Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Companion

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #6

by Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older, Alyssa Wong

You will never find a more wretched collection of scum and villainy! As Boba Fett’s simple mission to deliver the Carbonite-frozen Han Solo and collect his payday erupts into chaos and the War of the Bounty Hunters engulfs the galaxy, fan-favorites from the darker side of the Star Wars universe get their chances to shine! Prepare for solo tales featuring the team supreme, 4-LOM and Zuckuss! The masked assassin, Boushh! The homicidal droid IG-88! And quite literally the biggest bad of all — Jabba the Hutt!

COLLECTING: Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters - Jabba the Hutt (2021) 1, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters - 4-Lom & Zuckuss (2021) 1, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters - Boushh (2021) 1, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters - IG-88 (2021) 1

Genres: Star Wars, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Marvel, Fiction, Comic Book

136 pages, Paperback

First published December 7, 2021

About the author

Justina Ireland is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including Dread Nation and its sequel Deathless Divide, the middle-grade novel Ophie's Ghosts, which won the Scott O'Dell award for historical fiction, and a number of Star Wars books including Flight of the Falcon: Lando’s Luck, Spark of the Resistance, A Test of Courage, Out of the Shadows, and Mission to Disaster. She is a former editor in chief of FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, for which she won a World Fantasy Award. She holds a BA in History from Georgia Southern and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University.

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome companion book to the War of the Bounty Hunters. Book contains the four issues of Jabba the Hut (mainly Boba Fett's stroy) set before to during War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha, 4-lom & Zuckuss set just after issue 1 of WBH, Boushh which is a side trip but ties in with Doctor Aphra, and IG-88 set towards the end of WBH.

All these stories are linked with introducing a hidden player in the Star Wars underworld, and she is furthering her own agenda. Every story has a new and then part to it. For a continuity lover like me, I really enjoy seeing the links between issues, books, and movies.

What nskd is a great companion is that it enhances the characters and furthers side stories as well. Also, there is a new character to watch out for. The book finishes with a cover gallery of four thumbnails per page of the varient and regular cover of every issue.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Deva Lompop (who?) gets a role in each of these four one-shots that are vaguely related to War of the Bounty Hunters. I guess she's an information broker/assassin who is indebted to Jabba and works for Crimson Dawn?

In any case, she wheels and deals her way through Jabba, Zuckuss & 4-LOM, Boushh, and IG-88 stories. The Boushh story is probably the most interesting, lending some new backstory to that barely rendered Return of the Jedi character. The story also plays around with the Tagge clan from the Doctor Aphra series.

IG-88 gets a story that is suspiciously similar to his story in Tales of the Bounty Hunters, minus the part where he downloads himself into the second Death Star. Boy, that Tales book is great - a reminder of how far these one-shots have to go to be in any way memorable. The one-shots in this Companion don't live up to the classics.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

IG-88 is the high point. I’m hard pressed to remember much of the others (I read as it came out monthly

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection contains four one-off issues featuring some of the different bounty hunters and their stories, whether their particular story ties in to the collection of Han Solo or something else entirely. This is a great collection to get to know some of the bounty hunters, their pasts, their presents, and their motives not only in the War of the Bounty Hunters, but in the world of Star Wars canon.

Jabba the Hutt #1: Jabba tires of Boba Fett's petulance in not delivering his prize: Han Solo frozen in carbonite. Jabba hires a fearful bounty hunter, Deva, to find Boba at figure out where the bounty hunter is keeping Han...or where he may have sold his prisoner to.

4-LOM and Zuckuss #1: Zuckuss feels alone. If only his friend and bounty hunting partner 4-Lom could be repaired. When 4-Lom appears with a sinister upgrade, Zuckuss must face a mistake from his past or forever be alone.

Boushh #1: I found this one to be super interesting, as it ties in to the more recent Aphra antagonist, Domina Tagge and the Tagge corporation. Boushh and his team of exiles take on the job to bring down all eight head Tagge corporation leaders. When they infiltrate the flagship, they may find an unexpected deal to be made.

IG-88 #1: This one reminds the readers of the beheading and dismemberment of IG-88 by Darth Vader. When someone hires a top-of-the-line tech to restore IG-88 with specific murderous parameters, the droid returns to a bounty-hunting life, but also a life of unsurety.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟 Overall I'd say this event is quite the success. I've never really liked "One shot" collections much, but with this varied cast and large scope these were worthy detours for the most part.

[Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5

There's really not much here.

This is a collection of four side stories linked to the Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters. I feel like, having read it, that book's strength comes from its inclusion of characters from various storylines. Here, we're just hearing about characters who don't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

All of these stories feature, in some way, a new character named Deva, another bounty hunter on Jabba's payroll. The whole first story is sort of about her and Boba Fett working together, and it's really just a prequel to where Boba's at by the time of War of the Bounty Hunters. The second story had some heart - I did like seeing 4-LOM and Zuckuss as a team, and the ending was surprisingly touching. I want to see more of these two now. And really, in general, it's just cool to see all of the bounty hunters from ESB showing their hands in these comics.

The third story features both Boushh and Domina Tagge. Boushh isn't a bad character to see more of, and Domina made her appearance in the Aphra strain, so she's got some interest. I have my suspicions that we'll be seeing both of them again.

Rounding off the roster, the final story in here features IG-88. He has more inherent fascination, in my opinion, than other bounty hunters like 4-LOM or Zuckuss or Dengar. So this story wasn't bad at all. Again, like the other characters, it'll be interesting to see what roll IG-88 will play in the future.

3.5/5 stars. This isn't a terrible batch of stories, but none of them captured my interest as much as I'd hoped.

[Brett Wyman · Rating 2 out of 5]

These stories add little to nothing to the War of the Bounty Hunters narrative and are not much of a "companion" in my opinion. This volume collects four one-shots and here are my quick thoughts:

Jabba the Hutt:
Crimson Dawn is meddling with Jabba trying to turn him against the Hutt council. Boba and this new character Deva (who owes a debt to Jabba) are given a bounty together. 3 stars.

4-LOM and Zuckuss:
Too much switching between past and present. These characters just suck. 1 star.

Boushh:
Boushh's origin is revealed but it does not go into much detail about it. He and his crew take on a bounty for Crimson Dawn. The target: the Tagge Corporation. 3 stars.

IG-88:
Narratively beautiful. Compares the life of an organic to the life of a droid. The best part about being a droid is that they can be repaired a lot easier than an organic can be revived. He confronts Vader and Boba Fett on separate occasions. He is programmed for excellence but he has his flaws. 5 stars.

Verdict
The average score is 3 stars. I am subtracting 1 star for the marketing... 2 stars.

[47Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

The collection of one-shots is almost completely useless. It adds very little to the main story, instead focusing mostly on unrelated flashbacks. The bounty hunter and information broker Deva Lompop appears in each one, but often as a side character. She hands Boba his a$$, so she is worth her own series, really.

A story that stands out is the one featuring IG-88. Of course, it would be a droid that catches my interest. The organics certainly are boring, but IG-88 is always fun. RB-919 is hired to rebuild IG-88 after the latter's destruction at Vader's hand. IG-88 thanks him by killing him. Oh, you joker. His next directive is to hunt down Boba Fett. He fails, but is not destroyed by his bounty. He retreats into isolation to ponder his errors while he improves his skill.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Companion collects the one shot issues of Jabba, 4-LOM & Zuckuss, Boushh, and IG-88 written by Justina Ireland, Daniel Jose Older, Alyssa Wong, and Rodney Barnes with art by Ibraim Roberson, Kei Zama, David Baldeon, and Guiu Vilanova.

A collection of one shot stories that revolve around criminal underlord Jabba the Hutt and the bounty hunters Zuckuss, 4-LOM, Boushh, and IG-88.

Some of the stories are closely related to the War of the Bounty Hunters story and some are barely related. I feel like these were tacked on because Marvel realized that there was hardly any Bounty Hunter battles in the story. Woops. Anyways, none of serve much purpose, but I still actually enjoyed the issue focusing on IG-88.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of four one shots each focusing on different bounty hunters was a good read, but they all fit into things in different ways. Some were flashbacks, some took place during the war, some even happened after the war was over. If you're a fan of the Star Wars bounty hunters, I'm sure you'll like this volume.

One thing I will note. I read every issue in this crossover, and there were a lot. However, unlike most Marvel crossovers, these issues didn't feel like throwaways. The continuity was tight, and it did mostly read like one long story rather than a main story with a bunch of "cash grab" tie ins. Probably the tightest continuity on a comic crossover this size Ive read in years.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wrote this as one giant review for War Of The Bounty Hunters as a whole, so feel free to jump to the relevant section(s).

Han Solo, trapped in carbonite, is still somehow the most wanted man in the galaxy. Boba Fett has a mission - to transfer the captive Han to Jabba's palace. But the mysterious Crimson Dawn has other plans, and a shady figure from Solo's past is out to make her mark on the galaxy once again, even if she has to involve literally everyone in Star Wars comic-dom to do it.

War Of The Bounty Hunters - 3 stars
First off, War Of The Bounty Hunters is a bit of a misnomer. Aside from maybe one or two fights, this is less of a War Of The Bounty Hunters and more of a fight for Han Solo, and even that's not really a fight. But I digress.

The problem with stories like this is that we know how they're going to end. I've said it before, but telling stories in this era of Star Wars is so difficult, because we already know where all of the characters are going to end up. So when Boba Fett loses Han Solo's body at the beginning of the series, we know for a fact that he's going to get it back again, because otherwise Han won't be at Jabba's palace for Return Of The Jedi. And sure enough, that's how it all goes.

The stuff in the middle is interesting, I'll give it that. The return of Crimson Dawn is well executed, and a good way to salvage some usable story material from Star Wars' only box office flop (Wikipedia's words, not mine), but I don't think we really needed a massive vehicle like a 34 part crossover to facilitate said return.

War Of The Bounty Hunters Companion - 2 stars
This collection of four one-shots is almost entirely unnecessary. The Jabba The Hutt one-shot actually features Boba Fett, but it's all flashback stuff that has no bearing on WotBH at all. The 4-LOM & Zuckuss one-shot is nice, but hardly essential, while the Boussh one-shot is more of a set-up for Doctor Aphra's next adventure and has literally nothing to do with the rest of WotBH since Boussh doesn't even appear in that story. IG-88 fits in neatly at the end and was the one I wanted to see more of, but I guess he's being mothballed again for later.

Despite being a 'companion', you'll be fine not reading this at all, to be honest.

Star Wars - 4 stars
In terms of tie-ins, there's always one book that's more necessary than the others, and it's no surprise that it's the one also written by Charles Soule. Star Wars' WotBH arc fills in some gaps, gives us some more motivations for the mysterious Crimson Dawn leader, and has an epilogue issue that looks like it's setting up the next big crossover right away.

There's definitely an echo of 'we've done this before', with a lot of scenes replicated almost word-for-word with the main WotBH book, but it's not too distracting. They're there for context, but I feel like if you're reading any Star Wars book alongside WotBH, it's the main one.

Doctor Aphra & Bounty Hunters - 4 stars
These two books probably do the best of running with WotBH without derailing their own stories. Whether WotBH was planned earlier or not I'm not sure, but both Aphra and Valance's adventures dovetail nicely into the main story without losing any of the momentum that their own books have been building. Even the side stuff (Lucky & Ariole's story in Doctor Aphra, and T'Onga's story in Bounty Hunters) come into their own here, despite feeling a bit separate early on in the tie-ins.

Bounty Hunters especially has a really good final page hook that has me really excited to see where we're going, and I enjoyed Doctor Aphra's use of continuity by throwing her up against Darth Vader midway through and having to cope with some PTSD from their last meeting.

Darth Vader - 3 stars
Vader's story is hamstrung by the fact that all of his important plot points are covered in the main WotBH book, so the tie-ins are left to flit around the outside. We get some additional insight into Vader's thought processes, but the interesting stuff is over in Ochi Of Bestoon and Administrator Moore's court. It must be hard when your main character is essentially unable to do anything he hasn't already done, but the strength of these supporting characters makes up for it.

Like Bounty Hunters, there's a good final page hook here as well that has me intrigued about what Vader's going to be facing next.

Artwork
Almost every issue here is pencilled by the usual suspects from each series, which is nice - too often during crossovers do regular artists dip out in favour of fill-ins, but that's not the case here. Ramon Rosanas on Star Wars, Minkyu Jung on Doctor Aphra, Rafaelle Ienco on Darth Vader, and Paolo Villanelli on Bounty Hunters are all present and correct, while Luke Ross handles the main War Of The Bounty Hunters book (and the legendary Steve McNiven pencils the Alpha).

The one-shots are a bit more of a mess, though none of them are particularly bad. David Baldeon's Boussh one-shot lines him up as a good successor on Doctor Aphra if he wants, but the others are all kind of forgettable.

Overall
War Of The Bounty Hunters didn't need to be this big. It manages to maintain itself across the six trades without falling over under its own weight, but it's telling that I'm more intrigued by what's coming next than what's already gone. Each of the individual Star Wars ongoings manage to keep their own stories flowing with various degrees of success, but when the main event book is kind of the weakest of the bunch, I'd say something went a little wrong.

[Mateusz Surowiec · Rating 3 out of 5]

8/10

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The War of the Bounty Hunters has been amazing so far, and it's great to see that continue with these 4 one-shots. Brief breakdowns:
1) Jabba the Hutt - This story focuses more on another bounty hunter, Deva Lompop, someone who owes Jabba a great deal, since he calls on her often to do things and then says the debt isn't paid yet. We see a previous adventure between Deva and Boba, and her tracking him on Nar Shaddaa. She isn't able to get him or Solo before he moves on though. Deva is firmly hooked up with Crimson Dawn by the end of this though.
2) 4-LOM and Zuckuss - After the encounter with Boba Fett in the main book, I thought these two were dead! Glad to see they aren't, because these two are the bumbling idiots of the Star Wars bounty hunter world. Basically has Zuckuss searching for his friend, only to pit the two of them against each other when an enemy of Zuckuss is able to control 4-LOM's new body. Zuckuss gets left alone again at the end.
3) Boushh - This is a bounty hunter we know every little about. Most known as the name that Leia uses to infiltrate Jabba's palace at the beginning of RoTJ. We definitely haven't seen the last of him... but here he is tasked, with a group of others who look exactly like him but different colors, by Deva to assassinate the Tagge family. Domina Tagge, head of the family is quite vicious on her own and has used her resources to build a protoblade to help combat Jedi. Boushh and family are working for her and Crimson Dawn by the end. (By pitting the main heroes against Crimson Dawn in upcoming stories, this will ensure that Leia will cross paths with Boushh... it makes sense in my head.
4) IG-88 - Having been destroyed by Vader when we last saw him (in the Vader tie-in to WotBH? I don't remember this happening...) IG is picked up by RB-919, a droid scavenger and resurrector. He was hired by Deva, but so was IG, so once he is rebuilt, he kills his savior. IG-88 does find Boba (who has Han at that point), but Boba eludes him. IG decides to call it quits and goes back to the junk planet where he fought Vader.

Another great Star Wars comic. Must read more tie-ins to get the complete picture!
Strong recommend... the whole event so far.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Review is for all six volumes (34 collected issues across 6 titles)

A jumbo-sized crossover that fulfils its promise and brings four line together, tells a cohesive story, and leaves each thread set to go off in it's own direction again. And yet, and yet... Whether it's a little too big, or a little too repetitive (several times half an issue is a near repeat of an earlier one from a different title) or a little too predictably predestined (the plot can hold no real surprise since we all know the events of Return of The Jedi are coming). Because of that, the most interesting and entertaining bits were the side-quests and filler one-shots, places where character could be developed without the burdens of the plodding plot.

[Raul Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually, an anthology of Star Wars 1-shots, don't add a whole lot to the story, but given the massive crossover event that is War of the Bounty Hunters, this is a valuable read.

My rating: 4.25 Stars

[Luke Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weirdly great, for a tie-in to a spin-off of a crossover of several comics series set between two movies. I pretty much like all of these guys! Suprised at how much I love Zuckuss! All the Jabba stuff is very fun, too. And IG88! Listen, I just like hanging out with star wars guys.

[CzasoStrefa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Za mną ostatni komiks wchodzący w skład crossoveru pod tytułem Wojna Łowców Nagród z uniwersum Star Wars. Co ciekawego wydarzyło się w ostatnim zeszycie i jak wypada całe wydarzenie?


Ostatni tom jest zbiorem czterech one-shotów, które są uzupełnieniem poprzednich części, należących do poszczególnych serii–Star Wars, Darth Vader, Doktor Aphra, Łowcy Nagród.
Pierwsza z nich to Jabba Hutt — Problemy z zaufaniem. Skupia się na łowczyni Devie Lompop. Kobieta dostała zlecenie, aby odzyskać Hana Solo od Boby Fetta. Za scenariusz odpowiada Justina Ireland. Kojarzę ją głównie z serii Wielka Republika. Całkiem sporo się tu wydarzyło, a mimo wszystko niewiele. Historia pokazuje, że z Jabbą nie warto zadzierać. Skutki niesubordynacji będą się ciągnąć za zdrajcą aż do śmierci. Akcja ma miejsce dokładnie przed pierwszym tomem crossoveru, choć jest przeplatana z retrospekcjami, kiedy to bohaterka zmuszona była pracować wraz z Fettem.

Następny one-shot nosi tytuł 4-LOM i Zuckuss – Zuckuss musi zginąć. Mam co do niego mieszane uczucia. Niby dzieją się ciekawe rzeczy, bo mamy tu zdradę i wiele emocji. Jednak nie porwał mnie on jakoś bardzo. Prawdę mówiąc, uważam, iż było to najsłabsze opowiadanie, chociaż podobał mi się zwrot akcji. Podobnie jak poprzednia historia, uzupełnia informacje z głównego crossoveru.


Boushh: Odkrycie to następny epizod. Tytułowy bohater i jego drużyna dostają zlecenie na zabójstwo Dominy Tagge i jej rodziny. Kobietę poznajemy w serii Doktor Aphra. Jest to moim zdaniem najlepsze opowiadanie. Zawiera wiele interesujących elementów takich jak zdrada albo rodzinne intrygi. Historię przepełniono akcją, a sceny walki narysowano bez zarzutów. Dodatkowo postać Dominy wykreowano nadzwyczaj dobrze. Nie jest kolejną silną antagonistką, która by mnie tylko irytowała(w porównaniu do Qi’ry z Czerwonego Świtu).

Ostatni zeszyt jest o IG-88. Bardzo ciekawy epizod. Pokazuje nam losy droida zaprogramowanego na łowcę nagród. W większości bohater opowiada sam o swoich losach. Mówi o swojej śmierci oraz o dawnym zleceniu. Na szczęście (albo nie) ktoś przywraca go do życia. Historia wyróżnia się na tle pozostałych, jednak nadal czuć klimat crossoveru.


Jako ciekawostkę dodam, iż kobieta pojawiająca się w pierwszym z one-shotów, Deva Lompop, występuje przynajmniej przez chwilę w każdym z następnych. Można więc uznać ją za pewien łącznik między opowiadaniami.

Ilustracje tworzyło wielu rysowników, jednak nie mam uwag do żadnego z nich. Rysunki były spójne i estetyczne. Każda z alternatywnych okładek zawsze miała swoją własną stronę. Tutaj upchnięto wszystko na dwóch. Szkoda.

Ogólnie zbiór opowiadań naprawdę mi się podobał. Poznajemy wielu bohaterów, szumowin spod ciemnej gwiazdy, a także dostajemy dodatkowe informacje. Jest to moim zdaniem bardzo dobre zakończenie całego wydarzenia.


Teraz słówko o samym crossoverze. Skupia się on na poczynaniach Boby Fetta, któremu skradziono zamrożonego w karbonicie Hana Solo. Odpowiada za to organizacja Czerwony Świt. Każdy chce takie trofeum dla siebie. Bogacze wynajmują najlepszych w galaktyce, aby otrzymać zdobycz. W grę wchodzi wysoka stawka i zaczyna się Wojna Łowców Nagród.

Cała recenzja na CzasoStrefa pl

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stories tying-in to the War of the Bounty Hunters event, set between Episodes V and VI.
Jabba the Hutt employs his former favourite bounty hunter Deva Lompop to track down Boba Fett, Zuckuss laments the loss of his friend and partner 4-LOM, Boushh is hired by Crimson Dawn to strike the Tagge Company and IG-88 must be rebuilt following a disastrous encounter with Darth Vader.

Well, it has to be said that here you get exactly what was advertised by the title of this book; a series of stories which act as companion pieces to the main 'War of the Bounty Hunters' story (by Charles Soule). This means that for this book to make any sense whatsoever, you definitely have to have read that one first. If you have done so, then this book provides a few details filling in around the main plot, but not much more than that.

What I did enjoy here was seeing all of the featured bounty hunters actually being good at what they do. There's been a weird trend in Star Wars stories (even before evil Disney rebooted the canon) to make these B-list antagonists basically incompetent buffoons for our heroes to repeatedly get one over on. Here, however, we genuinely get a sense that these are dangerous and talented mercenaries, giving them back the sense of badassery which they exhibited when they first appeared in 'The Empire Strikes Back' (well, except for Boushh).
It's nice to see some of my favourite characters finally being done justice.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *

[TaunTaunTalk_de · Rating 4 out of 5]

In diesem Comic sind vier Storys enthalten über die bekanntesten Kopfgeldjäger der Unterwelt. Natürlich mit Boba Fett,4-LOM,Zuckuss,Boushh und IG-88. Die Jägerin Deva Lompop welche in Jabbas Diensten steht, soll sich der Sache annehmen, warum Boba Fett immer noch nicht mit Han Solo bei Jabba angekommen ist. Boba und Deva hatten auch in der Vergangenheit schon miteinander zu tun und kennen sich bestes. Genauso wie die anderen bekannten Kopfgeldjäger wie 4-LOM und Zuckuss.

Wir bekommen einen Blick in die Vergangenheit der beiden engen Partner der Kopfgeldjäger. Auch Crimson Dawn und ihr Konflikt mit der Tagge Corporation welche von Domina Tagge angeführt wird hier weitergeführt. Der effektivste Killer der Galaxis IG-88 welcher von Darth Vader zerstört wurde bekommt eine zweite Chance verpasst, um Boba Fett zu stellen.

Wieder einmal hatte ich meine Freude mit einem Star Wars Comic. Viele Bekannte Charaktere meistens Kopfgeldjäger oder Verbrecher, aber dennoch interessante Geschichten. Trotz das ich jetzt kein besonderer Anhänger der Kopfgeldjäger bin haben mich die Storys gut unterhalten.

Und mit Crimson Dawn steht ein großer und interessanter Gegenspieler bereit dem Imperium sowie den Rebellen das Leben schwer zu machen.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

What's the point of a crossover companion if it doesn't really add anything to crossover? These four separate stories provide some action moments for some of the lesser known bounty hunters, but really don't propel stories forward, and are kind of middling in quality. The whole Boush issue feels weird as it builds up a team behind a character I always assumed was a loner, and doesn't really justify the presence of the others. The Zuckuss/4-LOM story is just weird, with some robotic things going way overboard (and is it really pronounced 4-ell-oh-em instead of LOM? I guess it was never said in the movies, so it's up for dispute, but it seemed weird to me. The 'Jabba' issue is confusing with its multiple timelines, and is more focused on the character Deva Lompop, who apparently is a High Republic crossover character, but makes appearances in all four stories in this collection, which seemed weird for a fairly new character.
The art is good throughout, but this is the volume that felt least necessary to understanding the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover. Feel free to give it a miss unless you're fascinated with one of the featured characters, and even then get your expectations low.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more, but the first two issues really outshined the latter two. The issue explaining the whereabouts of Zuckuss and 4-LOM was fun and at times funny and featured a new Lurmen character who in Magnus Burnsides-like fashion wants nothing more than to take the arms of his enemies. The IG-88 story was overstuffed with interior prattling and while I want to like the story about Boushh and his compatriots, it felt very rushed and left me yet again confused about how big and who matters within the Tagge family. The are in the Jabba the Hutt issue was also the most engagingly detailed. Having Deva Lompop, another new character, anchor all these stories might be better if she mattered beyond the first and in that issue really nailed her landing (she is surprisingly ruthless there). So much of War of the Bounty Hunters felt rushed and undercooked, and I think in a series of one-shots, I’m actually surprised it isn’t more the case. This does give me a dose of what I’ve been missing lately, which is characters who feel immediately interesting to the narratives. I just wish they stuck around a little longer as a result.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter has a different main character(s) : although 1st chapter is titled "Jabba the Hutt - Trust Issues", I felt the real main character is Deva Lompop. 2nd chapter is about Zuckuss (and somewhat 4-LOM), 3rd is about Boushh and his group and the 4th chapter is about IG-88. Boba Fett plays a side character in the 1st and 4th chapter.

I've noticed this favour of switching between present and past numerous times throughout a single story in past issues, and I still find the way it's done an unfortunate choice - personally, it pulls me out of a story to drag me into a different story just to throw me back into the first and so on and on and it's tiresome and leaves me unsatisfied with BOTH present and past story.

Artwork is done well.

Personally, I expected a bit more considering they went out of their way to make a Companion to the War of the BH. But if you do not care for any of the characters - Jabba, Deva, Boushh and IG-88, you might not even miss this book in your collection.

[Stephen Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A War of the Bounty Hunters crossover review: a slightly misleading title, this is an ambitious but messy ‘event’ for Marvel’s Star Wars comic titles. Ostensibly a Boba Fett story, stretching the narrative over 6 different graphic novels meant that the competing demands of the ongoing storylines from Star Wars, Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra and Bounty Hunters (Beilert Valance), and the introduction of a new Crimson Dawn storyline, led to Fett’s quest to retrieve Han Solo being frequently sidelined. Additionally, the rest of the bounty hunters that Fett was supposedly at war with were reduced to mere cameos. Boushh’s issue was entirely irrelevant. The ending, of course, was a foregone conclusion: Solo would end up as a wall hanging in Jabba the Hutt’s palace on Tatooine, at least until the events of The Return of the Jedi. Too much going on here.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvel’s Star Wars crossover event, War of the Bounty Hunters has been hit or miss with me but mostly hits. It is certainly demonstrating how to do a crossover event the right way.

“War of the Bounty Hunters: Companion” is a compilation of one-shots that have acted as bridge stories or lead-ins to some of the other series.

All of these stories take place immediately after the events of “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”, after Han Solo has been frozen in carbonite and Boba Fett is transporting him to Jabba the Hut. A funny thing happened on the way to Jabba’s Castle…

The Who’s Who parade of Star Wars bounty hunters is like a fun interstellar “Cannonball Run” movie. I’m guessing Boba Fett is Burt Reynolds. Jabba is, of course, Dom Deluise. Deva Lompop is Farrah Fawcett.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more of what I was hoping for from the War of the Bounty Hunters event, actually. These side stories are generally pretty good, with the IG-88 being a real stand out. The Jabba story is really much more about a younger Boba Fett and Deva Lompop, and it works as such. The Zuckuss and 4-LOM story was the least successful for me, I guess because I had a hard time feeling terribly sympathetic towards Zuckuss and that's the entire point of the story. The Boushh story interested me as long as it was talking about the Ubese, but it looks like it ties in pretty closely to Doctor Aphra, a series I don't follow. Some fun stuff here, but I didn't love it.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters: Companion
3 stars. Great continuation to an already quality new series arc.

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt (“Trust Issues”)
“Jabba is most fair, but he believes this will eliminate your DEBT.” – Bob Fortuna to Deva Lompop.
.
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-LOM & Zuckuss (“Zuckuss Must Die!”)
“May the most ruthless hunter triumph!” – Deva Lompop
.
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters – Boushh (“Found”)
“Yeah, but by stealing it from a BOSS? BLACK SON. That’s just stupid.”
.
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters – IG-88 (“Born to Kill”)
[On the bright side, machines CAN be rebuilt.]
………………..

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm definitely rounding up on this one, but these one-shots are legitimately quite fun and decently inventive. A lot of that is trading on how interesting the characters are, but the plots are well designed to feature them, so I'm okay with crediting it to this book.

Even if you haven't read the current comics and are just a legends-era fan or a fan of the movies, I still think this is a good read.

(Also, there's another battle in an arena which I feel I have to note since I criticized SW Allegiance and Lando: Double or Nothing for trading on this trope, although I think this iteration on the idea is way more interesting than either of those.)

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this volume alongside the other volumes that make up the War of the Bounty Hunters event, following the recommended reading order I found in some or other web page. I am so glad I chose to read it that way, as the pieces all fell into place cohesively and there is so much I would have missed if I hadn’t.
There is so much to enjoy and appreciate in this story arc, with characters from all over the canon making appearances. It took directions I was not expecting and kept me entertained, just what I look for in Star Wars. Well worth reading.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of one-shots helps to supplement the overall War of the Bounty Hunters arc, but also seems oddly focused on the character of Deva Lompop, who was largely in the background of other books but not prominently featured in the core War of the Bounty Hunters mini-series.

As is the case of such things, the individual stories are all okay but not amazing. The Jabba story was central because of Deva. The Zuckuss story was a lot of fluff. The IG-88 story had a lot of potential but felt a little shallow in its exploration of things. A lot of okay material.

[Luana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd call this "inessential," but here I am reading Star Wars comics, so what do words even mean anymore?

Deva Lompop is a cool design, can always do with more snake ladies in fiction, so I'm happy to have her around.

Best one is definitely the Zuckuss story, which made me laugh out loud a few times. Alyssa Wong, good job!

Domina Tagge is so cool, who doesn't love a ladyboss? I mean sure, loads of people don't but frankly don't let them near me.