"Star Wars #17: War of the Bounty Hunters: The Chase" by Charles Soule

 "Star Wars #17: War of the Bounty Hunters: The Chase" written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Ramon Rosanas and Rachelle Rosenberg

This wasn't a bad issue...but it wasn't necessarily a good issue either--I feel very neutral about it. It can be broken up into two main parts: 1) the air battle between Luke and Vader, and 2) Leia and Lando being awfully talkative about how to get the Falcon back up and running. Part 1 is pretty much all action and Part 2 is pretty much all dialogue--there's no nice mix of the two. But, there is one moment that is so heartfelt and so powerful that it makes up for the lack of balance in the issue.

We start with Vader's TIE Advanced lurking in the Polar Sea of Jekara (where the Crimson Dawn auction for carbonite-encased Han was taking place) below Luke's X-wing. See below for one darn spooky image!! As Luke tries to get a lock on Vader's whereabouts, Vader zooms out of the ocean and then they fight...and fight...and fight. Finally, Luke realizes that the water splashing up into the air is freezing before it can fall back into the ocean so he splashes up a wave at Vader that instantly freezes. The Dark Lord appears to be down for the count...but he's Vader so it isn't long before the two are at it again. The only interesting moment besides the TIE's shadow in the water below Luke, is when Luke has the opportunity to fire shots from his X-wing at Vader and he realizes that he's just not ready to kill the man that is most likely his father. I simply cannot imagine what the poor guy is going through, knowing that it is his supposed destiny to face his father in a battle to the death. I mean, there's not much worse than that...

Back on the Falcon, the ship has been momentarily de-commissioned and Lando goes down into the wiring node for the ship's main processor to get the diagnostic computer up and running. Before he does so, he says, quite humorously for the reader, "When I ran the Falcon, everything was tied down pretty tight. But from the looks of this ship, our old buddy Han had a different approach to ongoing maintenance." Haha, and now we know just how true this is!! Problem with getting into the wiring node is that the "reactor conduits run through here too--with the engines off, every so often, the ship's computer has to let off a little burst to balance things out," Lando says. Regardless of this being a good thing since it keeps them from blowing up, it appears that if you are caught in the burst, you just might be incinerated. So what does Lando do?? He has a heart-to-heart with L3-37!!!! This was the meaningful part of the issue that I mentioned above. He says, "Okay, girl. You know me. It's been a long time, and I know Han's put you through a lot...but I'm back. I never meant to let you go, Elthree. Things got around me. Saw some real bad luck, and next thing I know, you're gone. Maybe you're mad about that. I know I'd be. But listen...I apologize." He then proceeds to do everything he can to talk her out of letting out the burst on him in revenge. His efforts are rewarded and he's able to get the diagnostic computer up and running. I'm so glad Lando was able to have a quiet moment with her, even if the conversation was one-sided. I know the man probably needs a lot of closure over the events from Solo. 

And that's really about it. There is an interesting conversation between Leia and Lando about Lando's intentions and his involvement with the Rebellion:

-Leia, "Listen, Lando...you took an enormous risk, and on behalf of myself, Han and the entire Alliance, I want to--"

-Lando, "Why so surprised, Leia? Because Lando Calrissian's a coward? Because Lando Calrissian can't be trusted? Because the last man in the galaxy you'd ever depend on...is Lando Calrissian? I'm not interested in throwing my life away for nothing. I don't get into fights I know I can't win. But when it comes to something I care about, or someone I care about...I'm as brave as they come. When it's like that, I don't care about the odds. Bet on it."

-Leia, "Lando, that's what the Rebellion is. People finding strength they never knew they had to save the things they love. That's the Rebellion. The odds are against us. It's the longest of long shots. Lando...it's the biggest gamble of all time."

-Lando, "Oh...you're good." (see below)

HAHAHAHA!!!! Okay, so at least this bit of dialogue was a HUGE gem. 

From what we've seen in the movies of Lando, it seems like he was immediately accepted and forgiven by the Rebellion and that he immediately accepted that forgiveness. But in these comics, we're learning that things were not that easy by a long shot!!! Once the Rebels were okay with the suave smuggler, he himself had doubts about what he was getting into. I love how this deepens his character SO much!!

We end with Vader in his TIE still chasing Luke in his X-wing while Leia, Lando, and Chewie (with Lobot and C-3PO in tow) try to figure out how to get to the deactivated Imperial shuttle holding carbonite-encased Han before the handful of Hutt ships do... I'll leave you with a beautiful panel of Vader standing atop his temporarily-crashed TIE: