"Darth Vader #15: War of the Bounty Hunters: The Assassin's Choice" by Greg Pak

"Darth Vader #15: War of the Bounty Hunters: The Assassin's Choice" written by Greg Pak, illustrated by Raffaele Ienco and Jason Keith

So here I am flummoxed by this series again. It appears the story has once more jumped back in time, in this instance to before the party/auction for Han Solo's carbonite-encased body since Vader and Ochi are trying to figure out the mystery behind the invitations to the event. I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure if this issue was even necessary. It's split into essentially two halves: 1) Vader and Ochi inquiring about the invitations, and 2) hordes of Crimson Dawn enforcers fighting Ochi. I would say that I look forward to discovering what in the world is going on in the next issue, but who knows, the next one may do another time hop. It just doesn't feel like there's any rhyme or reason to the time hops. I mean, if they told a story I'd be all for it, but it just feels random to me.

Ochi is definitely growing on me. I know, I know, he's a cold blooded killer, but he's also funny and terrified of Vader. I love the pair's funny man (Ochi)/straight man (Vader) routine. For example, after talking with Bokku (see my write-up below) he says, "Ha Ha Ha! Did you see his face?" to which Vader just responds, "Silence." It's just all so ridiculous that it's wonderful! 

We start off on Arkanis in the Outer Rim where Vader and Ochi appear to be trying to get information about the Han Solo party/auction. Per Vader's request, Ochi busts into a saloon and in an oddly humorous manner retrieves the invitation from a human woman and begins asking questions. 

Ochi and Vader then show up at Bokku's doorstep, asking him about the invitation. Bokku says his said Crimson Dawn was going to hand over Solo as a show of good faith, but Ochi breaks the news that a lot of other criminals also got the invite and that it's not a gift-giving private meeting but a very public auction. Vader cows the Hutt into doing his bidding in promising to bid against Jabba at the auction. Vader's reasoning? So that Bokku will be humiliated and weaken in the eyes of Jabba, leading to an eventual chance for him to strike back against his fellow Hutt...in the dark...like a coward. Yikes...

Turns out, Bokku was planning to betray Jabba all along because he's actually working WITH Crimson Dawn!! What?!?! And we see Ochi fighting a whole group of Crimson Dawn enforcers single-handedly, proclaiming that he works for the baddest guy around and will not be subdued or convinced otherwise. The enforcers certainly try their darnedest to sway him to their cause, but his mind appears to be made up... See the enforcers before and after Ochi lays down the law below:

I enjoyed this comic because of Ochi's humor, but again, it didn't feel all that necessary, guess we'll have to wait and see what the future of this narrative holds... Next up? "Doctor Aphra #13"!