Published: August 12, 2021
Written by: Charles Soule
Illustrated by: Luke Ross with Dave Messina
Coloured by: Neraj Menon with GURU-eFX
Lettered by: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Art by: Steve McNiven & Frank D’Armata
The synopsis;
WINNER TAKES ALL!
• Terrifying, implacable Dark Lord of the Sith DARTH VADER has laid claim to HAN SOLO, who is frozen in carbonite.
• But the great, exalted JABBA THE HUTT also believes that Solo is his property. It’s the galaxy’s baddest gangster versus the Empire’s most powerful enforcer, and neither is backing down.
• BOBA FETT is caught between a Sith and a Hutt…and it’s WINNER TAKE ALL.
The review;
I need to start by saying a thank you to Mark Alders for stepping in at the last minute to review issue 2 of War of the Bounty Hunters which was an epic instalment. Now hear we are at issue 3 and at the halfway point of this monumental crossover from Marvel Comics. How have we got here so quickly?
Again, for issue 3 we have a deluge of variant covers. Too many to go through, but I must say there are some stunning choices again that have more than likely sold out in minutes and are already changing hands for inflated prices on the secondary market. I love the direct cover from Steve McNiven and Frank D’Armata, it’s such a moody and atmospheric illustration. If I was pressed to choose a favourite out of all the variants, the Comics Elite exclusive by Jonboy Meyers is quite simply gorgeous! A full gallery of the exclusive variant covers available at the end of this review.
Now to the pages in between. Strap yourself in, because the Soule roller coaster continues to roll, twist and turn with every turn of a page.
Boba Fett versus Chewbacca. I’m sure that many of us have acted that out with our Hasbro, Kenner or Palitoy figures over the years. I for one have a imagined what that battle would be like, and Soule drags us straight in. It doesn’t pan out how I thought it would, but even as a self-confessed fan of Boba Fett, I was disappointed to see him resort to underhand tactics on Chewie by setting his fur alight with his flame thrower. It’s Chewie, right? It’s like Fight Club; you can’t mention it and in the same way, you can’t hurt Chewie; we all love him too much! One thing it does show that Fett knows that he does have a match in Chewie and that the situation is desperate.
The use of Lando, Leia and Chewie in this part of the story works really well. The altercation between Fett and Chewie leads to an impasse between the 2 factions. They both went the same thing, but Fett shows his ruthlessness, and he has a job to do. Solo is his payday, and he is a man of his word and will deliver his bounty at any cost. These events are backed up well in Star Wars #16, also written by Soule and published on the same day.
Q’ira’s face off with Vader shows a confidence and possibly arrogance from her time dealing with Darth Maul. This leads to an epic face off between her and Vader that ends with Q’ira underestimating the Dark Lord of the Sith. Her Teräs Käsi skills impress Vader, but his ability to call on the power of the Force is a weapon that she has no answer for. She claims to have dealt with Sith before and we all want to know the story behind that. I am hoping that the newly announced Crimson Reign series will shed some light on the rise and fall of Maul’s tenure at the head over Crimson Dawn and Q’ira’s rise to lofty heights.
And then the Soule double twist hits with Luke Skywalker now arriving in his X-Wing above Jakara. Desperate for reinforcements, Leia pleads with Luke for him to hasten his arrival, but Vader has sensed his son. He wants to add an incentive for Luke to join them as well by threatening to slice Solo in half while still in his carbonate block!
The tie-in between issue 2 and Doctor Aphra #12 didn’t quite work for me, and the shared section of the storyline was too carbon copied. While the art was slightly different it was virtually verbatim. In this issue, the shared events are seen from completely different perspectives, and it really works.
This is another stellar issue from Charles Soule. I love how his Star Wars brain works. He proved his worth with his early comic book forays with Darth Vader and Poe Dameron and has reinforced this with his work on The High Republic. His storyline has hidden meanings and as I started this review, he is able to take the reader on a roller coaster ride. The artwork matches Soule’s words. Luke Ross has been one of my favourite artists for some time and his work always has so much detail. Married with the stunning colours of Neeraj Menon, it all comes together so nicely.
One thing that does have me curious is how Valance and Dengar have still yet to crash the party. Where are they waiting in the wings? Looking at the preview cover for issue 4 I’m sure it’s going to be chaotic, but the events will be far from predictable.
Below is a gallery of all the known exclusive cover variants at the time of posting this, but no doubt there will be one or two that have escaped our gaze.
Availability;
War of the Bounty Hunters#3 is the third issue of a 5 part mini-series available from Marvel Comics. This issue is available via the Marvel App and all good comic bookstores and retails at $3.99.
