"4-LOM & Zuckuss #1: Zuckuss Must Die!" by Daniel Jose Older

"War of the Bounty Hunters: 4-LOM & Zuckuss #1: Zuckuss Must Die!" written by Daniel Jose Older, illustrated by Kei Zama and Felipe Sobreiro

In "Bounty Hunters #15" we learn that Zuckuss is seriously down and out after losing his partner and best friend, 4-LOM. This one-shot issue tells that story. As the opening crawl states, in a previous comic, "Fett left Zuckuss for dead on Nar Shaddaa and took off with a disabled 4-LOM." Here we see what became of that disabled 4-LOM and let's just say he is now one scary guy! And unfortunately, the droid is hell-bent on killing his once partner and best friend, Zuckuss. The findsman is devastated by this turn of events.

We start off with Zuckuss stumbling into Jega's Music Hall and Petting Zoo, severely injured and beyond upset and worried about 4-LOM's fate. He is greeted by Trot, a dude who looks like a lemur and is obsessed with the idea of ripping off arms (see him below), who says that 4-LOM is "donezo" although he admits he's not sure of what exact way in which 4-LOM has bit the dust. I genuinely feel bad for Zuckuss here as he says things like, "4-LOM was the only one who really understood Zuckuss..." It's clear the two had developed a very tight bond. I guess that's the unfortunate thing about droids, no matter how sentient they get, they can always be reprogrammed.

Then we flash back to a time and situation where Deva Lampop is in charge!!! As the flashback progresses, we get commentary from Trot and Zuckuss by way of little boxes with their heads in the corner identifying the speaker (see below). I've never seen this format before and I really dig it! Apparently, one of Zuckuss and 4-LOM's first jobs was for Deva Lampop in which they were after a Culiseto warlord and droid mechanic named Doctor Cribiriz Idollax. Zuckuss heads off to find Idollax only to be stopped by a whole bunch of hulking droids, but he secretly has 4-LOM in tow and after being called, "a random bug jerk," attacks (see below), especially since Idollax himself is "a random bug jerk." As Zuckuss puts it, "that was when we knew when we team up, we become unstoppable!" Together they really do seem invincible and they even claim the bounty by cutting Idollax in two...or do they??

Back in the present, Kaj, a Chagrian female, is being hit on by a couple of thugs including an Ithorian wearing a leather jacket with a fur trim and a gold chain around his neck...classy lol (see below). Trot and Kaj both make sure nothing comes of it. And Mareesee, a Volpai, ushers them out the door. Later, the two are called outside to help with the now spider-like 4-LOM (see below), the droid having become quite the large and intimidating creation! Hormf, a Besalisk, also joins the fray. As the fight goes on, 4-LOM keeps repeating that he wants to kill Zuckuss, making the whole ordeal genuinely heartbreaking. (see Kaj, Mareesee, and Hormf with Trot below)

 Without giving anything away, I'll just say there's a lot more to all this. For instance, Cribiriz has a brother named Sribiriz and their mother is Mamazooz...

Overall, I liked how this issue delved deeper into the psyche of Zuckuss, making him more "human" rather than simply leaving him a diabolical bounty hunter. He has deep feelings and deep emotions and doesn't want to be alone anymore than the rest of us. Poor thing. I know from experience that losing your best friend is devastating, so I really can empathize with the guy. Oh! Before I go, there was this totally random half-naked guy adorned with tusks and jewelry and a large flat hat that seemed to be the one who retrieved 4-LOM's head from a Jawa...I have no idea what that's all about...odd. Next up, I will be reading "Darth Vader #15"!