Published: December 23, 2020
Rating: Rated T
Writer: Ethan Sacks
Penciler: Paolo Villanelli
Colourist: Arif Prianto
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Paolo Villanelli
The synopsis;
A DEADLY FAVOR!
• To pay back a debt, VALANCE undertakes a rescue mission to save the crew of a crippled REBEL transport.
• That dangerous job will take the bounty hunter deep into the heart of the pirate-infested space in THE OUTER RIM.
• But lying in wait is both an old enemy…and a new threat!
The review;
This issue’s direct cover is by the lead artist for the series, Paolo Villanelli. It’s quite an honour to illustrate the cover for the comic you are drawing, and this is well deserved. The cover is a great example of the energy his work exudes between the pages. A mass cantina brawl with Valance in the middle of the cacophony, what more can you want? The Empire variant is brought to us by the usual team of Sprouse, Story and Menon and depicts the spirit of Obi-Wan and Yoda watching Luke take off from Dagobah.
Well, as far I am concerned Christmas 2020 has landed 2 days early with the arrival of Bounty Hunters #8. I am absolutely loving every stitch of this series and this doesn’t change one bit after reading this issue.
Issues 6 and 7 have formed their own mini arc with the events on Lowik. Now Valance is on a mission to draw everyone away from where he has left Cadeliah.
But surprisingly, we start somewhere else completely with another reflection from Valance’s past, but this one links directly to Han Solo and the Imperial Cadet series from 2018 by Robbie Thompson. This surely has to be a setup for things to come and a prospective meeting of them both, doesn’t it?
Valance is looking to pick up some work while on the run, but Syphacc betrays him and sells him out to Tasu Leech! Yes, you read correctly, Tasu Leech of The Force Awakens fame. Now with Valance in a cantina, this can only mean one thing… all hell breaks loose! Valance comes out on top of his clash with Leech and turns the table in his favour once again.
One thing that made me laugh out loud was the cantina had an all Bith band playing to its patrons. In yet another link, the band leader is the one and only Fig’rin Dan, leader of the Modal Nodes.
The ‘now’ storyline is firmly planted in the current timeline of the events featured in Star Wars #8 and #9. With the Rebel fleet unable to communicate with each other due to the Imperials breaking their encryption codes, it’s Valance to the rescue. Kondra needs Valance to intercept a floundering Rebel transport as they are unable to contact them on an open channel. Unaware that his credit with Zuckuss and 4-LOM has finally run out, Valance sets off, conscious that pirates operate in the area where the Rebel vessel is stranded.
When he arrives, it is obvious things haven’t been going well and he is immediately attacked by pirate ships. But these aren’t just pirates, they are Weequay pirates. Their ships are the same design as used by Hondo Ohnaka’s crew and I will admit, I sat there hoping to see Hondo appear. Unfortunately, he doesn’t, but it is Captain Scragg, the new leader of the Ohnaka Gang. Scragg has Dengar in his custody and orders the attack on the Broken Wing.
With these events and the reprisal from Imperial Cadet, that only reinforces the feeling that we will see some cross over issues where the current Star Wars titles cross pollinate each other, and we’ll get a 4 or 5 issue arc spread between them.
Everything about this title just pushes my buttons. Sacks and Villanelli continue to work wonders and this for me is helped by them being able to use lesser known and new characters to build the story. Saying that, the links to past and future events in a galaxy far, far away are sublime and executed with subtleness that ground this series in canon timeline. This series just goes from strength to strength and long may it continue!
Availability;
Bounty Hunters is an ongoing series available from Marvel Comics. This issue is available via the Marvel App and all good comic bookstores and retails at $3.99.
