Bounty Hunters #23 - Comic Review

Previously, T’onga and her bounty hunter crew had kidnapped General Vukorah of the Unbroken Clan. In Bounty Hunters #23, we see T’onga trying her best, with her partner Losha’s help, to intimidate and interrogate the General for the location of the young Cadeliah, heir to the Mourner’s Wail and Unbroken Clan syndicates. Most of the story, though, follows Dengar, first as a younger criminal encountering a familiar rogue from his past. Jumping forward to present day, Dengar is looking to meet with the current leader of the Mourner’s Wail syndicate, Khamdek, to discuss Cadeliah on Lady Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn’s behalf. After fumbling around a bit and irritating everyone working for Khamdek, including Khamdek himself, they finally get down to business. Khamdek thinks he has the upper hand at this meeting, however Dengar has more than a few cards up his sleeve.

The writing behind Bounty Hunters #23 is very interesting. Ethan Sacks is usually known for his intense and deadly writing, but this issue starts out lighter and more fun than usual. That writing style works perfectly for this story, however, as the tale is all about how Dengar puts himself out as an unassuming, often bumbling, bounty hunter who ends up being as deadly as they come! Sacks’ writing mirrors that sentiment beautifully as over time it goes from the light and fluffy story to a dark and serious series of events that tips the scales of the war between the syndicates.

The visual artistic team for Bounty Hunters #23 consists of guest artist Natacha Bustos, colorist Arif Prianto, and letterer VC’s Travis Lanham. Along with the writing, the art all around from this trio also perfectly mimics the unassuming storyline of Dengar. The art feels vastly different to the usual art we get from this series as it feels a lot more light and almost dream-like. It continues to push the narrative that this issue is a fun little side story until it becomes something more. It’s also just gorgeous overall, with the light and sweet way Bustos draws the characters along with Prianto’s gorgeous colors.

The main cover for Bounty Hunters #23 is from Giuseppe Camuncoli and Jesus Aburtov and finds Dengar, angry and violent, in the crosshairs of Crimson Dawn, along with a few other closeups of various bounty hunters. The first variant cover comes from Takeshi Miyazawa and Rachelle Rosenberg, and is a badass piece following Dengar and Bossk walking through a hallway after taking out various enemies. The second variant cover is the Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary cover for this issue from the always amazing Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, and Neeraj Menon. This time their cover brings depictions of General Hux and Emperor Palpatine from The Rise of Skywalker. Their depiction of Palpatine as the near horror villain that he becomes in that film is stunning and almost disgusting in the best way possible!

Bounty Hunters #23 might be the most fun and entertaining issue of the series so far! The story is moved forward in exciting ways, and seeing just how cool and conniving Dengar can be is an absolute blast. So fire up your swoop bikes and zoom on down to your local comic shop to pick up a copy today!