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Star Wars Legends: Comics
Star Wars: Underworld - The Yavin Vassilika
When three Hutts place a wager on who can raise the most successful squad of henchmen to procure a highly valuable, mythical treasure, the most conniving rogues of the Star Wars Universe are recruited. Following a lead provided by Jozzel Moffet, a Hutt's slave girl, three teams set out to be the first to find the mysterious Yavin Vassilika. Boba Fett, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando, Dengar, IG-88, and others square off to decide who is the best scoundrel in the galaxy! They're hot on each other's trails, trying to stay alive and get a step ahead of the pack. The competitors dodge lasers and search for clues on the planet Kalkovak, attempt to stay afloat on the high seas of Mon Calamari, and become victims of a primitive culture's ritualistic "Cleansing of the Foul" on a backwater planet beyond the Outer Rim. The seductive Jozzel Moffet, wanting to free herself from a life of dancing and Hutt-washing, is moonlighting for a secret fourth investor and is hoping to get the Vassilika from whichever team is left standing. There are grudges galore in this hectic and humorous mad-dash, brought to you by fan-favorite Carlos Meglia (SpyBoy, Crimson, W.I.L.D.Cats) and writer Mike Kennedy (Ghost/Batgirl).
120 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 20, 2017
An okay story ruined by the artwork. This is the kind of art that belongs in a kids cartoon, it’s really cheesy looking and dumb, but I did enjoy the bounty hunter aspect of this book. Collected in the Dark Horse Boba Fett Omnibus
March 10, 2020
Star Wars Legends Project #220
Background: Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika was released in November 2001, and collects the five-issue series (December 2000-June 2001). It was written by Mike Kennedy with art by Carlos Meglia. Kennedy also wrote the Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan adventure The Aurorient Express and a couple other small things. Meglia did the art for one story from Tales.
The story is (technically) set a few months before the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Han, Chewbacca, Lando, Bossk, IG-88, Zuckuss, 4-LOM, Dengar, Greedo, and Boba Fett. Jabba the Hutt also plays a major role. The story is set on several different planets, including Tatooine, Mon Calamari, and (of course) Yavin IV.
Summary: Three bored Hutts agree to settle a disagreement over who has the best business strategy with a wager. Each Hutt will send out a hand-picked team of three mercenaries in search of a priceless lost artifact, and the winner keeps the artifact and gets the bragging rights. Soon, a rogues' gallery of the usual suspects are scrambling to beat out the competition, but there are a few wild cards in the deck . . .
Review: How much you enjoy this comic may depend heavily on how much you dislike being pandered to, because everything about this story is full-on fan service even to the detriment of canon. I don't know why this gets to be considered canonical, and I personally tend to hate when writers treat me as so shallow that they put what they think I want to see ahead of serious story concerns. But I'll grant that this is at least fun. A lot of my personal inclination towards forgiving things that would normally irritate me comes from the art style. It's very over-the-top cartoonish in a way that perfectly fits the zany tone of the story, such that none of it feels like it's meant to be taken seriously.
Sure, it makes no sense that Jabba would hire Han and Lando as a galaxy-class elite treasure-hunting team, or that all of the other teams would be composed of precisely the bounty hunter characters we know from the movies. But the point here is to pit a bunch of familiar characters against each other in a no-holds-barred Amazing Race-style contest, and that idea is entertaining enough that I didn't mind how poorly it fits into continuity. It just feels like an elaborate hypothetical. And, as I said, I do really like the artwork (except for the way Meglia draws Han Solo's body hair, which is truly one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen that wasn't meant to be bizarre).
Actually, what gets this story into the biggest trouble is how hard it tries to connect to existing continuity. It ostensibly takes place during the final chapters of Rebel Dawn, even though there's no space for it to exist there, and features additional interactions between (obviously) Han and Lando after their big falling-out, but also between Han and Bria Tharen, which, again, it really shouldn't. And yeah, this is fertile ground for some interesting character drama, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea if it doesn't fit the previously-established narrative.
As I said, these quibbles aren't that hard to ignore, and there's plenty of surface-level entertainment here. Enjoy it for what it is.
B
Background: Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika was released in November 2001, and collects the five-issue series (December 2000-June 2001). It was written by Mike Kennedy with art by Carlos Meglia. Kennedy also wrote the Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan adventure The Aurorient Express and a couple other small things. Meglia did the art for one story from Tales.
The story is (technically) set a few months before the Battle of Yavin. The main characters are Han, Chewbacca, Lando, Bossk, IG-88, Zuckuss, 4-LOM, Dengar, Greedo, and Boba Fett. Jabba the Hutt also plays a major role. The story is set on several different planets, including Tatooine, Mon Calamari, and (of course) Yavin IV.
Summary: Three bored Hutts agree to settle a disagreement over who has the best business strategy with a wager. Each Hutt will send out a hand-picked team of three mercenaries in search of a priceless lost artifact, and the winner keeps the artifact and gets the bragging rights. Soon, a rogues' gallery of the usual suspects are scrambling to beat out the competition, but there are a few wild cards in the deck . . .
Review: How much you enjoy this comic may depend heavily on how much you dislike being pandered to, because everything about this story is full-on fan service even to the detriment of canon. I don't know why this gets to be considered canonical, and I personally tend to hate when writers treat me as so shallow that they put what they think I want to see ahead of serious story concerns. But I'll grant that this is at least fun. A lot of my personal inclination towards forgiving things that would normally irritate me comes from the art style. It's very over-the-top cartoonish in a way that perfectly fits the zany tone of the story, such that none of it feels like it's meant to be taken seriously.
Sure, it makes no sense that Jabba would hire Han and Lando as a galaxy-class elite treasure-hunting team, or that all of the other teams would be composed of precisely the bounty hunter characters we know from the movies. But the point here is to pit a bunch of familiar characters against each other in a no-holds-barred Amazing Race-style contest, and that idea is entertaining enough that I didn't mind how poorly it fits into continuity. It just feels like an elaborate hypothetical. And, as I said, I do really like the artwork (except for the way Meglia draws Han Solo's body hair, which is truly one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen that wasn't meant to be bizarre).
Actually, what gets this story into the biggest trouble is how hard it tries to connect to existing continuity. It ostensibly takes place during the final chapters of Rebel Dawn, even though there's no space for it to exist there, and features additional interactions between (obviously) Han and Lando after their big falling-out, but also between Han and Bria Tharen, which, again, it really shouldn't. And yeah, this is fertile ground for some interesting character drama, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea if it doesn't fit the previously-established narrative.
As I said, these quibbles aren't that hard to ignore, and there's plenty of surface-level entertainment here. Enjoy it for what it is.
B
January 2, 2019
I remembered enjoying this last time I read it, and had great fun with it again. The vibrant and fun artwork complements the equally vibrant and fun story. Not quite a farce, but certainly humorous. There’s great interplay between the famous bounty hunters, rogues and scruffy-looking nerf herders. The character of Greedo is very different to the short-lived screen version, one who is much less cocky and still green, erm , about the ear, uh, things. The plot does get convoluted, but it’s supposed to and is all the more fun because of it. This is also suitable for younger readers.
February 13, 2020
The very cartoony art style of this series threw me off initially, but over time I came to appreciate the highly stylized look to things. The story itself initially sounds a little silly but that's just the sort of humor one can expect from this particular period of Star Wars expanded universe content. It's not meant to be taken seriously and presents a fun reason to get a bunch of different notable bounty hunters together in one story.
December 24, 2020
It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World through the Star Wars galaxy, with cross and double cross, from planet to planet, told in a snappy and gleeful fashion, and absolutely lifted by Meglia's super-stylised, cartoony artwork which adds personality to many otherwise one-dimensional minor characters, even if some likenesses (Solo's, most especially) are a little iffy, and rendering costumes and environments with lavish detail.
February 17, 2025
Jeebus, this was awful. The art was some of the worst I've seen in a Star Wars comic or any comic for that matter. It tried to make the book look like some kids' cartoon. I couldn't tell what was happening most of the time, it was so overly busy. The story didn't really make much sense other than every roguish character in Star Wars trying to get a macguffin. I like a lot of Dark Horse's Star Wars output but this should have stayed collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.
March 14, 2018
The story is really quite entertaining, but it is let down by its poor artwork, which is clumsy and chunky - all the characters look like they were designed so that babies couls put them in their mouths.
June 9, 2019
Interesting story. It’s action-packed, which is prob hard to do in a comic book.
Only complaint is the art style. Han looks simply disgusting-he looks like a rat. The way the artist draws body hair looks like caterpillars or sth.
Only complaint is the art style. Han looks simply disgusting-he looks like a rat. The way the artist draws body hair looks like caterpillars or sth.
March 31, 2021
An unfortunate choice of art style for the comic, in my opinion. I kept getting side-tracked by all the little bizzare art choices.
Plot itself was okay, there were even a few parts that made me laugh. You get quite a number of well-known characters considering the length of the comic.
Plot itself was okay, there were even a few parts that made me laugh. You get quite a number of well-known characters considering the length of the comic.
April 28, 2019
Light and funny, and I really liked stylized art, so different from standard pseudo-realism of most of the other comics.
July 19, 2019
I hate this artwork with a burning passion.
June 21, 2021
One of the worst Star Wars stories. Art hurt to look at. I’d rather rake leave than read this again.
December 29, 2021
The artwork was so horrible, and the story wasn't interesting enough to help me look past it.
November 25, 2022
Legends Heist story with Bounty Hunters galore
April 7, 2024
Terrible . . . just terrible. The art is absolutely atrocious, and the story just pisses all over Ann Crispin’s final Han Solo book.
December 21, 2013
I have always wanted to read a star wars graphic novel with all my favourite bounty hunters in it, so when I chanced upon this jem, you could imagine how excited I was. This book really does the series justice as it highlights the confusion, treachery, backstabbing and manipulation apparent in the star wars criminal underworld very succinctly. To be honest, I was confused as to what was going on in the second half of the book due to the amount of manipulation and backstabbing. It also shows us how the seemingly simple thoughts of a few head honchos in an organisation can culminate in a complex plan to manipulate all of those involved in the grand plan. I thoroughly enjoyed this comic as it included my favourite bounty hunters doing what they do best, with many moments of comic relief.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews