– Spoiler Review –
The stage is set for chaos as Darth Vader lays claim to the frozen Han Solo at Crimson Dawn’s auction, but who will stand up to him? Boba Fett? Qi’ra? Or will all crumble before him? Find out how it all goes down in War of the Bounty Hunters #3!
If you’re not reading the tie-in issues, you didn’t miss too much, as the rest of the series sort of play catch up to the events of this main miniseries, as I discussed a bit in my Hunters’ Guide for July, which also is a nice little space to catch up on the other series’ events!
Vader’s arrived at the Crimson Dawn auction and lays claim to Solo, but Jabba the Hutt stands up to the Sith Lord, saying he won the frozen smuggler fair and square in the auction. Vader doesn’t care much for fair and square, claiming everything on Jekara is really part of the Empire anyways, so he can take it if he so wishes, telling Jabba others can take his place in their lucrative deal if he’s not longer interested. Bokku, who we know has been working for Vader if you’ve reading the Sith Lord’s comic series, pretends to stand up to Vader and is humiliated in the process—I’m sure we’ll learn more about their deal soon—but this insolence only draws Vader’s ire more, thus convincing Jabba to let the Dark Lord take Solo. Off on the sidelines, Boba Fett sees the situation is a little out of his control, but he won’t let anyone take his bounty, no matter the auction, because he’s so damn eager to hold onto his code and be the best hunter around. His run-in with Leia, Lando, and Chewbacca leads to a skirmish between the hunter and the Wookiee as the Rebels try to stop him from ever getting Han back, willing to fight him now before worrying about taking Solo back from Vader. Chewie gets a healthy dose of fire from Fett’s flamethrower, bringing the fight to a close, and he call more fighting off, saying he’s doesn’t want additional enemies and leaves them behind. Later he has a chance to shoot down Vader to lay claim to the prize, but he remembers how the Sith Lord absorbed Han’s blaster shot with his palms in Cloud City and decides against taking the shoot, succumbing to fear though I doubt he’ll see it that way. Leia, Lando, and Chewie stay off to the sidelines as well, also out of fear of dealing with the titan in the room. And Aphra and Sana scurry off, Chelli Aphra’s fear of being in Vader’s sights again pushing them to hide and find their way out. There’s so much fear in the auction and Vader can sense it all, basking in it even, and it looks like he’ll be taking home the prize after all…unless someone, anyone is willing to step up to Vader and stop him from claiming the frozen smuggler?
Who else than Qi’ra!?!? Let me tell you, dear Manor visitor, when Qi’ra steps down and begins to tell Vader he can have Solo but Crimson Dawn is still owed the money, I was jumping out of my seat in excitement, as she seemed ready to backup her claim about knowing how to deal with Sith Lords, to the point I felt like a spectator on the edge of some type of rap battle/dance off, playing the hype man for Qi’ra as she strode down those stairs. And then when she calls the Empire poor and cheap to Vader, dear Force I almost lost it! The absolute guts on this woman! So Vader ignites his blade and she sheds her formal attire for an excellent combat outfit and pulls out two cackling batons, probably one of Luke Ross’ greatest panels to date in all his Star Wars work, even after his fantastic Age of Republic ‘Villain’ work, as her white cape billows behind her, the combat ready stance and fierce demeanor showing off her confidence, power, and growth since we last saw her, while the batons sizzle off the page. The two battle and she holds her own, even when he Force chokes her as she has some hidden explosives in her batons, but he does manage to get the best of her…until he senses Luke Skywalker approaching and Qi’ra’s able to lick her bruised ego and get away for now. Vader’s able to recognize Qi’ra’s moves but he doesn’t put it together fully and Qi’ra never answers him about who trained her, so I’ll be curious to see if that ever comes to light. Somehow, Qi’ra planned for this outcome, the Vader wild-card, and she tells Margo to enact their next plan to deal with it. I can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeves to tackle this latest wrinkle, but in the meantime I absolutely cannot get over her standing up to Vader and holding her own for awhile, her pure confidence so Qi’ra it hurts; makes me even more eager to see how she ousted Maul, which we might see in the newly announced Crimson Reign*!!
Vader taunts Luke on a direct call to the pilot, telling him if he doesn’t get down to the ship and face him, he’ll cut the Han-sicle in two, the issue ending with his blade raised over the carbonite slab. As this released the same day as Star Wars #16 (Vol. 2) there’s a lot of crossover between the two issues, even more than when WotBH #2 and Aphra #12 shared a spot last month, though SW #16 allows us to see Luke’s feeling on possibly confronting Vader again and more of Leia and Lando watching Qi’ra and Vader battling, but not reading WotBH #3 means you’ll miss the short battle between Boba and Chewie and more of the Qi’ra/Vader duel. What we get in both definitely is enough for readers of each series to enjoy them if they aren’t reading all the of the crossover content and it probably helps writer Charles Soule scribes both and spearheaded this whole shindig so he knows exactly what he wants to bring to either the SW series or the main miniseries. The reading order, from Soule himself, is WotBH #3 then SW 16.
The returning art team gets some assistance this issue, as illustrator Luke Ross is joined by David Messina, colorist Neeraj Menon gains Guru-eFX, while Travis Lanham continues on as letterer. I honestly couldn’t say I saw any real differences or changes in the art and style, which means the colors are still too translucent for my liking, giving background characters often a ghostly look, that while it helps focus on the main players in each panel, it also looks so washed out it drowns away the illustrators’ work. It coloring looks great with Boba’s jet of flame, as it has a yellow bright heat to it, while the aforementioned page of Qi’ra busting out the batons drips in a glorious crimson. It’s hard not to think about that panel time and time again, it’s just an eye-catching and memorable display of Qi’ra’s many sides and abilities, while I really loved her smile as she effortlessly flips over his blade at one point. And her screaming face, shouting about how nothing about her is feeble, while she clips the batons together to mirror Maul’s signature blade, showcasing her anger at ever being looked down on again after her years of servitude and bowing in Crimson Dawn before her ascension. And while it’s a small thing, Lando’s face as he tells Chewie to beat Boba Fett’s ass is stellar and adds so much more to the delivery of the line in my head. UPDATE: Not only did Qi’ra mirror Maul’s signature blade and Vader got a hint of lineage of her training, but illustrators had some fun and mimicked a freeze frame of Obi-Wan vs Maul in The Phantom Menace in a panel of their duel here! How cool is that!?
AYO I JUST SPOTTED THIS. pic.twitter.com/VQVzwpOvp7
— Malik🎴 (@KingKyberrr) August 20, 2021
Here are a few other things:
- *Crimson Reign will star Qi’ra and takes place after the events of this crossover, though I imagine we could have some flashbacks sprinkled in for good measure. According to writer Charles Soule, it’s Part 2 of a trilogy of content planned for Qi’ra! It begins this November.
- Lando’s such a good friend, sacrificing his cape to help pat down the burning Chewie; love his sadness over its loss.
War of the Bounty Hunters #3 is a rousing moment for Qi’ra as she’s the only person in the room where it happened to face down Darth Vader himself.
+ Qi’ra standing up to and going toe-to-toe with Darth Vader!
+ Focusing on all the other fear to highlight Qi’ra’s confidence
– Colors still translucent despite assistance
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
August: 4-LOM & Zuckuss #1 | Bounty Hunters #15 | Star Wars #16
July: Bounty Hunters #14 | Doctor Aphra #12 | War of the Bounty Hunters #2 | Darth Vader #14 | Jabba the Hutt #1 | Star Wars #15 / Hunter’s Guide for July
June: War of the Bounty Hunters #1 | Bounty Hunters #13 | Star Wars #14 | Darth Vader #13 | Doctor Aphra #11 / Hunters’ Guide for June
May: Alpha #1 | Star Wars #13 | Bounty Hunters #12 | Darth Vader #12 | Doctor Aphra #10 / Hunters’ Guide for May