Canon Comic Review: Star Wars #16 (Vol. 2) – War of the Bounty Hunters

– Spoiler Review –

Luke Skywalker rushes to help his friends retrieve Han Solo from the clutches of Crimson Dawn but his time in transit gives him too much time to dwell on his fear, while Leia, Lando, and Chewie face a difficult choice in the latest War of the Bounty Hunters‘ tie-in issue, Star Wars #16 (Vol. 2).

Fear is the topic of the week, I guess, from The High Republic Adventures #7‘s Farzala dealing with his fear and the teachings from his master on how to conquer it, everyone’s fear of Darth Vader in War of the Bounty Hunters #3 (which this issue overlaps a lot with, more below), to now Star Wars #16 (Vol. 2) and Luke’s ruminations on how his duel with Vader went last time and how he worries it’ll go this time. As he sits in hyperspace waiting to arrive at Jekara, it gives him too much time to let doubt seep in and Yoda’s final words to him before he left Dagobah to sink in: Luke’s not a Jedi yet. Even with the teachings he did receive for months on Dagobah, it wasn’t enough to help him in the battle against Vader on Cloud City, and while he’s learned a little since and grown more confident in his abilities, he can’t help but imagining, even in an alternative take on their Cloud City brawl, their next duel ending with his own death. Leia calls him, begging him to show up and face Vader, even though she understands what it means for her friend, but she asks for it just long enough for them to get Han Solo back. He agrees because he’s a great friend and soon-to-be Jedi, gaining some confidence back despite his earlier misgivings. As he weaves his way around Imperial TIE Fighters watching over the planet, using the tenuous peace in space between the Empire and the crime syndicates to his advantage, he steels himself for the coming confrontation. Until Vader calls him directly, taunting him almost, feeding into Luke’s earlier fears and doubts now depicted as himself tumbling down the Cloud City shaft in two pieces like Maul, not just missing his hand, and Luke freezes. A Jedi wouldn’t fear death, as THRA #7 digs into with Farzala’s Master’s teachings, but rather embrace the potential to pass into the Force if that’s what the Force wills, but Luke isn’t quite there yet. What will bring him to confront Vader again? Will Obi-Wan reach out with some words of encouragement? Will someone else inspire him? Will it be Leia, deciding to face Vader if Luke won’t, which will cause him to step up again? Or will he decide to challenge his father to a starfighter dogfight instead to give himself a better fighting chance this time around? We’ll find out in next month’s issue!

Meanwhile, Lando, Leia, and Chewie watch Qi’ra going toe-to-toe with Darth Vader, who’s crashed the auction and claimed Solo is his, all in the name of the Sith Lord’s bid to draw out his son and take him out of the picture. Lando mentions he knew her once and gives Chewie a silencing look when he only says Han knew her, nothing more. I’d been hoping we’d get some time to talk about their past with her and this issue offers the briefest of crumbs, but I remain optimistic more will come out, especially since Leia and Qi’ra will meet later in the crossover. Anyways, it’s Lando who’s the voice of reason this time around, as he tries explaining to Leia it’s pointless to go out there against Vader and all the other people who wouldn’t let them just walk out with the Han-sicle, as the three of them alone aren’t enough to pull off the rescue right now. Leia’s usual rationale-focused mind, which put Lando’s friend Lobot in a near-death situation a few issues back, is a little too focused on her feelings for Han, calling in and begging Luke to face the Sith Lord despite how badly he wants Luke dead these days. The fact even Chewie agrees with Lando says a lot about Leia’s decision to keep fighting for Han now, so I look forward to seeing how terribly everything goes for them as they mount this rescue attempt since we know they won’t end this with Han in their grasps; should make for good comics, just not necessarily good moments for our heroes!

Star Wars #16 (Vol. 2) released the same day as War of the Bounty Hunters #3, with plenty of overlap between the two, to the point the highly suggested reading order is WotBH #3 first, then this issue. There’s only a reference to the short brawl between Chewie and Boba Fett in SW #16, so reading the miniseries first gives you some great context for Lando’s ‘heat’ pun and more of Qi’ra’s big move to battle Vader, while this issue offers more character focus on Luke’s reaction to Vader’s taunt and Leia’s call for him to help them out. I’ve quite enjoyed the way some issues like this overlap so much, while each one has enough of the other’s story to give readers only enjoying one or the other enough to be caught up on everything, likely helped by the writer for both being Charles Soule!

Last issue, the art team of Ramon Rosanas, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Clayton Cowles literally blew readers out of the sky with an epic volcanic eruption, and they continue to impress here but with the smaller moments. I particularly loved Rosanas’ replay of the Cloud City duel between Luke and Vader, though Rosenberg’s coloring of the lightsaber as yellow signals this isn’t a flashback, but rather Luke’s imagining of the event, made even more clear as he begins to fight back with the Force, throwing objects at Vader like the Sith Lord did to him, even chopping off Vader’s hand much like he will on the second Death Star. These were a fun way to reinterpret the film’s duel, brilliantly laid out in a big splash page, while the chopped in half Luke later in the issue gives visceral evidence to his fear; this is sort of like Darth Vader (Vol. 3)’s flashback/memories panel, which often depict moments from the past films altered by Vader’s thoughts and red-tinted glare and it’s such a great thing to implement across the board in a medium like the comics. I also really liked the final page, with Luke’s X-wing a fly next to the imposing Crimson Dawn flagship, the size disparity used to further display the young Skywalker’s fears. Rosenberg’s colors hue very close to the original film’s look, as far as I could tell, in the re-imagined scenes, while all the reds were draw you into the duel of Qi’ra and Vader when it’s featured and later add to the imposing scene of scale of Luke’s little X-wing against the larger ship. Letterer Clayton Cowles even ensures his speech bubble for Luke is small in that final page too, while his Artoo speaking SFX and the cackling “kzzzzk” in the first panel of Qi’ra/Vader duel really stood out as fitting and fun for each moment.

Here are a few other things:

We now have an idea on where War of the Bounty Hunters is all leading to: the newly announced Qi’ra starring miniseries Crimson Reign! It starts in November.
The most recent Son-Tuul Pride leader is a stellar behind-the-scenes pull: he’s modeled after the man who originally plays Jabba the Hutt in his deleted and now restored and digitally altered A New Hope scene! He’s there and gone just as fast in this issue.

Star Wars #16 (Vol. 2) weaves through Luke’s doubts about facing his father again, setting up for a lot of potential problems for all our heroes in the issues ahead.

+ Luke’s doubts flesh out this moment for the character

+ Lando as the voice of reason

+ Art team’s play on familiar scenes

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.

STAR WARS (Vol. 2)
The Destiny Path: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 / Arc Review — The Will of Tarkin: #7 | #8/Arc Review — Operation Starlight: #9 | #10 | #11 | #12

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Canon Comic Review: Star Wars #16 (Vol. 2) – War of the Bounty Hunters

+ Luke’s doubts flesh out this moment for the character

+ Lando as the voice of reason

+ Art team’s play on familiar scenes

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