Writer: Charles Soule
Illustrator: Luke Ross & David Messina
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 18, 2021
Reviewed by: Glimmer
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STORY
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #3 – “The Crimson Bladel” written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Luke Ross with David Messina is the third installment of a 5-issue mini-series that crosses over into the Marvel Star Wars monthly titles. In this issue, Darth Vader lays claim to the carbonite-frozen Han Solo. But Jabba The Hutt, Boba Fett, and Leia and her allies have other plans for Han. With Luke on his way, can Leia and her friends be patient enough and wait for his arrival? Boba Fett takes on Chewie while Vader takes on Lady Qi’ra. All the major players are here at last as this crossover event begins to hit lightspeed!
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #3 is the issue I’ve been waiting for. There has been a lot of “set-up” thus far within the Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters crossover issues, but things are beginning to change. We finally have all the major players coming together to lay claim to Han Solo. Although all Star Wars fans know how it will eventually end, I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out. Vader, Boba, Jabba, Luke & Leia all play pivotal roles in this issue. Lady Qi’ra is a formidable adversary to Vader here as well, and it was nice to see the full power of Darth Vader demonstrated in battle. It is worth noting that this issue is being released the same week as Star Wars #16, and should be read together with that issue. Both issues cover the same time period of events but from different perspectives. Both issues cover some of the exact same dialogue. There is a mention of things that happen in Star Wars #16 here and vice versa. It really doesn’t matter which issue you read first, but in this reviewer’s opinion, both are important to each other and need to be read together. The artwork in this issue is fine, but there are times that I can tell that there are two different artists. It’s not a blatant change in artistic style, but a slight one. Unfortunately, that is always a disappointment to me as it distracts a little bit from the overall enjoyment of the story. I’m not saying any of the art is bad, I’m just saying I don’t believe the artwork elevates the overall enjoyment of the story much. The one-piece of artwork that IS great and worthy of mention in my opinion, is the main cover by Steve McNiven & Frank D’Armata! I absolutely love the detail and coloring of Boba Fett & Vader!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #3 is an excellent issue that progresses the overall storyline of the crossover to a pivotal point. There’s plenty of action, character development, and intrigue that should satisfy any Star Wars fan. If you’ve been following this series, this issue is a “must-have.” New readers will need to pick up issues 1 & 2 of Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters before reading this installment. That being said, in this reviewer’s opinion, a new reader does NOT need to pick up all the “tie-ins” to follow and enjoy the main 5-part mini-series.