Written by Charles Soule
Art by Steve McNiven
Published by Marvel Comics
The title alone grabs you.
Marvel’s new Star Wars comic book series event, War of the Bounty Hunters, kicks off with issue #1 serving as a Prelude. The series will tie in several current running Star Wars titles including: Star Wars, Darth Vader, Bounty Hunters and Doctor Aphra.
At first glance, once I realized that the premise of this prelude is a Boba Fett side quest that takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, alert sirens were triggered.
These types of stories have everything going against them. Chief among them, creating a sense of tension because we already know how things turn out in the end for our main character.
Tackling Boba Fett is also a very delicate issue.
He was a minor character that created a legendary mythology in millions of imaginations in large part due to his kick-ass armor, minimal screen time and even less dialogue.
While I am intrigued to see what happened during Boba Fett’s journey from Cloud City to Jabba the Hutt’s palace while transporting the carbonite frozen Han Solo; ultimately, there’s a Star Wars purist in me that’s hard to please.
But, at the same time, it’s still Star Wars.
The next several paragraphs are spoiler intensive, so read on at your own peril.
On his way to Tatooine, a warning alarm indicates that there’s a problem with Han Solo’s carbonite block. Great start. Boba Fett takes Solo to Doc, a four armed Besalisk fixer who can stabilize the carbonite and keep Han from melting into goo.
The problem is, Boba doesn’t yet have the funds to pay for Doc’s services, so he takes up a mission for Doc to make them square. When Boba returns successful, Doc has been killed and frozen Solo is gone. Stolen.
With the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt eagerly awaiting his prize, the pressure builds, succinctly setting up the War of the Bounty Hunters series.
The story is serviceable overall. Nothing spectacular, which is a shame. It does its job setting up the series to follow.
My main gripe is the characterization of Boba Fett.
Boba’s strength is in his silence.
The more he speaks, the less powerful he becomes. Boba speaks a little too much to keep him mysterious. I know there’s a story to tell, but just looking at that man in that helmet and wondering what he’s thinking is essential to the mythos of Boba Fett.
That said, the character really works when Boba can’t help but call on the memory of his slain father, Jango. It’s simple and effective. No dialogue needed.
Fittingly, however, Boba Fett’s most Boba Fett moment occurs after winning a huge stakes arena fight to satisfy Doc’s assignment of killing an adversary. When pressured to fight again or forfeit his winnings, Boba simply responds, “keep it” and walks away. Absolutely perfect.
Comic art seldom disappoints, and the visuals and character designs are perfectly suited for the material, giving it a gruff, visceral quality. I love soaking in every loving detail and especially love the Star Wars aliens I grew up with, Kadassa’Niktos, Klatooininas, Kintans, Duros’s, Yarkorans, and even a Pa’lowick and more, being used where ever possible.
All in all, while this prelude didn’t particularly grab me, like the title, I still look forward to following Boba Fett on his quest to reclaim his bounty.
It is Star Wars, after all and we’re guaranteed to encounter old friends, old enemies, and finally reach our ultimate destination: Jabba’s the Hutt’s throne room.
