– Spoiler Review –
Bounty Hunters #21 returns from a two month break and throws us right into the middle of the conflict of T’onga’s crew coming for Vukorah, the newly self-appointed leader of the Unbroken Clan, to retrieve the one hope of uniting a warring Corellia underground: Cadeliah, the child of the two fighting factions.
Whereas Bounty Hunters #20 finally pushed through some of the storylines, Bounty Hunters #21 collides two together, seeing T’onga’s crew come for Vukorah to learn where she and Crimson Dawn are holding Cadeliah, the potential peace-creating child of the Mourner’s Wail and Unbroken Clan legacies. It’s a pretty action-packed issue then, but when isn’t this series, as T’onga, Losha, Zuckuss, Bossk, and Tashu Leech assault Vukorah when she’s out and about and not in Clan headquarters, though she still has a very considerable amount of protection with her. It’s not that Vukorah can’t handle herself, as she aptly does through most of the assault, but 5 to 1 wouldn’t be good enough odds even for her. Despite her best efforts, T’onga manages to subdue Vukorah in one-on-one combat, with some type of knock-out serum, while the rest of the hunters holds the others at bay. It feels like a good victory, especially after the issue opens with a little extra characterization for T’onga, but it doesn’t last long, as the rest of the Unbroken Clan comes to their leader’s rescue.
The issue opens with a T’onga flashback/dream, back to the moments after Boba Fett shot her in issue #4 (which caused me and others to stop reading the series for quite some time) where we see Nakano Lash say goodbye and the spectral form of her brother spurs her on to the escape pods, but also taunts her to ensure his death wasn’t in vain. She awakes from this, screaming her brother’s name and making sure her wife Losha is okay, but it’s clear avenging her brother has taken on a whole new meaning, the initial revenge on Boba Fett a misguided response, instead now ensuring Cadeliah lives and can bring peace to Corellia’s clans the best way to honor him. Keeping her wife alive has been a good reason for her to be so in the face of those attacking them on this journey, but this helps add a personal reason for her quest to find Cadeliah, and adds some more depth to the character. I appreciate this moment in an otherwise action-heavy issue from writer Ethan Sacks, who I feel like finds more and more time to adds these little characters developments the longer this series goes on.
We also catch up with Dengar, who was given an order to kill ‘someone’ from Crimson Dawn, and we see him here using Syphacc to try to draw out T’onga. I’m assuming it’s either T’onga or Losha he’s been sent to kill, but for now it remains a mystery I’m not totally compelled to worry about. Many of the upcoming solicitations contain similar verbiage, covering up whatever is coming, but we won’t have to wait very long for the next issue of the series: it’s out April 5, and there’s already a preview up on the official site’s blog!
Paolo Villanelli, with Bryan Valenza on colors, and lettering by Travis Lanham, are all comfortable in the action-packed fight to the death in the streets of Corellia. I liked the design of the space, as it had different layers and features to turn it from generic background to what felt like a specific part of the planet. Valenza’s colors in Lady Proxima’s den harkened back to its appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story, while I liked the setting-sun like setting for the big battle, as if we were only seeing one part and the next would be on its way, much like what happens here. There’s a neat panel which has a giant, close-up of Proxima’s face that sort of melts into the story she tells them, dissolving us from one scene to another, and I liked this more subtle aspect to Villanelli’s art. Lanham and Villanelli go off as the fighting starts, Lanham driving the intensity of the art’s kinetic look, adding lots of weight to its many clashes and bashes, while Villanelli ensures Vukorah’s stance and height always factor into her battle with T’onga so it always seems like an uphill battle for the hunter. The “zyun” Lanham uses for Vukorah’s fancy new blade cutting through metal was a neat, unexpected SFX look I hadn’t seen before, and almost made my ears hear nails on a chalkboard.
Here are a few other things:
- Vukorah adds to this series’ total queer characters after her little comment to T’onga in the middle of their fight, and hopefully the hints she’s trans follow through eventually too. There’s some demands for Vukorah to smooch (from Doctor Aphra scribe Alyssa Wong and Hunters artist Paolo), of course, and Sacks looks to be rising to the challenge.
- I liked seeing Proxima again, in this context, as it certainly paints Vukorah in a better light as she’s freeing children from the White Worms. Seeing a lot more of her species in The High Republic – Midnight Horizon was a surprising plus to an already awesome novel.
Bounty Hunters #21 adds some more dimension to its new lead, T’onga, and puts us smack in the middle of the gangster battle for Corellia’s underworld.
+ Dimensional T’onga
+ Action-frenzy art
– Dengar mystery
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.
BOUNTY HUNTERS REVIEWS
War of the Bounty Hunters: #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 | #17 — Galaxy’s Greatest: #18 | #19 | #20