usage pop against the muted background of their fighting arena, Caramagna’s sound FXs give the punches and hits and grunts so much heft, and Ross’ poses and framing make each impact seem realistic, like we’re seeing this fight play out in a movie or TV show before us, punches and hits impacting like you’d expect. I particularly enjoyed the sequence of events in the battle which starts with Jango picking up Craddosk, Bossk’s father, while jetting across the battlefield and clonking the Transdoshan’s head on a crate, taking him out of the fight. Caramagna’s “kerng” SFX comes in for comedic effect, excessively large red letters ringed in yellow, breaking through one panel and into the next, following Jango’s trajectory, while the second panel having Craddosk laying motionless on the ground, Jango’s feet barely visible at the edge, only adds to the humorous moment. As the page continues, Aurra and Jango face plenty of remaining hunters, so Jango decides to use his rocket to solve their overwhelming problem, which Ross and team ensure seems like the be all end all to their problems, the rocket breaking through a panel and looking larger than Jango and Aurra combined from the perspective chosen, the resulting explosion, from SFX, to colors, to voluminous drawing hammer home its supposed effectiveness. This makes the next page surprise all the more potent, as Woodard lays on the purple over the entire page, in every panel, as Struk’s strikes, half of his face missing and revealing a cyborg half, much like Beilert Valance from Sacks’ Bounty Hunters days, while Jango being as large as he is on the first half of the page, flying backwards from Struk’s blow, show how surprised he was too by the attack.
Here are a few other things:
- Wrapping up June’s Pride Month variants, issue #4 has Sinjir Rath Velus on its cover, his first appearance!! He’s not been in anything since the Aftermath Trilogy, which is a shame because his arc and story was one of the highlights of the books.
- Finishing this series inspired me to return to Bounty Hunter, the 2002 (that hurts a little) game starring Jango as he hunts down a dark Jedi, and along the way players see him get the Slave I and be recruited for the clone project, among other backstory elements. Aurra talking to Jango about legacy and kids this issue recalls of his handler in the game, an old Toydarian named Rozatta, who helps push him to want to ask for an unaltered version of himself in his clone contract. Definitely worth checking out once if you can, though it can be a little difficult and the controls/camera aren’t always the best, but it’s still a very unique, different Star Wars game (and the bonus extras are a delight). I played it on PS5, as I have my original PS2 copy but don’t own a working PS2 anymore.
Jango Fett #4 cements Ethan Sacks and Luke Ross’ miniseries as one to check out, from its fun, snappy pace, humor, and effective little layers to its characters teasing how much more it could offer if expanded.
+ Jango’s many layers prove badassery isn’t just physical
+ Those little tastes of the larger picture
+ Bounty hunter brawl is madcap fun thanks to the art team
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.