Bounty Hunters #11 - Comic Review

Check out the review of the previous issue before moving on!

Valance is currently in the clear after his battle with the Unbroken Clan crime syndicate and finally has a chance to breathe. Unfortunately for Dengar, Valance uses that breath to knock some information out of him, particularly information related to Han Solo and Boba Fett! Dengar tells our fearless anti-hero what he knows and together they attempt to come to an agreement on dealing with the famed bounty hunter and his quarry. Over on the dark planet of Malastare a hunt is occuring, The Great Hunt of Malastare, where wealthy hunters come to stalk and kill helpless prisoners. This time, however, these prisoners have one thing they don’t usually have: Bossk! The vicious reptile-like Trandoshan bounty hunter is here and he is fighting back. With a group of ragtag individuals, Bossk fights hunter after hunter as he leads the prisoners to hopeful escape. Elsewhere on the planet Jabba the Hutt’s majordomo Bib Fortuna has come to speak with Exum Jermit, a Muun from the Banking Clan who is also second vice chair of the Malastare Hunting Club. Bib Fortuna has come back one last time to try to get Jermit to work with Jabba, but to no avail, as Jermit has already pledged his allegiance to a mysterious and unknown partner. Over the course of the Great Hunt, Bossk shows these hunters exactly what he’s worth, and unfortunately for them, just how ferocious this particular bounty hunter can be!

This series has always been about exploring the darker side of the galaxy and Bounty Hunters #11 is a pitch perfect example of that statement! Writer Ethan Sacks slows down on the bigger and more obvious plot progression leaving Valance’s story to a mere three pages and keeping the main focus on Bossk. It’s clear he is setting up plot points to the upcoming War of the Bounty Hunters as we see Valance and Dengar discussing Boba Fett and Han Solo. More importantly, though, is the deep dive into Bossk with his fighting style and “whatever it takes” personality as well as his sense of honor, or maybe lack thereof, as he slowly and viciously dispatches these hunters and cements his place as one of the baddest bounty hunters in the galaxy. Along with setting up Bossk as a very legitimate threat for the future, Sacks also gives us multiple hints at a mysterious and possibly deadly player in the underworld with the client that Exum Jermit has pledged himself to. While saying very little, the fact that Jermit chose this person over the equally deadly Jabba the Hutt shows us there’s some big secrets out there waiting to be thrown into the mix. Sacks sets up a basic event and turns it into a pulse pounding action thriller with a slight, yet intricate, political subplot.

Along with the stellar and intense storyline, Bounty Hunters #11 again shows that the artistic team on this book is a force to be reckoned with, almost as much as Bossk himself! Artist Paolo Villanelli, colorist Arif Prianto, and letterer VC’s Travis Lanham give us an absolutely powerhouse issue here! Villanelli is on point with beautiful locals, ships, interiors, and a vast cast of intricately detailed characters. The team of Villanelli and Prianto have upped their game here specifically with the world of Malastare. It’s dark purple and grey hues perfectly represent the look and feel of the planet as well as structures and landscape being wonderfully realized to such an extent that I now deem that we need a live action appearance of this planet based specifically off this issue. Lanham is on point here as well with so many gorgeous and fun sound effects scattered pounding through this issue to go along with the action packed storyline. Nearly every page has noises and sounds jumping out of the page and especially the gouging “skkrittcchhh” that made my skin crawl!

The main cover art here from Mattia de Iulis might be the best main cover Bounty Hunters has given us. It’s simple and elegant, deliciously beautiful, and the POV look with Bossk staring and stabbing a blade into the viewer is just the icing on the cake. Bounty Hunters #11 also gives us a slew of fantastic and unique variant covers from Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, Neeraj Menon!

Bounty Hunters #11 is a badass action thriller full of Bossk delivering epic amounts of violence to these hunters and showing the readers just a taste of what he can do while giving some nice teases of what’s to come in the upcoming arc. So jump on your landspeeder and whoosh on over to your local shop today to pick up this awesome issue!