Star Wars: Han Solo – Hunt for the Falcon #2
“PART TWO”
He was a smuggler. A scoundrel. Then a rebel hero and a family man. Years after the fall of the Empire, he’s a man who finds himself wanting to relive the excitement of those early adventures, with the ship that took him all across the galaxy….
HAN SOLO has reached a point in his life where it seems that all his best adventures are behind him. By losing his prized ship, the ”MILLENNIUM FALCON”, he lost his way. Deciding he would need his ship back to feel like himself, he has searched across the galaxy trying to find it, bringing his old friend CHEWBACCA along for the quest. Meanwhile, it’s the unscrupulous DUCAIN who may have information on the whereabouts of the coveted ship….
Writer: Rodney Barnes
Artist: Ramon Rosanas
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Guru-eFX
Cover artist: Ramon Rosanas
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Release date: 8th October 2025
Not that this series was ever going to be a snoozefest with the central conceit being Han Solo and Chewbacca searching for their missing stock light freighter the Millennium Falcon, but as we enter the opening pages of issue 2 of Han Solo: Hunt for the Falcon it’s evident that what could have been a classic case of ‘who asked for this’ could very well turn out to be a case of ‘thank you very much Lucasfilm.’ Opening in the cockpit of their replacement vessel we see Chewie conversing with someone via hologram, and quickly see that it’s Leia Organa, giving her old friend some sage advice regarding putting family first. Of course, to Cherwie Han is family and she means Mala and Lumpy, but their conversation is cut short when Han enters the cockpit and Chewie ends the call. Han thinks back to the events of the last issue as their search came up short with a firefight, and as they arrive at Oskatoon their latest snooping mission goes south in a similar manner as their chased by guard droids until the wookiee takes the executive decision to turn and fire, with the pair quickly destroying all of the sentry droids, much to Solo’s obvious delight.
However, their good mood is quickly quelled as the docking bay is empty, with only the klatooinian Gannis Ducain – the man who initially stole the freighter from them – in the room. Han wastes no time in softening Ducain up, knocking him to the ground in annoyance and learning that the Irving Boys – the current ‘owners’ of the Falcon – are organising a rigged card game on Timbra Ott and Ducain can get Han a seat at the table. Solo agrees, telling Ducain that he’s going to accompany them. Han teels Ducain he can die now or die later as he secures him in the cargo compartment to stop him sneaking around their ship and they leap away.
A flashback to happier times as Han, Leia and a young Ben Solo stand in the cockpit of the Falcon, and we see Ben pull the levers to jump to hyperspace for the first time, a memory that snaps Han back to reality as they arrive in the Kathol Outback for the card game. It’s a classic location for a shady card game, the bar packed with unsavory aliens, and as Han seats himself in front of the Irving Boys we learn their names – Toursant and Vanver Irving – and see Ducain alert the nearby security officers that the occupants of the table are armed and about to do something. Approaching the table, the guards order them to raise their hands, but they’ve all taken their eyes off one person – Chewbacca, who lights up the room with blaster fire to cause enough of a diversion for Solo to move, and the Irving Boys to join them. Toursant can’t believe they’re risking their lives for ‘that hunk of junk’, but together they get out of the bar, only to see Ducain steal another ship from Solo and blast away, leaving the four of them to leap aboard the Irving ship and we end the issue with Han and Chewie aiming their weapons at the brothers, demanding they talk.
Huge fun to read and review, this really captures the urgency of Solo to find his beloved ship, a vessel that clearly means more to him than he can readily explain, while the presence of a modern day Leia talking with Chewie and her younger self in the flashback only go to highlight the sorrowful situation Han finds himself in. His marriage is wrecked, but here it seems he’s determined to find the ship not only to repair something missing from his own life (and Chewie’s as well) but perhaps fix a rift in his family that has grown.
Rodney Barnes once again nails it, keeping us moving while laying out the story with some classic Han and Chewie barbs, while Ramon Rosanas is smashing it with some fantastic artwork of an older Solo, rough around the edges, half a step slower than he might have been before but no less determined to get what’s his. The Force Awakens gave us an older, gruffer, deadbeat Dad version of Solo that not only allowed Harrison Ford to arguably deliver his best performance as the Corellian smuggler but also left us wanting to know more. How did the rouguish, devil-may-care Han Solo we knew from our childhoods become this guy? Here, Hunt for the Falcon would appear to do a lot more than it says on the tin and give us many of the answers we desire. Great stuff so far.
