Published: June 21, 2023
Rated: T
Writer: Ethan Sacks
Artist: Lan Medina
Colourist: Arif Prianto
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Marco Checchetto and Marcio Menyz
The synopsis;
A NEW ERA FOR THE BOUNTY HUNTERS!
• In the aftermath of the battle with INFERNO SQUAD, VALANCE and T’ONGA are joined by the most dangerous bounty hunters in the galaxy…
• KHEL TANNA!
• DEATHSTICK!
• DURGE!
•…and BOBA FETT?!
The review;
Oh wow, it’s been a while since I managed to find a chance to review Bounty Hunters. So, much has happened since that last review, and here we are at issue 35 of the continuing series.
There have been many changes on the interiors to say the least, but as always, I want to start with the changing from Giuseppe Camuncoli bringing us the direct covers and passing the mantle on to the great Marco Checchetto, assisted by Marcio Menyz. And, boy, oh boy, we have the galaxy’s favourite Bounty Hunter, Boba Fett front and centre with the acclamation ‘Boba Fett is back!’, surrounded by the much-changed line-up of T’onga’s crew.
The variant covers are just as epic. Alex Maleev brings us a fabulous Boba Fett cover, while Inhyuk Lee gives us T’onga’s crew newbie, Durge! As we are in the month of June, we have a Pride variant, this one by Lucas Werneck featuring a radiant, but somewhat scary looking Domina Tagge. Finally, the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi is celebrated with an unusual take on Luke and Leia’s conversation on the bridges of the Ewok village. From the angle used, we can see Han Solo staring on as the pair hold hands, while Luke tells Leia his secret.
As I say, it has been a while, so let’s get started.
The introduction of Inferno Squad has led to a major reshuffle in the line-up on T’onga’s crew. Gone are Losha, Tasu Leech and most surprisingly, the Edgehawk. Leaving T’onga with money to recruit new crew members and what better way to do that than a cantina brawl instigated by a Clawdite shape shifting into a Twi’lek. I think it’s great that we see Dengar yet again, but this time still nursing his injuries from recent issues with Manaroo in tow. He doesn’t come away unscathed but retreats with the help of his partner. No doubt we’ll see him again somewhere along the way.
What a pairing that is left standing at the end of the melee; Deathstick and Durge! Deathstick, we all know from earlier issues of Bounty Hunters, but as for Durge, he has very limited comic book appearances in Doctor Aphra in 2020. He was first introduced to us in the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars animated TV series for Cartoon Network which aired from 2003 to 2005. While the Gen’Dai has an action figure or 2 to his name, not all Star Wars fans will know of him. But once the dust has settled, the Clawdite, Catak, Khel Tanna and her much needed ship, the Enigma Catalyst are also added to T’onga’s crew. Why would you need such a big crew? We’ve lost 2 and a ship, but gained 4 and a new ship, that can only mean something big is in the offing. Yep, the mission, is to go after Boba Fett!
Valance is distressed as his memories are slowly being erased. Sketching pictures of loved ones, but slowly forgetting important things about them. This is akin to someone suffering dementia, one of the cruellest diseases known to mankind. The anguish is there to see, but the support of the longer standing crew members is there despite their personal differences. With the Dark Droids 5-part mini-series crossover starting in August is the ‘virus’ attacking Valance part of the Scourge?
T’onga has traced Fett to The Rishi Moon. Fett already has a crew of his own and it didn’t take long for sparks to start flying once T’onga makes herself known. This ensues in a Bounty Hunter Royal Rumble of sorts. T’onga’s crew trying to tag team him, but as usual Fett is smarter and tougher. Tanna was right to claim they’d need a bigger crew when told of the mission.
Fett works his way through T’onga’s crew, but he uncharacteristically let’s his guard down and a rifle butt to the back of the helmet takes him down. But she isn’t there to kill him, she is there to hire him! Now this has gone from being a very impressive crew to possibly the toughest and meanest crew ever assembled.
Now, I can’t start talking about the art of this issue, before paying tribute to Paolo Villanelli for his contribution to this series. The task that Lan Medina has, or any other artist that follows, is that they have big boots to fill. Villanelli was just as important as writer Ethan Sacks. His artwork was always so expressive.
Hats off to Medina for his interior work in this issue. He has done a fantastic job of keeping the bar set so high for this series. The two-page spread of Fett taking off on his jetpack is absolutely awesome! I also need to mention Arif Prianto at this point. His colours have been the glue that has held together all the artwork from before, but Medina has benefited from that. With Prianto using the same shades of colours he would have used with Villanelli, it has kept a continuity to the series that helps the transition. Another constant is Travis Lanham. His lettering is faultless as usual. There is a lot of action and dialogue in this issue, but none of the frames feel crowded out by anything that is going on.
Sacks has handled the transition within T’onga’s crew in a great way. The twist of T’onga almost abandoning Losha is so harsh, but he doesn’t shy away from harsh, does he? Valance can attest to how harsh Sacks can be. I did love for however much Bossk and Valance hate each other, when newbie Catak disparages Valance’s artwork, how he jumps to his defence and goes toe to toe to defend him. Mind you, Durge soon sorted that out, didn’t he? The shape of the new crew shows that there are many skill sets within. This crew is more diverse with its talents and has many new skills added.
As I have said before, this series just keeps on delivering issue after issue. I can’t wait to see where issue 36 takes us in the final issue before Dark Droids #1 is released. The good news, it’s less than 3 weeks until it’s released!
Availability;
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters is an ongoing series available from Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $3.99 and is available via the Marvel App, ComiXology and all good comic book stores.
