Published: August 4, 2021
Rating: Rated T
Writer: Daniel Jose Older
Penciler: Kei Zama
Colourist: Felipe Sobreiro
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
Cover Artist: Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson
The synopsis;
ZUCKUSS BATTLES 4-LOM! WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS TIE-IN! Together, lethal droid 4-LOM and Gand Findsman Zuckuss make an unparalleled bounty hunting team. Yet a brutal battle with Boba Fett has divided them. Lost and alone on the crime-infested streets of Nar Shaddaa, Zuckuss faces down an utterly transformed 4-LOM…but why is his old friend out for blood? The answer may lie in the past, from an early mission that helped forge their formidable partnership. Daniel José Older and Kei Zama’s one-shot is the second of four action-packed War of the Bounty Hunters tie-ins about the criminal underworld’s most notorious hunters and scoundrels, all told by the best STAR WARS writers and illustrators in the galaxy.
The review;
What a time to be a Star Wars fan. We have a whole new era in the form of The High Republic and a huge crossover event in War of the Bounty Hunters. Could it possibly get much better? Well, these one shots are a very good place to start. Thy link in with the events of War of the Bounty Hunter but can equally be enjoyed by themselves. This one shot has me particularly excited as it’s written by Daniel Jose Older. Older has written the Star Wars novel Last Shot, but more recently has been writing The High Republic Adventures series from IDW (as well as a High Republic era book), which has very quickly become my favourite series. I’m eager to see what he can bring to War of the Bounty Hunters. He is joined by Star Wars newbie Kei Zama, who has an impressive resume in the comic world, so I’m looking forward to seeing what she brings to the issue…
The opening pages really set the scene for the comic, and this is thanks to the breathtaking artwork by Zama, it is exceptional. Her style is very cinematic and helps to bring Older’s story to life. The first two pages do not have any words (unless you speak Jawa and if I’m honest, mines a little rusty), it is all told through the artwork. Even when words are introduced, the artwork is able to capture the atmosphere, the action and the emotions beautifully. This issue really is something to be awed at in terms of just the artwork. Although this is Zama’s first foray into Star Wars, she handles it like a seasoned pro.
With such gorgeous artwork, you need to be able to have a good story and my goodness does Older deliver. I find it interesting that Older was chosen for this issue in particular. His High Republic Adventures series is a tale of two parts which is how this issue is also presented. Older knows how to work this type of story and he does it extremely well. The first story being told is 4-Lom’s, although we don’t realise it at that time, of how a character has been taken and abused by others. Although he goes on a bit of a rampage, it’s not his fault, his programming allows him to do no different. There is a sadness there that what makes him is no longer accessible, that he will target friends without hesitation.
If that isn’t sad enough, Older goes even further with the second tale being told, that of Zuckuss. It is Zuckuss who is the main focal point of the issue and where the most important message Older is trying to impart comes through. Zuckuss is really fleshed out in this issue, the backstory of how he and 4-Lom came to be working together, of how their friendship started and who he is as a character all come through really clear here. Older really shows a character that you can like and empathise with. For this is an issue about friendship. Zuckuss is a different sort of a character. He talks differently to others, seems quite introverted and there is a sense that he just doesn’t fit in with others. This is crucial to know, that by society ‘norms’ in Star Wars he isn’t your typical bounty hunter. Even with these differences, he is still able to find friendship. Yes, it is with a droid, but it’s still an important bond he has. Older then goes further with this, showing us the energetic Trot, who is very cool even if he does have an odd obsession with limbs, and his friends at the bar. This is a group of characters who have a strong bond of friendship and have each other’s backs. Older uses this group to illustrate to the reader that Zuckuss is a little confused by friendship, that he isn’t sure sometimes what it is, only that he knows Zuckuss is his one and only friend. It teaches Zukuss that what he has with 4-Lom isn’t easy to gain and shouldn’t be thrown away easily. Older refers to this again and again and I think it’s a powerful message to present to readers for two bounty hunters who in the new canon, have very little written about them. When Zuckuss is presented with an evil 4-Lom, he realises that he doesn’t actual want to love without his friend. It is quite an emotional moment for characters that are on the wrong side of the law.
This is a very powerful theme that Older presents to the readers, but he doesn’t stop there. Once we are clear that this story is a tradegy for our two characters, he then introduces us to Doctor Cribiriz and his brother Sribiriz. The latter against violence, the former full of it. Zuckuss points out that the pair remind him of him and 4-Lom, this is Older wanting us to make the comparison. Zuckuss and 4-Lom work with each other, understand each other, leading to a true friendship. Cribiriz and Sribiriz don’t have the same values and it leads to one of them dying. But this isn’t the comparison Older wants us to see. The doctor goes on blind revenge for his brother. His brother who was against violence, who wasn’t happy with the path it had led his brother and I’m sure would have disapproved of his use of 4-Lom. With all the suffering, Cribiriz hasn’t learnt any lessons from his brother’s death and is still following the path that ended with death. Rather than learning and reflecting in his part in all of this, Cribiriz makes the same mistakes, which leads to the same end. This in itself is a lesson, that repeat the mistakes of the past, you are doomed to the same fate. Yet it is also a lesson for Zuckuss, that true friendship is hard to find and should be fought for at all costs.
With such strong themes coming through the pages, Older never forgets that this is Star Wars, and it needs to feel like that. Zuckuss and 4-Lom, although being fleshed out, always feel true to the snippets we see of them in The Empire Strikes Back. We then have jawas, Tatooine, bars (and bar fights!) that all have these little nods back to Star Wars that make this story feel like it’s in a galaxy far, far away. With such a dark story, the humour is played just right, giving laughs when they are needed but not overstaying their welcome to cloud the atmosphere Older and Zama take such care in creating.
One shots for a crossover, never really moving the story forward but filling in back story. They’re a tricky beast as with no ‘new’ information you have to capture the reader with the characters rather than reveals. Yet Older does a tremendous job here. For two characters that we see for all of five seconds on film, I finish this issue feeling like I know and (more importantly) like these characters, that I want to know a lot more about them and their fates after this issue. It is what everyone shot strives for. Older presents a story so full of depth but so heaped in Star Wars that you can’t help but be engrossed in the story. Add the artwork by Zama that provides such incredible visuals, and you have a one shot that not only adds to War of the Bounty Hunters but stands very comfortably by itself. If there is one complaint I have, I needed a few extra pages…a few…well let’s say an extra issue…to allow Older and Zama to finish telling the story. I have such empathy for these characters, to know if and when things will have a happy ending that I would gladly read a series with these two as the stars. They are quite unique in Star Wars and Older has really shown how that uniqueness makes them worthy of our time as readers.
Availability;
War of the Bouty Hunters: 4-Lom & Zuckuss #1 is part of a crossover series available from Marvel. This issue is available via the Marvel App and all good comic book stores. This issue retails at $4.99.
