Canon Comic Review: Star Wars #18 (Vol. 2) – War of the Bounty Hunters

– Spoiler Review –

With the carbonite Han Solo seemingly lost and destroyed, Leia finds hope’s for suckers in Star Wars #18 (Vol. 2), but a historic meeting between Lady Qi’ra and the Princess might help her change her mind.

Leia meeting Qi’ra was one of the first things on my mind when Crimson Dawn’s leader was revealed way back in War of the Bounty Hunters #1 and it finally happens here in Star Wars #18. It lives up to the hype I had for the moment, even if it also fails the Bechdel Test like the sole scene between Qi’ra and Elthree in Solo: A Star Wars Story, as Leia and Qi’ra focus a lot of the conversation on the man they both love, Han Solo. It was unavoidable unfortunately, given the story of the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover focused on the scramble of the galaxy to retrieve the infamous Han-sicle, and while I felt writer Charles Soule found a way to keep the conversation on the two women and what they want with the galaxy for the most part, he couldn’t avoid the smuggler in the room. I hope any future meetings, with the Han-sicle not the sole focus anymore, can result in more fruitful and dynamic conversations between these two titans in the galaxy. Otherwise, as I said, I absolutely loved their time together, from Leia’s no-time-for-this-shit mood to Qi’ra’s theatrical and carefully calculated performance, these varying personalities made for a tense, but thrilling meeting.

Before Qi’ra remotely shuts down the Falcon to facilitate their meeting, Leia and Chewie commiserate one another at the supposed death of Han Solo, who they last saw tumbling out towards the planet below. It’s in this moment Leia goes against everything we know about her, claiming hope’s for suckers, the cumulative setbacks of Alderaan’s destruction, Commander Zahra’s slicing and dicing attack, and now the death of Han being too much for her positive, hopeful attitude. Chewie’s just as surprised as we are by her declaration and this attitude definitely changes Leia, as she barely has the time of day to listen to Qi’ra wax poetic about the galaxy and Han, blasting the woman’s drink offering and eager to get down to business. The Skywalker anger courses through her often, like when she shouts at Qi’ra for not doing enough to get Han to her, even after Qi’ra reveals all the agents she burned to try, with Leia pointing out the simple option: why not just give him to Leia? Qi’ra’s answer isn’t much of a surprise, she wouldn’t get anything out of it, and that causes Leia to confront Qi’ra if she’s trying to manipulate her, especially when she tells the Princess a sentimental story of Han from their past. It’s a fun turn for Leia throughout their conversation, but I don’t think it’s going to last long, not after Qi’ra reveals the Han-sicle survived the fall and is hanging on Jabba’s wall, restoring Leia’s hope knowing he’s still alive and out there, somewhere. Regardless, Leia’s anger and frustration remains and she’s ready to bring Qi’ra in, be tried by the Rebellion, but Qi’ra points out she’s ally, they have mutual enemies after all, so it would be a waste not to have her contacts if there’s any future attempts at rescuing Han.

In a way, Qi’ra makes the choice for Leia, her confidence waltzing her out of the Falcon before Leia even decides she’s right, the final line, or the lack thereof, a wonderful stinger to the whole conversation. Qi’ra spends most of the conversation telling Leia who she is, a scrumrat and manipulator, but she sells herself short, obviously so as she runs circles around Leia in the conversation, always one step ahead of the Princess. We’ve lacked a lot Qi’ra content since the crossover started, and while I know there’s plenty on the way with Crimson Reign and The Hidden Empire miniseries rounding out her trilogy, it was great to finally have this moment now. It both lets Leia and Qi’ra clear the air between them, filling Leia in on the other woman’s past with their mutual paramour, and lets us finally see how Qi’ra has evolved since we last saw her. Sure, her fighting Darth Vader and holding her own revealed a lot about her skills, but what has she done to inspire such loyalty, to the point someone like Bokku the Hutt would sacrifice himself on her word? Her way with words, of understanding her target, poking at exactly what she needs to with Leia, be it the sentimental story of her time with a young Han or holding onto the news of his survival until the right moment, it’s almost like she’s playing the Princess like a valachord, while her message of unity and sharing power is grossly appealing to those who have been denied it all their lives by the powerful. This is the Qi’ra I’ve been wanting to see since her return and it lived up to my expectations, even more so with the final exchange between her and Leia. Leia asks, as Qi’ra’s about to leave, if the story about young Han was true, to which Qi’ra looks back at Leia with a smile and one beat later simply says, “Be seeing you, Leia.” It felt like watching the final shot of the NBA Championship game, a sort of slam dunk finale to a long bout between two equally matched teams, and only raises my excitement for what’s next for Qi’ra. She wants us to know only what she wants us to know, to think what she wants us to think, so what has she told us that’s actually true? Writer Charles Soule’s ability to elongate this ambiguity will be fun to watch in the subsequent Qi’ra series, but I hope he can balance it well with some truth littered in their too.

When Qi’ra first boards the Falcon, a series of exchanges between Lando and her and Lando to Leia about her honors their history together in an enjoyably short way. It’s a pleasant yet terse exchange to start, as he compliments her and she throws his ‘accomplishments’ under the bus a bit, unlike how she spoke more highly of him when they went to recruit his ship back in Solo, but his response regarding his set backs always only being temporary is some classic confident Lando. As Lando warns Leia about Qi’ra, the Princess shows she knows how to handle potential threats like her, while later in Qi’ra and Leia’s conversation, Qi’ra warns Leia about Lando, hinting to us readers she might know about the deal he struck with Jabba the Hutt way earlier in this series, but if Leia can’t trust much of what she says, will she take this seriously? At least Qi’ra asks Lando to send an apology to Elthree after one of her techs messed with the Falcon, so it’s not all bad blood between the two. Before all that though, Lando’s optimism about saving Lobot from the implants feels more talk than show, as he hopes the Hutts grabbed the Talky droid and, after dropping the rebels off at their base, he can have it fully reverse what happened to Lobot. It’s another step in the tragic story of their friendship, as we know from subsequently set titles Lobot’s still under the implants sway, and Lobot’s silence almost says it all about how much he believes his friend (though, of course, he has no choice but the silence). I’m curious how close this series will get to Return of the Jedi, with Lando undercover in the Palace, and how these storylines of the Talky and his deal with Jabba will come to fruition.

I can’t discuss this issue without also discussing Chewie’s little moments too! His hug with Leia over Han’s death, his surprise over Leia’s words on hope, he has his own emotional roller coaster ride too. Of course the biggest moment is when he walks in, cuffs in hands to take Qi’ra in to the Rebellion, and drops them as Qi’ra reveals Han is still alive. In that moment, it’s decided Qi’ra can leave the Falcon, as Chewie would never handcuff the best chance at getting his greatest pal back. As little as his moments are in this issue, I’m glad they’re here, as it wouldn’t have been the same without having his reactions to the whole ordeal.

This is probably the ‘quietest’ issue the art team of Ramon Rosanas, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, and letterer Clayton Cowles has ever had on this series, as it’s mainly one large, long conversation, though a few flashback panels allows for some action panels to mix up the issue a bit. One of my favorite pages from the issue is the big splash page of Leia’s successive set-backs, surrounding her pronouncement of hope’s for suckers, as the team captures some memorable scenes from the recent past, be it the Death Star destroying Alderaan, the defeat at Hoth, Zahara and her deadly blade, and of course the frozen Han falling out the ship, the muted colors painting these in a dark and foreboding light to enunciate Leia’s declaration. Time and time again I can’t help but praise Rosanas facial work and in an issue of two characters having a chat, he and the team nail the subtleties and nuances needed to aide the script’s ambitious conversation, which easily could’ve been undermined by a lesser performance. I love how Qi’ra’s first genuine smile comes when confirming to Chewie that Han’s still alive or her little smirk when she delivers her final line, the script would never be the same without these ambiguities in the art, while Leia’s pissed but laser focused attitude wouldn’t feel as volatile without her scrunched anger or the sudden blaster shot of Qi’ra’s peace offering drink. This conversation lives or dies by the art to support it in the comic medium and this team does it justice to the point it almost felt like freeze-frames from the actors in a show or movie, and we’re lucky they brought such powerful work to his gigantic meeting.

Here are a few other things:

• The first peek at Crimson Reign released at the end of October, despite the issue not being out until December, and it gives us some insight into the strange, old woman standing in the background of the final panel of War of the Bounty Hunter #5 and what Qi’ra’s ultimate plans seem to be.

Star Wars #18 (Vol. 2) contains a brilliant moment between two titans of the Star Wars universe, Leia and Qi’ra.

+ Qi’ra and Leia’s meet…

+ Respecting all the characters’ histories

+ Facial subtleties make the big conversation tense

– …though it falls short of the Bechdel Test

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.

WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS CROSSOVER REVIEWS

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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