Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #4
WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS
PART IV
“ATTACK AT DAWN”
After the carbonite-encased Han Solo was delivered to CRIMSON DAWN, their leader, QI’RA, fought DARTH VADER for ownership of Solo.
Now the current owner, Vader threatens to destroy Solo if Luke Skywalker does not meet with him….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Luke Ross
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Colorist: Guru-eFX, Neeraj Menon
Cover artist: Steve McNiven
Publication date: September 8, 2021
Pages: 25
The tension has been notching up and up and up over the last few main and tie-in issues of War of the Bounty Hunters and as we open that tension becomes almost unbearable as the blade of Darth Vader begins to sear into the carbonite block of Han Solo as Vader commands Luke to come to Vekara and face him. Still on the periphery, Leia asks Luke to help, but as we saw in Star Wars #16 he refuses, vowing to help from orbit, a choice she immediately accepts. Instead she turns to Chewie, asking him to physically attack Vader while she distracts the Imperials with blaster fire. Lando steps forward, baffled by Leia’s reckless tactics but fortunately Luke speaks again, reminding Leia of two things; Solo is too valuable a bargaining chip, and Vader wants one thing above all else, Luke Skywalker. As Vader moves away from Solo, ordering him to be taken to the Executor, Luke tells Leia to go save Han.
In the room, the Hutts are arguing as Bokku incredulously asks Jabba if he will simply let the Empire take Solo. Jabba values the Hutt relationship with the Empire above any issues with Solo but clearly doesn’t think much of his fellow Hutt council members as he turns his back and leaves. Clearly infuriated, Bokku challenges the rest of the council, vowing that Jabba’s actions – which in his opinion makes the Hutts look weak – will not stand.
Outside, Boba Fett watches the Imperials load Solo onto a Lambda class shuttle, deciding on his target until Dengar and Valance get the drop on him. The melee sees Dengar knocked into an ice flow, drifting away as Valance aims his palm blaster at Fett, telling him he cares little for Dengar, he just wants to rescue Solo. Too late, as the shuttle launches heading for the waiting Executor. Leia, Lando and Chewie get back to the Falcon and watch it fly as above Luke has Vader hot on his tail, eager for blood. On the ground, Fett and Valance grudgingly agree to a partnership of convenience as they walk to Fett’s waiting Firespray.
We near the end of the issue with Qi’ra assesing the events of the auction, stating that while Vader took Solo, her defiance of the Emperors enforcer sent a powerful message that not everyone will yield to the Empire, and above the shuttle approaches the Executor, with the Falcon and Slave 1 close behind until the shuttle fritzes out and goes dark thanks to Lobots Imperial-built implants. The perfect opportunity to reclaim Solo awaits, until Fett hits the Falcon with a low-powered seismic charge, taking out the freighter. Just when it looks like Fett finally has Solo back in his clucthes, the Hutt fleet arrives, surrounding the shuttle as Bokku smiles. “Now the Empire will learn…why you never insult a Hutt“.
There’s a fascinating parallel, how Solo was used as bait to bring Skywalker to Vader in The Empire Strikes Back with it happening here again as the frozen smuggler is the dangling carrot for all involved. Indeed, there are a number of small touches that lead neatly to Return of the Jedi, foremost being the singing of Chewie’s fur which presumably leads to his different look in Episode VI. As with the previous issues this is a satisfying feast, giving each character a moment to shine (apart from Solo, he has a matt finish) and adding layers to what we know from Empire and what’s coming in Jedi.
Charles Soule, Luke Ross and team once again lay down the gauntlet to the spin-off issues to pick this apart and fill in the gaps from certain points of view, and us readers get to fill our boots and count the days for the final issue, and then Crimson Reign. Excellent stuff all round.
Star Wars: War Of The Bounty Hunters #5 @ ForbiddenPlanet.com
