Review: ‘Jango Fett’ #2 – Conspiracies Revealed As Jango and Aurra Sing Race for Their Prize
The situation is starting to get a bit more complex as Jango Fett and Aurra Sing both race to find the Hope of Glee Anselm, with multiple shady parties getting involved as you suspect more is going on behind the scenes than Jango realizes.
Reading this issue, it’s striking just how little we still know about Jango given that he made his film debut 22 years ago and we know so much more about his son Boba. This issue clearly isn’t interested in telling us anything more about Jango Fett’s past, but it is definitely giving us an idea of the kind of man he is and certainly what kind of bounty hunter.
Once again we get to see him kicking ass, but this time around we do see him tested and one of his biggest weaknesses is exposed. A foe accuses him of relying too much on technology, which is ultimately the thing that gets him killed in Attack of the Clones. It’s an interesting flaw to focus on, although I’m not expecting him to recognize and overcome it considering his eventual death.
I’m not expecting Jango to have much in the way of character development at all really, such as overcoming his flaws or growing a conscience. It would be interesting if the series gave us some clue as to why he suddenly decided to raise a son, but there’s no indication so far that this is the direction we’re heading in. It seems this comic wants to show us what Jango was like as a bounty hunter and isn’t interested in much else.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing as what we’re getting is plenty entertaining and the deepening mystery is compelling, but it would be nice if it sought to delve just a little bit deeper into the man’s psyche.
Spoilers ahead…
Cover by LEINIL FRANCIS YU
The issue kicks off with Jango arriving on Coruscant’s notorious Level 1313 to visit an information broker for a lead on where the Hope of Glee Anselm might have been taken. After beating up some local riffraff, he finds that some Anselmi have got there ahead of him. They don’t seem to be part of some greater conspiracy — they just want the idol back too, but they’re getting in Jango’s way so he eliminates them using a similar gadget to Din Djarin’s mini-homing missile darts in The Mandalorian.
He laments afterwards that those were expensive, so we can see Jango is not afraid to use any means necessary to remove an obstacle. He’s clearly well paid and can replace them later. As compensation, the broker gives him a lead — a recording from a satellite shows one ship left Anselm after the global lockdown, but all its details have been scrubbed from the record. The only lead is the ship’s make.
Thankfully, Jango has another contact who can shed more light: Tarr Kligson, who we first met in the most recent run of the Bounty Hunters comic who was introduced as an associate of Jango Fett (the character actually comes from Legends continuity, but Bounty Hunters was his canon debut). Kligson reveals that the ship has likely come from a salvage yard on Hallitron-7, so Jango finally has a lead to go on.
Except, he’s not the only one with this lead. Aurra Sing is tracking him the whole way, accompanied by her mysterious handler. It seemed last week that she’d been hired to kill Jango, but she’s expressly forbidden from doing that on Coruscant even with Fett in her scope. It seems her boss wants him to lead them to the Hope of Glee Anselm, which suggests that whoever hired her is not behind the conspiracy and just wants it for themselves.
They both arrive on Hallitron-7 at the same time, and while Jango is off interrogating a Chevin, Aurra is tasked by her handler with breaking into the nearby facility. After expertly taking out the guards inside, she forces the protocol droid to slice into the system for her. It gives her a new lead — that the thief ended up on Roxuli, a remote mining colony.
Meanwhile, Jango is engaged in a brawl with bounty hunter Vigor Struk, who we met in the first issue. It seems Struk might actually be a better fighter than Fett; it’s he who accuses Jango of relying too much on his gadgets right before dislocating his arm. Jango only forces a retreat by calling in Slave I to open fire. We don’t know if Struk has any motivation in this other than a big payday, but he makes a good foil for Fett regardless. We’d expect Aurra Sing to give Jango a challenge, but to have the most famous bounty hunter in the galaxy come up against someone who might actually be better than him will hopefully lead to some interesting insights on the man.
Jango leaves the planet with no leads, until he gets a call from someone heavily suggesting that they are the thief, inviting him to meet them at Roxuli. Clearly there’s a lot more going on in the background than we’re privy to right now. There must be a reason the thief is willing to play games with the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy.
If that wasn’t shady enough, earlier in the issue Fett gets a call from the head of the Nautolan peace delegation, who orders him to stop searching for the relic. This is of course extremely suspicious, and I think Fett thinks so too. The Nautolan doesn’t really have the authority to cancel his contract as it was made by the Republic, so Fett rejects his order, but it suggests that maybe the Nautolans aren’t the victims that we believe them to be. A bigger conspiracy is afoot, but Jango Fett doesn’t care. He just wants his bounty.
The mystery is a compelling one and I look forward to seeing it unfold. It looks like we’ll get a clash between Jango Fett and Aurra Sing next issue too. This series isn’t delving as deep into Jango’s character as I’d like, but it’s plenty entertaining even so.
Rating: 7/10
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
