Bounty Hunters #4 Review

by NumidianPrime on October 25, 2020

Author: Ethan Sacks
Artist: Paolo Villanelli
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Publisher: Marvel

This issue kicks off the second story arc in the Bounty Hunters series, focused on Valance and the child entrusted to him by his dead mentor, Cadeliah. Now on the run from the Unbroken Clan syndicate, the two find themselves harried by the bounty hunting duo of Zuckuss and 4-LOM.

There are obvious parallels throughout this issue and series with The Mandalorian. Valance and the titular Mandalorian fulfill a similar archetype of bounty hunter with a heart of gold, while the young Cadeliah and the Child bring that heart of gold out. Both sets are forced to stay on the move while hunted by bounty hunters seeking the kid. While I can't say I prefer this version to the TV series, it's compelling enough of a concept and this was probably my favorite issue of the series so far.

I do think Zuckuss and 4-LOM are better suited for this series than Boba Fett and Bossk were in the last arc. For such big names, both of those bounty hunters ended up leaving very little impact on the arc for me. Part of that may have been because the arc was juggling so many different characters, but I think another part of it was how both of those characters have had so many more stories told with them and there isn't much you can do with them in a limited role that will feel fresh or original, at least for me. Zuckuss and 4-LOM have both had much less exposure, relatively speaking, meaning that I'm more interested in seeing them in roles like this. I do like the format of having different bounty hunters guest star in different arcs, I think it has a lot of potential that I hope they utilize as the series goes on. Maybe we could even see some characters from The Mandalorian get a role. 

I thought the first arc of the series was very jumbled and hard to follow until towards the end and I'm happy that this arc is starting out much simpler, I hope that it stays that way. I like how all of the current Marvel series seem to be trending towards five issue arcs instead of six, I think this helps streamline the stories a bit. Regardless of how simple or complicated the plot gets, Villanelli's artwork remains beautiful to look at. This is still probably at the bottom of my list out of the current lineup, but I'm keeping a closer eye on it now than I was before. Hopefully my opinion of it continues to improve. 

Our Score:

7/10

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