Bounty Hunters (2020) #29
“BEDLAM ON BESTINE, PART ONE”
T’onga and her bounty hunting crew have reluctantly taken a mission from Crimson Dawn–to sabotage a supply shipment to the Imperial outpost on Bestine. But little do they know that there is a squad protecting the cargo transport and it’s led by their former crewmate, Valance!
Valance’s team is part of the hunt against Crimson Dawn across the galaxy, as the Empire is flooding the underworld with bounties against all known associates of the syndicate.
Bloodshed has come to the back alleyways….
Writer: Ethan Sacks
Artist: Paolo Villanelli
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Colorist: Arif Prianto
Cover artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: December 14, 2022
We’re on Bestine (the planet, not the township on Tatooine) in the Inner Rim as we kick off the 29th issue of Bounty Hunters and we’re with T’onga and co as they assess their situation and current mission for Crimson Dawn. Despite an impatient Tasu Leech being ready to unleash havoc, they identify their target; a transport carrying munitions heading for the Imperial base on Bestine, and with that we swing to said transport as Valance briefs his own team, indicating what he believes the Crimson Dawn team will do when they land, and land they do as both parties arrive on the watery world of Bestine. T’onga and her cohorts head to the ship, taking out the sentires as we swing to Son-Tuul Spaceport and the syndicate under attack as IG-88 strides out of the flames, demanding their surrender in 25 seconds or less. The Rodians are loathe to deal with a droid, and so weapons are aimed and within mere moments all are dead as IG-88 logs the successful bounty and accepts his next mission.
Back to Bestine and the driving rain as Tasu Leech is attacked in the noisy rain and Bossk battles fellow Trandoshan, eventually besting him by wrapping a cord round his neck and kicking him off the platform. Chaoe ensues, and we wrap the issue as T’onga and valance end up in the same room, recognising each others voices in surprse.
It’s hardly surprising that this is another slick, energetic, beautifully framed and presented entry in the series, with attractive artwork from Paolo Villanelli and a TV friendly script from Ethan Sacks that would work perfectly in animation of live action. We recorded our end of year episode of Good Morning Tatooine this week and in there I was asked my comic or book of the year. My answer was Bounty Hunters, not because it’s the best Star Wars comic of the year, but because it’s the most consistently entertaining. No other Star Wars title has the steady, surefooted consistency of Bounty Hunters, and that has seen the title elevate from its beginnings (a title that could have gone the way of Kanan or Poe Dameron) to a series just like stablemate Doctor Aphra, is firmly at the heart of the era between Empire and Jedi. Arguably the most interesting era for bounty hunters in the GFFA, I can’t wait to see what Sacks and Villanelli are planning to deliver us once we get beyond Return of the Jedi; No Boba Fett, a crumbling Empire, galactic uncertainty and the promise of some fascinating and fresh storytelling. No idea what that will entail, but one thing I can confidently predict – I’m going to enjoy it.
