War of the Bounty Hunters #3 Review

by Krownest on August 26, 2021

Author: Charles Soule
Artist: Luke Ross
Colors: Neeraj Menon
Letterer: Travis Lanham 
Publisher: Marvel Entertainment

WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS CONTINUES! This time, Boba Fett faces off against Darth Vader... metaphorically. Not exactly in reality, not yet. Yeah, the cover is somewhat clickbaity, although that's pretty par for the course when it comes to comics. It's been a while since the last issue, but in the last one, Darth Vader arrived on the scene of Qi'ra auction for Han Solo. Why is he after Han Solo? Well... it's sort of unclear, but in Greg Pak's Darth Vader series, it sounds like he wants to go after Luke's friends in an effort to turn Luke to the Dark Side. Or something like that. But there's also a whole lot of flashing back and conspiring going on, so it's impossible to be too certain.

Regardless, Vader is HERE, and it means nothing good for any of the other factions after Han. Jabba just won the auction for Han, but now Vader is contesting that, and Boba doesn't want either of them to get Han. And then of course, our Original Trilogy characters like Leia and Lando and Chewie are just along for the ride. And I felt like I was along for the ride too, considering this is like the fourth time we get to see these events play out! I said in previous reviews how much I liked how the crossover was making every tie-in issue feels significant, but this is the first wave where I felt that wasn't true. The Star Wars issue that released on the same day is basically the same as this one, so it feels very redundant. 

But that complaint aside, what does happen is very cool, even if we got to see it twice. And that is of course, Qi'ra having a showdown with Darth Vader. I didn't really expect this, but in hindsight it makes perfect sense considering she was trained by Dryden Vos and likely Maul himself. She doesn't win the duel, but it's still an immensely fun set of pages. The issue ends pretty soon after all this goes down, as Vader has enough and threatens to kill Han if Luke doesn't show himself. There's honestly not that much to talk about, since so little happens, and that's probably the biggest issue with it: it's too concerned with the crossover than moving the plot along. Soule's writing and Ross's art are incredible on both fronts, but there's just not enough. That said, I still recommend the issue, since it's great, but maybe wait a little bit until the next one is out too.

Our Score:

7/10

A Look Inside