– Spoiler Review –
There’s no better time then now to jump into the story of Ethan Sacks’ Bounty Hunters, as issue #35 builds out a new crew for what’s ahead while also still honoring all that’s come before.
With 34 issues under its belt, it might seem daunting to jump into this or the other comics now, though knowing Durge, Deathstick, Khel Tanna, and Boba Fett are all set to join the series’ main crew, I can understand a lot of people might be interested in seeing all these characters together alongside the likes of T’onga, Beilert Valance, Zuckuss, 4-LOM, and Bossk. Thankfully writer Ethan Sacks makes issue #35 very accessible to new readers, not only with some cute little introduction boxes for every character, but also in the way he handles the longer story threads which factor into the overall story. Seeing what legends like Durge, Boba Fett, Bossk and more get up to all together is a great reason to join in, while readers might just find themselves fans of the bigger story in the end.
My apathy for Valance and his story is old news at this point, though there’s a giant Valance Nation out there and I totally get it and respect it and probably puts me in the minority, but seeing him start to lose his memories is an intriguing new wrinkle in his tale. And I’m not excited by this storyline because I’m not a big Valance fan and want to see him suffer or something, though I’d understand if you, dear reader, thought so, but rather I liked it because of how it shows his grasp on humanity starting to slip away. If there’s nothing left of his memories and he’s more machine than man, what type of cyborg does he become when it’s all gone away? Will he be even more evil than Darth Vader? Or is what makes him human elsewhere inside of him and, despite losing it all, he’ll still be a good person overall? There’s a hint this might just be the case towards the end, as he joins in the battle against Boba Fett to stop the hunter from hurting his friends despite now not knowing the famed hunter anymore (which Boba takes a little offense to). And while he’ll maybe have some bit of humanity to cling to, the upcoming Dark Droids crossover, and how it’ll effect droids everywhere, will add a wrinkle to his fight to remain himself as his memories melt away; we got a little preview of how it’ll affect him in the Revelations one-shot last year. I might not always be interested in Valance and his story, but this could be heading towards a place which might change my mind.
T’onga has risen to the occasion of being more of a main character for the series for quite some time now, and while Valance and his problems come to the forefront now, she’s definitely not forgotten. In fact, this issue deals with lingering traumas for T’onga we first saw happen nearly three years ago, in a moment which brought me to stop reading the series for a bit. T’onga’s after Boba Fett and putting together a new crew to confront him, but the way he left her for dead back in issue #4 has made this coming battle difficult before it even starts. She’s still haunted by her brush with death at his hands, understandably so, and once they confront him here she’s mostly hanging back, fighting through a panic attack and watching her crew suffer at the talented hunter’s hands. Putting her fear aside as more of her team falls, she rushes in, using his own weapons against him, knocking his helmet off and putting a knife to his throat, shouting how he’ll never hurt any of her friends again! It’s a great moment, thirty issues in the making, to see her tackle her fear over Boba Fett and what he did to her, realizing she shouldn’t have been afraid of him as long as she was. I hope this means she’ll be willing to bring her wife Losha back into the fold, having conquered her fear, though I guess we don’t know how much more dangerous the plan is to save Valance. After all, if they needed Boba Fett, who she offers to hire instead of killing him like he assumes she will, it must be pretty serious, especially if she’s willing to do a job for him first.
While colorist Arif Prianto and letterer Travis Lanham remain on the series, issue #34 saw artist Paolo Villanelli (who drew for 30 issues) exit, and now with issue #35, the series falls into the hands of Lan Medina. I haven’t seen his artwork since I first got into Fables many years ago, and while it’s a bit different from Villanelli’s style, I quite liked it for the story so far and am looking forward to his take on this crew’s journey going forward. Knowing the series is action-focused, I was curious how Medina’s style would fit with it, and Sacks gave Medina quite the opening issue to deal with to prove his mettle: drawing the fight of the crew against Boba Fett! The 6-7 pages of fighting is where Medina more than proves he can pick up Villanelli’s mantel and push it forward at the same time. After T’onga fires off a warning shot, Fett jets into action and so does Medina, a big two-page splash with little insert panels at the bottom. The main image is of Fett in the forefront, hovering over the battlefield, all of his opponents visible below him, giving us the impression of his superiority over them, as even the imposingly large Durge looks little in the background. Prianto’s colors show the battle is at night on the Rishi moon and I love how it gives the battle a sense of silence, that this otherwise empty place has become a hunting ground, as Lanham’s SFX provide bursts of sound in an otherwise quiet night, getting larger and more invasive as the battle goes on. The little inserts have T’onga dealing with her PTSD-like issues of seeing Fett in action again, while also showing Fett’s ability to attack from the air continues the sense of superiority. The next several pages highlight some of the crew’s attempts, and failures, of going after Fett. Durge chucks a giant piece of debris to get Fett out of the air and gives him a big Gen’Dai kick, but even down Fett’s little wrist launchers put the regenerative hunter out of the immediate battle. I loved Sacks’ dialogue between Bossk and Fett, so it was sort of funny as Fett cuts off another limb from the Transdoshan, but as our eyes follow it across the panel, we see Deathstick moving in for her attempt, but he nets her up after she disarms him of his knives. The framing in the next page of Fett looming in the background over the kneeling Valance in the forefront, his cord wrapping around the cyborg’s throat and delivering a knock-out shock, a tasty “zang” from Lanham, shows how he continues to be the biggest player on the battlefield. That all changes when T’onga knocks off his helmet and grabs him, though instead of showing her looming over him, it shows them at the same size, implying they are equals in this moment, the knife to his throat. I like Medina’s facial work here, as T’onga has a hard look to her, matching Fett’s even, but then she has a lighter, almost smile to her face as she reveals killing him might not be her goal. In the final page, as she tosses him the credits to hire him, she’s put in the forefront and positioned over him, but it’s still not quite as grand a difference as it was for Fett, meaning they remain closer to equals though her actions here put her a step above him…for now. Welcome to Star Wars and the series, Lan Medina, we’re more than happy to have you!
Here are a few other things:
- Domina Tagge fans rejoice, as you get another fantastic cover for the character thanks to this month’s Pride Month variant, as seen above. Also out the week of this issue’s release is a cover featuring another Doctor Aphra character, Just Lucky, on The Mandalorian Season 2 #2!
- I was really glad to hear Khel Tanna would join the series and she doesn’t disappoint in her brief time here, as I enjoyed her in the Han Solo & Chewbacca maxiseries earlier this year and hoped we’d get more of her. Durge first made it to canon thanks to Doctor Aphra #11, but he’s been missing in action ever since, though it’s hard to put a good Gen’Dai bounty hunter down…unless you’re Cal Kestis, maybe! And Deathstick has been in the series prior, factoring into Qi’ra’s story as well, so having her part of the main crew could offer more details about her mysterious life.
If you’ve wanted to board the Bounty Hunters train, issue #35 is a fantastic spot to do so!
+ Great time to join
+ Medina makes a great first impression
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
Galaxy’s Deadliest: #1-4 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #12-17 — Crimson Reign: #18-22 — The Raid on the Vermillion: #23-28 — Bedlam on Bestine: #29 | #30 | #31 | #32 | #33 | #34