Star Wars: Bounty Hunters is back with an action-packed fourth issue. Published by Marvel Comics and written by Ethan Sacks, with art by Paolo Villanelli, colors by Arif Prianto, and letters by Travis Lanham, Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #4 focuses on Valance and T’onga as they search for Nakano Lash on Ruusan. Years ago, Lash chose to betray her bounty hunter crew by killing their client, inciting war between two rival syndicates. Now that she has resurfaced, and after secretly contacting her previous protégé Valance, members of her old crew are scrambling to find her before anyone else.
In Bounty Hunters #4, Ooris, a foreign bounty hunter, gets to Lash before her previous crew. However, Lash and her youngling are up for the challenge, leaving behind a dead body for T’onga and Valance that lets them know that they’re on the right trail. But, Ruusan isn’t a welcoming place and some of the locals take offense that the two bounty hunters are after Lash.
Lash’s previous crew are all accounted for and each are getting closer and closer to finding her. However, this issue primarily focuses on Valance and T’onga and we finally get to see what really happened all those years ago before and after Lash’s betrayal. On top of this, we find out more information about how far T’onga has come for vengeance, but we’re still in the dark about why Valance doesn’t want revenge or why he even wants to find Lash in the first place.
In previous issues, I was worried about T’onga not evolving as a character and being only used as a simplistic revenge motive. Although we certainly learn more about her and what she’s gone through to get here, her growth is lacking even in this issue. Most of the other bounty hunters have a canonical history behind them, so I expected the series to go more in-depth with at least T’onga’s background since she’s a completely new character. Although she’s been shown to be physically strong and intelligent in the past, a few panels in this issue seem odd because of how easily she becomes overpowered and outsmarted.
The first issue glossed over the backdrop of the entire series to create an interesting mystery to suck readers in. However, with the new revelation about what really happened, it’s a bit disappointing. It’s not particularly intricate or all that exciting. Still, despite this series not having the most intricate plot, it does focus on blood thirsty bounty hunters and the violence they dole out, which is entertaining in and of itself.
This violence is where the art exceeds expectations. Villanelli has a wonderful hand at fight choreography and simulating movement on paper. The combat is easy to follow from panel to panel, making for an easy page-turner. Beyond the combat, the art creates characters that are emotive and moving. This isn’t a happy story and emotions run high; each emotion hits hard with Villanelli’s art in combination with Prianto’s colors. The colors reflect the tone of each panel beautifully, and really center the characters in time and place. Lanham’s letters wrap this issue up with speech bubbles that are both easy to follow and don’t clutter the panels. The use of bold keywords and phrases only add to the emotions encapsulated in the art and dialogue.
Overall, Bounty Hunters #4 falls short with a plot that isn’t as intricate as expected from issue one, but does offer up some great violence and blood thirsty bounty hunters who have very little remorse to give.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #4 is available now wherever comic books are sold.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #4
TL;DR
Overall, Bounty Hunters #4 falls short with a plot that isn’t as intricate as expected from issue one, but does offer up some great violence and blood thirsty bounty hunters who have very little remorse to give.
