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By Various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN 1-84576-464-1
Boba Fett is called ‘the Galaxy’s Greatest Bounty Hunter’ and I suspect it’s the profession rather than the character that makes this anti-hero so popular with Star Wars aficionados. This collection of his adventures (garnered from the one-shot comics Overkill and Agent of Doom plus issues #7 and #28 of Star Wars: Empire) just highlight what a shallow character he is even by the low standards of the Star Wars franchise. I’m convinced that the key to the success of Lucas’s baby is that very archetypical nature of all the participants and even scenarios.
‘Sacrifice’, by British veterans John Wagner and Cam Kennedy, set just after the destruction of the Death Star, has the faceless killer hired by a planetary Governor to capture the leader of an opposition group stirring dissent in the mines that make up the planet’s only source of income. Obviously, fate conspires to place Fett on the right side by story’s end, and it’s a tribute to the creators’ abilities that such a hackneyed yarn reads quite well. Of greater interest is ‘Wreckage’ by Ron Marz and Adriana Melo where the bounty hunter finds himself outmanoeuvred by an Imperial Admiral during a sabotage mission. Especially impressive is the practically wordless nature of the narrative.
‘Overkill’ by Thomas Andrews and Francisco Ruiz Velasco practically reduces Fett to a supporting role in a battle of political will and family rivalry as an ambitious Imperial officer makes a power-grab on an important refinery world. Cam Kennedy returns to illustrate John Ostrander’s excellent ‘Agent of Doom’ as Fett takes a cut-rate job killing two genocidal slavers in an attempt to reclaim his tarnished reputation (ruined in the wake of his defeat in the film Return of the Jedi).
Boba Fett is by nature a cipher, and his missions pretty much write themselves. There’s lots of action; he never fails; bad guys get punished. So it’s a tribute to the creators that the walk-on characters carry most of the narrative and carry it quite well.
© 2007 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.