Published: September 8, 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;
THE WAR CONTINUES!
• The true machinations of the theft of HAN SOLO from BOBA FETT become clear, as one-time love of Solo QI’RA has returned her terrifying criminal organization, CRIMSON DAWN, to the galaxy.
• Qi’ra used Han to bring the most powerful players in the galaxy together, and now the pieces are moving toward their endgame.
• DARTH VADER, LUKE SKYWALKER, LEIA ORGANA, VALANCE, APHRA, THE HUTTS – all are vying for the ultimate prize, while Boba Fett’s stuck in the middle, a simple man just trying to get what’s his!
The review;
Only 9 covers to collect for issue 4. There are so many variants, and you will have been extremely lucky (and well off) to have every variant released for this series so far. I’ve loved the Steve McNiven direct covers and this one is no different. But when pressed for a favourite it has to be Paolo Villanelli’s blueprint variant. Featuring the ship, formerly known as Slave I (and that’s what I still call it!), I love accenting of aurebesh call outs and just the whole look of the artwork.
This is where Bounty Hunters by Ethan Sacks and the overreaching War of the Bounty Hunters storyline finally collide. It’s taken quite some time for Valance and Dengar to truly join the pursuit of Solo and it’s not in the way you’d think. All along claiming the bounty placed on Solo’s head by Jabba the Hutt has been the driver for many of his pursuant’s and it possibly was for Valance in the beginning, but now that has all changed.
Vader is ready to carve up Solo in his carbonite block to force Luke to meet with him on the Vermillion. But Luke isn’t ready to face his father again so soon after Bespin. This is a sensible move by Soule as Luke’s self-confidence must have been shattered during their previous encounter. With the added knowledge of who Vader really is to him, he must be fighting his own demons, although he knows he can use his presence to lure Vader to pursue him in the hope of opening a path for Leia, Chewie and Lando to spring their own rescue bid. Vader does follow but has Solo transported away to deny them that chance.
Jabba has caused much angst within the higher echelons of the Hutt council. His yielding to Vader after winning the auction for Solo has left his counterparts in disarray. The Hutt’s influence on this story isn’t over yet and don’t write them off
Vader has taken Luke’s bait and after boarding his TIE Advanced, he is in pursuit of Luke. Skywalker’s ruse has worked and maybe the window for Leia to rescue Solo hasn’t been fully closed.
Qi’ra has recovered from her own duel with Vader, but the ulterior motive is now being revealed. As head of Crimson Dawn she has faced off against the Emperor’s personal enforcer and come away virtually unscathed. With this duel being so public and in front of her peers within the underworld she has put them in position where they now need to take note and take Crimson Dawn more seriously than ever. We know Crimson Dawn are here to stay with the recently announced mini-series about the cartel. It leaves me excited to see where the story will take us when they are revealed.
And then we get back to Valance and Dengar; enemies, but they have a strange camaraderie that brings them ally with each other. Fett is their target and Dengar confronts him alone. Valance springs their surprise, but Fett as usual is ready for them. A tactically placed rocket from his backpack separates the ice where Dengar stands he drifts away. Valance has the upper hand literally with his blaster hand aimed square at Fett’s head. An impasse ensues and this leads to some very striking artwork to accompany the dialogue. They settle some of their differences and agree to pursue Solo together. Although their goals aren’t quite the same, they both want Solo to be safely retrieved. Onboard “the ship that shall not be named” they pursue the Imperial Shuttle heading for Vader’s Star Destroyer.
And of course, I need to mention one thing… the seismic charge! Ever since we first saw (and heard!) them back in Attack of the Clones, they seem to always send fans into raptures. To see them used again in The Mandalorian season 2 was awesome and now we get them in a comic book. I’m sure that every fan of Star Wars hears that noise when they read those panels. Although only used at 20 percent charge, it’s enough to disable the Millennium Falcon and stop Leia and company in their tracks. But the Hutt’s have a different idea, they have also joined the pursuit.
We know the end game of where Solo ends up, but Soule and his collaborators still have plenty of opportunity to concoct numerous twists in the plot. The story in issue 4 really ties in all of the current titles except for Aphra. She has an issue of her own this week, but no doubt these events will influence what happens next with the mischievous Doctor in the coming weeks.
With only 10 more crossover issues to go, the race to claim the bounty for Solo is hotting up!
Availability;
War of the Bounty Hunters#4 is the fourth 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.
