War of the Bounty Hunters: Boushh #1 Review

by Krownest on September 21, 2021

Author: Alyssa Wong
Artist: David Baldeon
Colorist: Israel Silva
Letterer: Arianna Maher
Publisher: Marvel Entertainment

I didn't really expect a one-shot about one of the least interesting characters in Star Wars to me previously to be my favorite thing to come out of this crossover, but here we are! For context, each of these one-shots has been about expanding on the story of this crossover through the perspectives of other bounty hunters not necessarily seen in the crossover itself. The first was about Jabba (but really about Deva Lompop), and this one is about Boushh. Deva is present here too, so it's safe to say these one-shots are going to be primarily a Deva Lompop story.

But despite that, this issue found a way to be a surprisingly touching, emotional story about Boushh. Yeah, Boushh. You know, the dude Leia pretended to be in Return of the Jedi? This issue actually fleshes out his character a lot and makes him really compelling. I think the best thing about this is that it is a one-shot. There's no padding for page numbers, no relentless flashbacks, no cliffhangers. It starts, tells the story, and that's it. And that's particularly why it works so much better than the other parts of this crossover; it does technically tie into the overarching story, but only a little bit, and the real focus is the more contained story.

Ok, but what about the issue. What makes it so good? Well, the issue is about Boushh and his family. Not his biological family, but a group of fellow Ubese bounty hunters who were exiled from their homeplanet like him. They've worked together for years, and are as close as a real family. Found families are my favorite storytelling trope, so of course I loved this. They go on a job to assassinate the heads of TaggeCo, which is familiar to fans of both the classic Marvel Star Wars run and Alyssa Wong's current Doctor Aphra run. 

I found myself really liking Domina Tagge and the Tagges in general more here than I do in Aphra's series, much like Wong's writing. Seeing the others Tagges makes Domina feel way more like an actual character, and I found myself appreciating her more without the baggage of the parts of the Aphra series I don't really like. And that just ties into the already-mentioned reasons why I liked this so much. I won't say much else about the plot because  recommend reading it! And while you're reading it, you'll get to appreciate the awesome art from David Baldeon, who I don't recall seeing on Star Wars before, and he did a fantastic job. Check it out!

Our Score:

10/10

A Look Inside