Bounty Hunters #10 Review

 
This issue, things finally start going somewhere! The last few issues of Bounty Hunters have been kinda stalling, although I've still liked them. It was hard to tell where the story was going once the initial arc about the search for Nakano Lash ended, but now things are starting to become clear. To recap, the issues since the first arc have seen Valance briefly taking care of Cadeliah, fighting Zuckuss and 4-LOM, and now rescuing a Rebel transport from Dengar and the Ohnaka Gang. The last issue had Valance send an X-Wing away with a distress signal before boarding the Ohnaka Gang's ship.

The issue opens up with another flashback to Valance's time in the Empire. This has been one of the things I haven't quite gotten, since it seemed pretty irrelevant to the ongoing plot (they've been happening every issue). But this issue, their purpose became clear, and it makes a whole lot of sense (more on that later). The rest of the issue was pretty much just dedicated to wrapping up this short arc, just as neatly and violently as the arc with Zuckuss and 4-LOM. He makes his way through the ship little by little, slaughtering everyone he finds. No surprise there.

There is a bit of a plot twist I actually didn't see coming: the fact that the Rebels were found because their commander betrayed them to Dengar, who he was childhood "friends" with on Corellia. The series seems to be closely following this Rebel cell, so I assume we'll see that subplot continued in the future. Besides that, Valance's plan was executed without fail. He took out most of the gang members himself, and the X-Wing he sent out returned with the rest of the Rebel cell to finish the job. But as always, there's something else to keep Valance on his toes... spoilers ahead.

Valance finds out from Dengar towards the end of the issue that Han Solo has been captured by Boba Fett. This revelation is meaningless to us, but to Valance, who considers Han a sworn rival, it's everything. And with that, the flashbacks to Valance's time with Han in the Imperial Academy make sense. The series has been keeping their relationship in the back of our minds, reminding us of their rivalry, until this reveal hit. And on top of that, Zuckuss and 4-LOM tracked Valance's X-Wing and have his location.

Both of these things are set-up for Marvel's huge crossover event, War of the Bounty Hunters, which now promises to be really exciting. The event hasn't started yet, but we already have two little prelude subplots leading into it. And... that's the issue! There was also a really fun interlude about T'onga and her wife Losha getting a big Nexu, teasing their return to the series later, but it was short and there's not much to talk about there yet, although I will say I love how Sacks so casually includes LGBTQ rep in this series. The art by Paolo Villanelli was stellar as usual, as was the lettering by Travis Lanham. Next issue is a full interlude about Bossk filling time before War begins, and that promises to be good!