– Spoiler Review –
Everything goes from bad to worse for T’onga and crew as the machinations of a mysterious slicer and the Scourge of the Dark Droids crossover make their presence known in Bounty Hunters #38!
Much like last issue, Bounty Hunters #38 focuses on the past and present, though not in the same way showing a type of parallel journey, but rather to reveal some key details of how things changed at the droid-only Haven since Tarr Kligson was dropped off by Jango Fett all those years ago. Set some time after Jango dropped Tarr off at the station, Telemak, the droid who greeted them and then T’onga and crew in the present, welcomes a new guest to their sanctuary: General Grievous! Tarr sees this as an opportunity to bring powerful allies to their cause, but Telemak disregards pretty much everything he says, as while he’s been remade to be almost all machine, with just the front half of his face in human form sort of like how we saw him at the end of last issue, he’s still a human to them. So of course Telemak isn’t too enthused about Grievous right from the start, with his stinky fleshy parts (even though they can’t smell it), and he gets downright hostile with the droid general after he suggests they offer him droids for his protection of their station. It was neat to see a droid stand up to Grievous this way and have someone be as aggressive as he can be, even if the general’s able to hold his own against Telemak and his legion of droids, all free minded and eager to fulfill the dream of Ajax Sigma’s safe return to the Moon below where he was lost centuries ago. Grievous eventually sees the futility in the fight, claiming he has more pressing matters rather than admit he would’ve been defeated if he stayed their longer, and leaves. Telemak puts it together Tarr alerted Grievous to their presence and harshly reminds him he’s only alive because of the old promise to his family centuries ago and that, once again, he isn’t a droid to them and won’t even be part of Ajax’s revolution when he returns. But Tarr sees himself as a droid now, after everything, and thinks he alone can pave the way for a better future for Telemak and his people on the Haven.
Which brings us to the present, where we saw Tarr last issue, in a much different set of parts to his droid body, about to delete everything that makes Beilert Valance human to help him achieve such goals. Whatever happened since Grievous left, Tarr has full control of the station now, as even Telemak is a husk of a droid he controls remotely, having lost all its abrasive personality to the cyborg’s machinations. T’onga’s crew is even more impatient now, growing antsy and not at all reassured by Telemak/Tarr’s words of patience. Khel Tanna still isn’t content with how T’onga’s handling things, trying to assert some control over the group and situation, but Tonga’s resistant to her attempts, her sole purpose wanting to stick this out because she tired of losing people. Her worries over losing more people puts a lot of her actions in perspective for readers, explaining why she’s gone through such lengths for rescuing Valance, even purposefully betraying her wife Losha. For Khel, those concerns are all stuff in the past and the future is right here for the taking, for T’onga to take over and lead these hunters into a really great crew, not wasting time trying to save a cyborg. I get what T’onga’s trying to do, make up for past perceived failures and protect those she really cares about, Losha, but I guess she hasn’t quite learned she doesn’t have to do it alone, and hopefully she can see that before this is all over. They don’t get to dive into the discussion about the future of the crew further, as Valance finally returns from his operation, with a sinister looking Tarr standing behind him…
Before we dive into what comes next (which I sort of foreshadowed in an Instagram post), what about Zuckuss and 4-LOM, sent off to investigate what’s going/taking so long? Last we saw them, tons of Scourged droids were stalking them in the hallways and they were none-the-wiser, and we pick up with them still unawares until they bump into an Imperial mouse droid. Zuckuss senses danger moments before it opens up and reveals itself to be one of the Scourge vectors, carrying the weird little disc droids that help spread the infection, and he manages to destroy it before it gets to 4-LOM…until dozens of more show up and they find the stalking droids behind them. The two engage in their usual banter as they fight off the hordes out to get 4-LOM, with the droid not quite at Zuckuss’ level with his growing fatalistic thoughts, but eventually he gets on the same page when they have no other option than an escape pod. Zuckuss decides to sacrifice himself, even if 4-LOM won’t initially accept it, because he’s sure the droid would become an enemy of their friends if Zuckuss fled instead. They say their goodbyes, 4-LOM promising he’ll honor his friend with a special Gand ceremony in one of their funnier lines and he then he’s off, flying away from the Haven in the escape pod. As for Zuckuss, faced with the dozens of Scourged droids…they leave him be, as he’s not what they wanted anyways, not yet at least! I’m curious if Kligson knows about the Scourged droids on his station or if that’s a recent development and his focus on turning Valance has prevented him from seeing what’s going on. I look forward to finding out more, especially since Kligson has just unveiled his latest plan.
Back in the hanger bay, T’onga rushes up the Terminator-silent Valance and Khel immediately senses something’s off, telling their leader to back away. T’onga does, but Catak, the shape-shifter, approaches instead and puts on Yura’s face, the love of the cyborg’s life, but he remains silent. Right up until Valance raises his hand and BLASTS CATAK’S HEAD OFF, the shape-shifter dropping dead. T’onga can’t believe Valance would do something like that but Khel already knows Valance isn’t home anymore. He’s going to be a formidable obstacle for the group since he won’t care if he kills any of them and they’ll try to bring him down without hurting him, and boy I am not ready to see how this all pans out for the team. As for how I foreshadowed this, sort of, I realized after I posted my Bounty Hunters #37 review on Instagram, the image had Valance’s head cut off almost and I jokingly worried I was foreshadowing something…well, I guess Valance does remove someone else’s head, so I wasn’t too far off.
General Grievous by the art team of Davide Tinto, colorist Arif Prianto, and letterer Travis Lanham was a delight, especially with how he started off so large and menacing in the initial panels but by the end of his appearance he seemed as big as Telemak. It’s fitting with how the story unfolds, as he obviously comes into the Haven believing he’s superior, bigger and better than this pitiful band of droids, so the enlarged perspective fits his beliefs and makes us concerned he’s right, despite Telemak’s quick jump to aggression. As he fights, and the droids arrayed against him mount, he’s no longer larger than those around him, the perspective putting them all on equal footing, as it becomes clear he might not survive if he sticks around any longer. Prianto joins in this with the coloring, as the first panel drapes him in dramatic lighting, just like Grievous likes it, while Telemak is in a non-aggressive, pale blue background, making him seem unassuming and not really a threat. Towards the end of Grievous’ stay, as Telemak is taunting him about how they are all ready to fall to protect their mission on the Haven, he gets the dramatic lighting, the bright lights, while Grievous is in a dark area of the panel and not so glamorous lighting as he makes his escape. Lanham carries forward his work from the stellar Age of Republic: General Grievous #1, with the shaky, eerie word bubbles for the cyborg’s grating voice, even going big with a red outlined bubble when the general shouts “Enough” yet the entire time the word bubbles for Telemak are the same, never shaky, never larger, simply unmoving like he has been the entire time Grievous has been fighting. It’s a small moment, but I like how the team made the panel for Zuckuss and 4-LOM putting their hands on the glass before the latter is jettisoned from the ship, as Zuckuss’ words to the droid are small and hushed, a secret moment between them, like there’s a caring sense of weight to how they hold their hands to the glass. Valance at the end gave me Terminator-vibes immediately, Tinto drawing him standing in a menacing, stoic way, fists clenched, and the little head tilt, without him speaking, said volumes about what time might next. The panel where he blasts Catak’s head off is after a page turn, so it’s sudden and shocking he went from caressing Catak/Yura’s face to blowing it away, Prianto with the violent red and Lanham with sound FX that doesn’t let you look away from what he’s done.
Here are a few other things:
- Want to know more about Ajax Sigma and why these droids want him to return and lead a revolution? Well, he’s featured in the main Dark Droids miniseries, while a backup story in Dark Droids: D-Squad #1 also attempted to consolidate some of his backstory.
- Ethan Sacks will be contributing a short story to the upcoming Revelations #1 (2023), which will give us a glimpse at 2024’s Star Wars comics!
Bounty Hunters #38 doesn’t pull any punches as simmering tensions boil over and the path ahead looks bleak for Valance and those who wish to help him.
+ What a chilling ending!
+ Art team messing with perspective with Grievous
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.
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 — #35 | #36 — Dark Droids: #37