Review: ‘Bounty Hunters’ #38 Stalls on the Story Before Delivering the Most Shocking Final Page of the Year
So, remember last issue when I criticized Davide Tinto’s Bounty Hunters #37 debut and his art as a bit “childish” at points? Yeah, I take it all back. I tempted fate, and now Ethan Sacks and his team delivered possibly the most shocking final page of the year in a Star Wars comic, leaving this writer like:
Comics almost always end on a cliffhanger; it’s a staple of the medium. The best cliffhangers are organic, quietly built throughout an issue that leaves you ravenous for what’s next. Bounty Hunters has been heading toward a breaking point for several issues. Will Beilert Valance be saved? Can his humanity be restored, or is the human-cyborg doomed to forget everything he ever loved? It was a fate worse than death, placed on him by someone he once held dear.
Bounty Hunters #38 finally has an answer, although I can’t help but wish it came at the end of a better issue.
Spoilers ahead…
Once again, Sacks continues jumping through time to show the rise and fall of Tarr Kligson. The last we saw of him in the past was being led away by Telemak, a war-hardened droid waiting for the return of Ajax Sigma. He wanted no part of Tarr and is only helping because of his family name. In the present, our hunters visit Tarr’s newfound home where they meet Telemak, who is now more than happy to play good samaritan and help some organics. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that something is amiss.
Dealing with the past first, General Grievous arrives at the Haven to recruit for the Separatists. Grievous is mostly just here as set dressing for Tarr, now a consultant for Telemak after being refitted with droid parts. Tarr believes this is their chance to show the galaxy what the droids of the Haven are all about, a chance to fight for what they believe in. Telemak wants no part, content to let the clock run out on their lives before subjecting his station to a war that isn’t their purpose.
Grievous isn’t one to play games, and a battle between the two droid forces breaks out. It’s a big week for finally seeing the power of Ajax Sigma and his followers in D-Squad #1, and that thread continues here. Grievous retreats in no time, leaving Telemak and Tarr to bicker about what just happened. Telemak refuses to accept Tarr as more than just an organic. Unfortunately for everyone, Kligson isn’t ready to accept this as his fate.
The present storyline picks up with Telemak (being controlled by Tarr. Safe to say he won the cold war between the two) reassuring T’onga and the crew that Valance is fine and will rejoin them shortly. If all of this seems like rehashed points from the previous issue, then you wouldn’t be the only one. There’s a lot of repeated beats here. I felt Sacks masterfully told the story in the last issue of how Tarr fell, what broke him, and how he will now break Valance – even if not every plot beat was explicitly spelled out. Much of this issue reads like Sacks needed to spin his wheels so the rest of the Dark Droids stories could catch up.
Speaking of Dark Droids, one could easily forget Bounty Hunters #38 is part of a larger crossover. When we last left Zuckuss and 4-LOM, they were being hunted by the Scourged droids of the Haven. What proceeds is an action scene for the sake of having an action scene, resulting in 4-LOM being shot out in an escape pod (and into the D-Squad series). It’s odd that the Scourge is coming for 4-LOM when it surely has records on the top brass of Ajax Sigma’s forces and Beilert Valance, but why push the story forward when you can table set for another issue?
When issue #35 brought in some fresh blood, I wasn’t really expecting several issues where they didn’t do anything of real consequence (although that would change in a matter of a few pages). Sacks is setting up a subplot where Khel is threatening to take command of the group, but there hasn’t been a single reason to buy into it as of yet. After another rehash of why T’onga is doing all this for her friend, the bay doors open, and a shadow looms in the distance.
Valance has returned, but something feels very, very wrong. Khel is the first to notice, stopping T’onga from going any closer. Valance then sets his sights on Khel but is stopped by Catak, who thinks quickly on their feet and shapeshifts into Yura. This should be alright. Valance is fixed. The sight of the love of his life should bring him some measure of joy. Tarr Kligson wouldn’t make Valance into a mindless weapon of war.
*Turns the page*
I’m still at a loss for words when I look at this page. The sight of Valance incinerating Catak’s head point-blank isn’t meant to feel good. Beilert Valance, as we knew him, is gone, and Sacks went for it all to illustrate that fact. What makes this the most shocking page of the year isn’t that it wasn’t expected. Valance is a monster of a man, and we’ve seen him rip many to shreds. No, it’s the sheer and sudden brutality and the way the balloon of hope was deflated all at once. Making this even more horrific is that there have been no signs that the Scourge is influencing him. Somehow… this is going to get even worse.
That harrowing final page ultimately saves Bounty Hunters #38. If a moment makes me feel the way this one did, you’ve won me over no matter what’s come before. Nonetheless, beyond Valance and Kligson, nothing was all that compelling. For such a key location in the mythos of this latest phase of Star Wars comics, Ethan Sacks sure doesn’t care to make it interesting. His wheelhouse has always been the characters, and they continue to shine on the goodwill Sacks has earned, but we get it. Let’s do something different. Thankfully, the other shoe has dropped, and it’s time to see if this slow build has been worth it.
RATING: 6.5/10
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he's not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
