Comic Book Review - Star Wars: War Of The Bounty Hunters #1

Rob reviews Star Wars: War Of The Bounty Hunters #1...

Last time we saw Boba Fett, the Mandalorian was on Narr Shaddaa in search of away to save Han Solo life. As it turns out freezing a human in Carbonite isn't a particularly easy process. And as such Solo's frozen prison was slowly killing him. To raise the credits needed, Fett found himself at the mercy of Narr Shaddaa's gladiatorial arena. Taking on the mantle of Jango Fett, Boba becomes arena champion, to then see Solo stolen by rival bounty hunters. 

And so War of the Bounty Hunters begins...

War of the Bounty Hunters does a rare thing for a Star Wars comic. Not only does it stand well on its own, it ties perfectly in with both Empire Strikes Back and Solo: A Star Wars Story, and to top it off - the current comic continuity as well. 

There's a lot of threads to play with here and writer Charles Soule crafts this Star Wars tale with surgical precision. 

War of the Bounty Hunters #1 kicks off on board the vessel Vermilion thats somewhere in the Outer Rim. There's a great opening shot of Solo's carbonite chamber in all of its glory - as two unknown characters discuss Han's painful expression. We then see the Vermilion crew as a hooded figure seems to write-off Fetts chances of reclaiming Solo. 

We then cut back to Narr Shaddaa with a clearly agitated Fett. In a somewhat strange turn of fortune someone had put a bounty out on Fett. It isn't long before we see Fett in action as he strives off an opportunistic attack on his way back to Slave-1. Fett soon discovers that the bounty on him originates from Tatooine and so heads off to confront Jabba The Hutt. 

There's plenty of action in this opening issue as Fett take no prisoners. We get some great action scenes that do wonders to show show Fett's combat ability. It's great to see him blast his way through his fellow Hunters which is a far cry from his scenes in Return of the Jedi. Throughout this issue Soule dives into a side of Fett that's not been explored before. There's instances of frustration as he laments on loosing Solo, to then turn it around into a somewhat sense of determination. 

You could look at Fett and Solo as a mirror of Cpt. Ahab/Moby Dick. With Solo being Boba Fett's white whale. Again, it's interesting and just goes to show how much of a badass the Mandalorian is.

Come the issues end and Soule had taken us back to the threads first touched upon in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The return of both Qi’ra and the Crimson Dawn will hopefully tie-up the loose ends left from Solo, as well as hopefully introduce Maul (yet again)...Time will tell.

Artist, Luke Ross and colourist, Neeraj Menon have done an excellent job with this issue. Considering Star Wars is usually filled with the bright antics of the Jedi. Both Ross and Menon bring a somewhat gritty tone to their work that shows the other side of this universal coin. 

To call War of the Bounty Hunters anything but masterpiece in storytelling is a serious  understatement. This opening part does a grand job in bringing the massive Star War web closer together. This era in Star Wars is held fondly in a fair few hearts, and to see Boba Fett tear his way through it is a pure delight. 

Rating 10/10 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev