– Spoiler Review –
Bounty Hunters #12 is the next entry in the War of the Bounty Hunters Prelude issues for May, which help set-up how each series and its characters gets mixed up with the big crossover storyline taking over Marvel’s Star Wars comics through October.
I haven’t read Bounty Hunters since issue #4, its highly controversial (for good reason) final page and the lack of response from creatives involved leaving fans hurt and disenfranchised, though the series has since made some small, but vital steps to make up (though nothing truly can) for what it did back then. I went into much lengthier detail about the controversy and what’s happened since in this article on why I’m reviewing the series again. Without reading the subsequent issues since #4, writer Ethan Sacks made it relatively easy to jump right in, though I felt a little behind on some aspects so I’ll be making my way through the issues I’ve avoided soon, but that means jumping in now to read the big crossover won’t leave you feeling completely out; same for Star Wars #13 and the Alpha issue that kick-started this whole War of the Bounty Hunters thing in the first place!
Bounty Hunters #12 opens with Dengar and Beilert Valance, blasting their way to Nar Shaddaa to get Han Solo from Boba Fett, working together for the thinnest of reasons: Dengar wants the bounty on Boba and know he’s better off teaming up with Valance than fighting him for it (and betray him later, if necessary) and Valance still feels beholden to Solo and the debt he owes him, so he’s after Fett to get Solo back so might as well have some help. There’s a flashback to a time Valance helped save Han and Chewbacca’s life, shortly after the botched Corellia mission that started this series, but Valance doesn’t feel it’s enough payback especially since Han misunderstood what Valance was doing and thinks he just tried to kill Han, not save him; not surprised a younger Han didn’t quite catch the nuance and made an assumption instead. Maybe one day, maybe soon if Sacks’ ominous words are anything to go back in the closing letter for the issue, Valance will get to rest his cybernetic eye for good after doing something good for the universe and being recognized for it. Could it be something close to Valance’s Legends ending, recently made in the one-off comic continuation back in 2019? We’ll just have to wait and see, though I hope it’s close to something like what happened in Legends, sacrifice for the greater good, as I still quite haven’t lost my indifference to the character.
We also get a glimpse of T’onga in the issue’s final pages, seeing the bounty on Boba Fett and seemingly eager for revenge after he nearly killed her, the moment in Bounty Hunters #4 that caused myself and many others to leave the series in disgust for how her “death” was portrayed. It’s great to see her alive, well, and ready get together a crew to attempt taking down Fett, and I can’t wait to spend more time with her. How will her wife feel about her latest effort for revenge? She’s definitely the part I’m most excited to read more about as I catch up on the series and as the series moves forward. In the end, I hope and pray this series doesn’t try the same thing twice with her as what happened in issue #4 when/if she battles against the plot armored Fett during the crossover.
Dengar helps get 4-LOM and Zuckuss off their tails, pursuing Valance for the location of Cadeliah, the daughter of two rival criminal syndicates entrusted to him by his former mentor who he then hid with an ex who’s part of the Rebellion (I did read a little summary to know that). Sacks promises everything he and the team have worked on until now, and through this crossover and the story afterwards, will pay off so maybe we’ll see these two rival clans united somehow, someway thanks to Cadeliah coming back into the story. As for Zuckuss and his pal 4-LOM, it looks like things will get worse before they get better, if the solicitation for their upcoming War of the Bounty Hunters’ one-shot is anything to go by!
Paolo Villanelli (artist) and Arif Prianto (colors), with Travis Lanham on lettering, are a very kinetic team and there’s plenty of chaotic, action-focused scenes to showcase their strengths, from Valance’s flight through a bundle of exegorths while (poorly) evading fire from the pairing hunting to his fist fight in the past that’s part of an easy set-up against him; it’s flashy and swift, as you’d expect from such moments and from this team. Since there’s so much energy to each panel, Lanham doesn’t have to go big with his SFX, instead keeping them refined, though prominent, going big when necessary (like the swoosh through the bundle of exegorths), while I really enjoyed how the “krack” when Dengar bashes Valance’s head in from behind is behind the art, to extenuate this is a behind-the-back action by the bounty hunter.
Here are a few other things:
- The last two Prelude issues are next week’s Darth Vader #12 (Vol. 3) and Doctor Aphra #10 (Vol. 2), then the crossover’s eponymous miniseries begins and the tie-in issues continue across all non-The High Republic series. War of the Bounty Hunters has been made where reading the miniseries will be enough to get the overall story, but reading everything will add tons of detail and nuance to the large tale. You can keep track of what issues to read with our comic solicitation coverage (June, July, and August at the moment) and the handy checklist at the end of each of these issues. And if you aren’t interested in reading all the other series, just the miniseries, don’t fret, we’ll have a monthly round-up of what’s happened in the crossover so you can keep up with everything going on!
Bounty Hunters #12 brings the characters and story of the series into the larger fold of the upcoming mega-crossover.
+ T’onga’s new purpose
+ Han always misses the nuance
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.
WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS CROSSOVER
May: Alpha #1 | Star Wars #13