Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #5 (October 13): I've enjoyed this event, even in its slower moments, and Marvel made the right move keeping it to five issues and not the seemingly requisite six issues. Soule wraps up all loose ends nicely as virtually every character is organically placed in new status quos.
The Executor dispatches Tie Fighters to take on the Hutt Council's ships as they drag General Romodi's shuttle to them. Leia and Luke flail as they try to address their own difficult situations: Leia explains that their engines still don't work (despite the events of "Star Wars" #17), and Luke is still trying to shake Vader's pursuit. Matters go from bad to worse when, as Leia feared, Romodi's shuttle is pulled beyond Lobot's broadcast range and its pilots are able to restart the shuttle's engines. (Soule doesn't show how the pilots manage to shake off the maghooks that Hondo and his cronies are using to pull the shuttle to them, but I'll let it go.) The shuttle returns to the Executor, and all seems lost.
But, two events occur that legitimately surprised me. First, Boba Fett hails the Executor. Since the database shows him working for Vader and since Vader has told Admiral Piett that he shouldn't disturb him, Piett allows Boba Fett to board. Meanwhile, Leia and company are shocked when someone from the Executor contacts them and provides them access to the ship. The contact explains that she's working on Qi'ra's behalf, and Lando has to explain - awkwardly - to Leia that Han and Qi'ra have a...past. As both groups board the Executor and head for Han, Qi'ra contacts Bokku the Hutt and tells him to press the attack against the Executor, despite how outgunned the Hutt ships are against a Super Star Destroyer.
Using his knowledge of Imperial ships' layouts, Valance leads Boba Fett to the detention level. A security droid attempts to stop them, and Valance saves Boba Fett only for Boba Fett to take out Valance as he promised that he would. Boba Fett being Boba Fett, his sense of honor leads him to tell Valance that he can find Han at Jabba's Palace on Tatooine. Meanwhile, Admiral Piett contacts the Emperor about the Hutt's attack (since Vader is unavailable to provide guidance), and the Emperor orders Vader to see to the affront personally.
Chewie, Lando, and Leia find Han's body, but Boba Fett arrives before they can free him. When a Hutt missile blows open the Executor's hull, Han's body falls form the ship. A devastated Leia watches in despair as Lando tries to convince her to return to the Falcon before they're caught, and Boba Fett activates his jetpack and goes after Han, grabbing him as he plunges into a lake on Jekara. The action ends with Vader arriving on the Hutt Council's flagship and killing them.
Later, Qi'ra reviews the new status quos of several characters for her assembled followers (including Ren of the Knights of Ren). For me, the most notable developments are the possibility that Valance could go work for Crimson Dawn (which I think would actually be a good move for him) and that Jabba (as he later notes to Boba Fett) is now the Hutt Clan's undisputed leader. The latter development brings us to the epilogue: Boba Fett delivers on his bounty, bringing Han to Jabba. They have a hilariously direct yet still veiled conversation. Jabba tells Boba Fett that the bounty that he put on him wasn't personal and invites him to continue working for him. Jabba correctly surmises that the entire ordeal was part of an elaborate Crimson Dawn plot, and he'd like Boba Fett's help in addressing them.
All in all, it's really one of the most solid events that I've read in years, definitely a sign of the seriousness with which Disney approaches all Star Wars endeavors. We've got five tie-in issues left, and I have two questions that I'd like to see them answer. First, we never get a sense of why Bokku was so committed to Crimson Dawn. Both he and the Imperial officer who helped Leia and company board the Executor spoke about Crimson Dawn in almost religious terms, which makes sense in Bokku's case given that he had to know that he signed his death warrant in attacking the Executor. Second and relatedly, Qi'ra has Bokku launch said attack to keep the Imps distracted so that Leia and company could free Han. She tells her followers that her ultimate goal had been to reunite Han with his friends, a goal that I have doubts existed when she originally planned to auction off his body to the highest bidder. Even if she was telling the truth and the full scope of her plan isn't evident to me, I'm still not sure how reuniting Han with his friends would advance Crimson Dawn's cause. Wouldn't it have been better to make nice with Jabba? I guess we'll see.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #17 (October 27): As I hoped, this issues addresses a number of loose ends from "War of the Bounty Hunters" and sets the stage for where this series - and Vader - is going next.
First, Vader guesses that the Emperor had him dispatch the Hutt Council personally as a way to save Luke. These Star Wars series are at their best when the stories that they go beyond what we saw in the movies but do so in a way that fit within the movies' narrative. We know from the movies that the Emperor foresaw Skywalker taking his place; the idea that Luke's ascendancy would threaten Vader is something that I didn't put together from the movie but totally makes sense with their context.
Second, Bokku summarizes Crimson Dawn's mission: "In a galaxy of Emperors and wizards, there's no way for lowly souls like us to win the game. Unless we stand together." Truth. Like the "Sex and the City" episode where Carrie dates a bartender and New York's exclusive restaurant scene opens before her, Crimson Dawn uniting the people behind the scenes not only makes sense but does truly represent a threat to the powerful. We're talking about the people who keep the machines of power running; if they successfully unite, the powerful don't win. I'm still not sure why Bokku was willing to sacrifice his life for the cause, as he seems pretty sanguine about his impending death here. Maybe like "War Games," he realized to play is to lose.
Along those lines, the revelation that Ochi is working for Crimson Dawn isn't surprising. In fact, the only surprising part is that Vader continues to trust him. As we saw with Doctor Aphra, Vader is willing to take on an outside underling while they serve his purposes. It makes me wonder, though, why Vader isn't cultivating any young protégés within the Empire, as we saw Tarkin do with Commander Zahra in "Star Wars." At least they have a reason not to want to betray him.
Also Read: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #15 (October 13); Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters - IG-88 #1 (October 27)
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