"War of the Bounty Hunters #4: Attack at Dawn" by Charles Soule

"War of the Bounty Hunters #4: Attack at Dawn" written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Luke Ross with David Messina and Neeraj Menon with Guru-eFX

This was great!! I just love how this short-run series connects absolutely everything together, even referencing things that happened issues back in the individual long-run series. It's brilliant! The only long-run series that didn't get any play time was "Doctor Aphra" which is sad, but the momentum and over-arching thrust of this issue would have been knocked out of whack if we had gotten eyes on Sana and Aphra in Crimson Dawn jail. This issue was all about going after Han, every man for himself. You could feel the energy of the action and the intensity of the emotion ramping up as the story progressed. So good!

We start with Vader holding his saber right up to Han's shoulder, ready to slice his carbonite-frozen body in half!! At the same time, Vader is talking to Luke through a channel piped into his helmet, giving Luke the option of facing him or being the cause of Han's death. But Luke tells Leia, through comms, that he's not ready to face Vader...dun, dun, dun!! Leia is not about to let the man she loves die and comes up with a plan to physically attack Vader...wait, Leia...you know what Vader is capable of...how in the world do you think you and Chewbacca stand any chance against the dark lord. The stress must be getting to you. Plus, Chewie and Lando look seriously worse for wear after the Boba-induced fire fight (see below)!

Luckily, Luke has a plan--coaxing Vader into coming after him instead of waiting for him, knowing that Vader wouldn't actually kill such a valuable Rebel target--and no sooner than a panel or two later and Vader is asking Hurst Romodi to load up Han in his Star Destroyer and prepare his fighter. Phew! That was a close one...Luke's a smart cookie.

Then we get eyes on the Hutts, and Bokku is NOT happy with Jabba simply giving up Han to Vader. But Jabba makes a really good point, "In the grand scheme, in the long view, the relationship of the Hutts to the Empire matters more than any one prize." Looks like Jabba's also a smart cookie. He's not just cowed into giving up his prize, he genuinely understands the benefit of doing so, both to himself and to his people. Unfortunately, Bokku riles up the other Hutts after Jabba leaves, proclaiming that Jabba's actions are an insult to the Hutts and that the situation's outcome makes them look weak...all in front of every crime syndicate in the galaxy...

Valance and Dengar show up (see below)!!! They sneak up on Boba Fett just as he's staking out the transfer of carbonite-encased Han to the Star Destroyer. I LOVE VALANCE SO MUCH!!! He says, "Dengar's not my friend, you bastard. Han Solo is my friend. I don't care about Jabba's bounty. I'm here to rescue Solo. Where is he?" Appropriately, Boba Fett calls Valance, "a murder cyborg with a conscience." Oddly enough, Valance and Boba team up to go after Han, with Boba saying that what happens once they get him is to be determined... But things haven't been going well for Boba this entire time, lol, and in one of the last panels, you can just hear him--"Oh, come on."--when he realizes that all the criminals at the auction had the same idea (see below). Too funny as it seems so un-Boba.

To end, I will say that Qi'ra seems to have gotten out of this whole ordeal what she intended to get out of it. Crimson Dawn is now back on the radar of everybody and in her eyes, they were shown as strong since she herself was able to physically battle with the Sith. Hmmm...I don't quite see it this way as Vader verbally humiliated her in front of everyone during their battle. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. See Qi'ra and her entourage in a lush room on the Vermillion below (the woman with the long robe and purple/pink head is named Trinia--she seems to share the same position under Qi'ra as Margo).

So stoked for the final issue of this short-run series!! I hate that it has to end, but we all know the story is continuing in its own swervy way with the four long-run series and "Crimson Reign." Can't wait to see how it all comes together.

...ha! I just got the title, "Attack at Dawn." It has a triple meaning--one would immediately think time of day, but the end is also an attack directly the cause of which was Crimson Dawn's actions. But then there's this little tidbit, Qi'ra says, "The beginning...approaches its end." So the attack is happening at the literal dawn of some grand plan Qi'ra has. I'm beyond intrigued.