– Spoiler Review –
Bounty Hunters #41 is the series’ penultimate issue, wrapping up several threads and its Dark Droids storyline at the same time, while setting the stage for its big finale in January.
Considering issue #41 concludes the series’ Dark Droids arc, there are the smallest spoilers for Dark Droids #5 {out 12/27} in the issue, and in this review, but there are no specifics whatsoever. In fact, Star Wars #41 (Vol. 2) was far more revealing, but much like that issue and this one, we kind of already know the Scourge was going to be done (for now?) since Return of the Jedi is right around the corner, so it’s not like hearing “it’s over” is much of a spoiler. You can read this issue and my review without learning how that comes to an end.
As T’onga continues to futilely reason with the Scourged Beilert Valance, Losha and Vukorah’s clean sweep of Scourged droids from Syphacc’s office ends with them having a visitor: ex-Lieutenant Jyala Haydenn. We saw Jyala betray the Empire to help rescue the broken Valance last issue, but at this moment she nor anyone else has a good idea how to find him. But T’onga’s message, also seen last issue, finally makes its way to Losha, and though we don’t get to see her reaction, we already know she’s taking Vukorah, as much as she still seems to despise her, and setting off for Epikonia to save the day. Thankfully T’onga isn’t idle either, despite her attempts at reasoning with what she thinks is Valance, and she manages to break free, saving Zuckuss, but she’s still not able to kill Valance even when she gets the chance. It works out for him, for now, that she doesn’t, as Losha and her little crew crash the Scourge’s party to save the day. Considering where this series was 40 issues ago, it’s sort of wild to see this situation, four women leading the rescue of the main male character, but it’s instantly cathartic and thrilling to see given how much writer Ethan Sacks has given these characters to grow in the time since each one has been introduced. Vukorah is now chaos energy and the fandom in one, ignoring Losha’s gruff or dismissive remarks and just shipping them all as a team already. Losha isn’t still grieving the loss of her pet nor helpless anymore, leading the pack for the rescue. Jyala was a staunch Imperial and now she’s willing to risk it all, even for Valance to forget her, if it means saving him. And T’onga comes to realize how wrong she was to push away her wife and that she should rely on her, not assume she’s the only capable one.
Valance gets his moment as well, as once T’onga’s able to insert the datastick with Valance’s memories and free him from the Scourge’s control, the cyborg doesn’t worry much about what he’s missed and takes out his anger on the assorted Scourged individuals and droids before them, letting the others escape. Had the Scourge been successful, Valance would’ve been a valuable weapon in its arsenal to bring about its full control of the galaxy, as the quick rampage he goes on here to hold its armies back is a dazzling showcase of his abilities and those hand blasters. As the dust settles on his work, and he gets in one little joke about the whole situation, the bantha in the room still remains: the memories he’s been given back only go up until he was captured by the Empire and forced to do their dirty work at the end of the War of the Bounty Hunters storyline. It’s not something the issue tackles head-on, even making light of it as he wonders how much he’s missed when Vukorah asks to join in on hugging him now he’s back, but it’s Jyala who is obviously hurt the most by this and the issue lets her show it in the beginning. He seems to recognize her in his drawings Bossk discarded last issue when he threw T’onga and Zuckuss overboard, but how much will it matter with only one issue left? I mean this in a good way, as Jyala seems to have made peace they don’t have a future, especially if he’d never remember what they shared, so if she nor this thread take much precedent in the series’ extra-sized finale next month, this feels like closure to some extent. Does it add in some extra potential heartbreak for the finale, you bet, but as someone who hadn’t quite connected with this storyline, it’s neither here nor there with me.
Much like Star Wars #41 (Vol. 2), this series is ready to put the whole Scourge/Dark Droids situation in the past by its final pages, already moving on to what’s next by the issue’s end. It makes a little more sense here, given there’s only one issue left, but it doesn’t help a feeling pervading this month’s issues around the crossover: the era is going to quickly move on from these events without lingering on any fallout. Considering my concern about cramming another crossover into this era, to have the comics move on doesn’t help questions on why this was necessary here, but like I said, none of this is on Bounty Hunters itself and is something I’ll be exploring more in my comics year-in-review article (out early January). So where is next for this series and its finale? The issue ends on a big hint: Han Solo in carbonite. Valance feels like he still owes his friend and he’s off to Jabba’s Palace to rescue him…well, we all know he isn’t successful, unless this shows him like in the background of the movie’s events (I doubt it), so what exactly will go down there? How will he fail? And how badly will it be?! We’ll just have to wait and find out in the finale!
With issue #41, artist Davide Tinto’s time on the series comes to a close, as Paolo Villanelli will return, alongside Jethro Morales, for the finale. Tinto’s work, while a little more cartoon-ish compared to Villanelli’s typical style for the series through most of its run, has really capitalized on these wild events. I absolutely adored the page where Losha and Vukorah, plus Tooka cats, make their grand entrance, as the initial panel is the two of them, flanked by the cats, having crashed through the wall, all heroic looking in their poses, with Travis Lanham’s lettering for Losha’s entering one-liner putting her as the focus on the triumphant moment. The following series of panels starts with T’onga in tears over Losha’s return, two Scourged individuals behind her, one being shot away and the other taken out in the next panel, as her tears disappear and she registers Vukorah is with Losha. Arif Prianto’s colors for the first of the two is like a blue-ish green, almost matching her tears, to make it feel joyous, and then he turns the next panel yellow-ish orange, an angry, surprising turn to match T’onga’s realization about Vukorah. The final of the three little panels has Losha and T’onga forehead to forehead, Lanham doing his best to keep their short words to one another out of the frame almost, letting the returning tear and Losha’s very buff body and smile do the talking. The page where Valance unleashes on the Scourge after he’s saved is quite the visual delight, with Lanham’s sound FX going wild for the big blasts from the cyborg’s hand cannons, Arif drenching each panel with the pinkish after glow from the blasts, and Tinto providing some almost anime-esque framing and poses for Valance’s ultimate unleashing. It’s a brilliant final showing from Tinto and the team and I hope we’ll get to see him return one day somewhere else.
Here is one other thing:
- While Valance and the Bounty Hunters series are coming to an end, Ethan Sacks will return in…Jango Fett, a comic miniseries! It’s out March, but you can get a sneak peek at what’s coming in next week’s Revelations #1 (2023), which just got a preview on the official site the day this issue released.
Bounty Hunters #41 is a rousing finale and shows how far this series has come, all while teasing what is sure to be a big finale next issue.
+ Seeing these ladies leading the way
+ Losha and T’onga reunited!
+ Bombastic display by art team for the big ending to the arc
– Not its fault, but moving on a bit too quickly from the storyline
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 | #38 | #39 | #40