Review: Star Wars Bounty Hunters #14

War of the Bounty Hunters is one of the largest crossovers in Star Wars comic history, so it’s horrible to see an issue absolutely phoning it in. Star Wars Bounty Hunters should be the heart and soul of this crossover, with massive characters bumping into each other and creating moments fans have dreamed of.

Instead writer Ethan Sacks gives us an extended sequence with T’onga and Alisha at the Mourner’s Wall having a short battle before Khamdek has a detailed discussion with them about his grand-daughter. It’s unclear what any of this has to do with the crossover. It remains unclear why such obscure characters are part of this crossover at all when there are so many more well known bounty hunters and characters who could have filled this issue.

On Nar Shaddaa where every character in the Star Wars universe seems to be running into each other in the other issues of this crossover, this issue finds Dengar and Valance simply running from the assassin Deathstick. They run to Mama Stammoch who chides them for coming, goes into a long explanation of the origins of Crimson Dawn, before Deathstick arrives and they flee yet again. There is a nice aside diving into the motivations of Dengar who is working for Jabba and Bib Fortuna who have captured Manaroo.

The entire issue is filled with strong art which tries to create excitement and action with even the most descriptive of panels. Unfortunately the fantastic art with epic scope, depth, color and motion is simply not enough to balance the leaden exposition. The issue ends where the first issue of the crossover began, with the revelation of Qi’ra being the big bad behind Crimson Dawn and the abduction of Han.

It’s an amazing and electrifying concept, and this book and crossover still have incredibly rich potential. Unfortunately none of that potential is realized in this issue. Ethan Sacks is an amazing writer when he stays focused on the core characters and creates great action. Unfortunately here the story wanders and fails to live up to the action deserved in a crossover of this scope. 

Writing: 2.5 of 5 stars
Art: 4.5 of 5 stars
Colors: 4.2 of 5 stars 

Overall: 3.7 of 5 stars 

Writer: Ethan Sacks
Art: Paolo Villanelli
Colors: Arid Prianto
Publisher: Marvel Comics