Hello everyone,
Like all regular series, the title Bounty Hunters by Ethan Sacks was also involved in the editorial event Dark Droids by devoting an arc of 5 episodes to it, the last of the regular series which will end in its forty-second issue… even if we are not there yet! We had left Berlert Valance in the lurch, with his memories escaping him and he only had a few hours left before he became nothing but an empty shell. And as misfortune never comes alone, with his status as an improved cyborg, Valance is a prime target for the Droid Scourge which is spreading across the galaxy…
As the series nears its conclusion, is Valance doomed? This is what we will see with the review!
DARK DROIDS
(Bounty Hunters #37 à 41)
Jango Fett’s haunting secret mission!
– Bounty hunters must face the looming shadow of Boba Fett’s father’s sins!
– What is the secret hidden at the mysterious droid outpost, The Haven?
– Who is Tarr Kligson and what is his connection to Jango Fett?
L2-D2 review
Scenario: Quick, quick, we close!
Last major arc of the series before its final issue, Dark Droids has the difficult task of resolving many ongoing storylines, while also becoming involved in the events of the crossover. We may also be surprised by this double threat on Valance who, when we attack this arc, is already losing his memories (following the intervention of the Inferno Squad in issues 33 and 34) and which we know that the Droid Scourge will target him given his almost unique status, which gives the impression of a double threat that is unfortunately redundant on the character. Due to his loss of memory, he will no longer be Valance but a real machine, and on this element is added the desire of the Scourge to possess him. The result is that these two threats will each take up space on the other, even if the screenwriter Ethan Sacks will try to be clever by linking them in a rather welcome way, since the presumed savior concerning the loss from memory will in fact turn out to be linked to the Scourge…
The trouble is that all this will be done with forceps.
Because one intrigue chases the other, and Valance’s healing becomes a mission to respect his last wish. Part of the cast disappears almost unceremoniously from the series, to better organize a reunion and thus give a feeling of finality, all without deviating from the traditional flashbacks which have contributed to the trademark of the series. The result is that 5 episodes is obviously too few, especially when, over the first two issues and therefore 40 pages of the arc, almost half (17 or 18, if I have well understood) are conceded for flashbacks of questionable narrative interest. If those involving Jango Fett are justified, all those involving General Grievous are much more dispensable and could have been used to develop or exploit more elements.
In fact, we almost feel a break towards the end of the third episode, with Ethan Sacks who feels that he only has a few episodes left to conclude. And while the Valance case is handled more or less skillfully and everything about him is moved quickly, there is another subplot that is resolved in these last two issues and which clearly poses a problem: T’onga, his wife Losha and Vukorah. T’onga, therefore, had abandoned his wife following the confrontation with Inferno Squad so as not to risk her being injured, or worse. We understand that time has passed… but ultimately we have the impression that they didn’t see each other for 1 or 2 weeks, given the unfolding of the events involving Valance. And that raises even more questions when we look at another character who is making a comeback: Vukorah.
One of the great antagonists of the title, Vukorah seemed lonely following her last appearance, calling her future into question after the successive betrayals of everyone. There too, when we find her, it seems that a little time has passed, which is difficult to imagine given the chronology of events, but so be it. The real problem is that she was the victim of a out-of-character total: Ethan Sacks makes her do a 180° about-face, and there she is, invasive, bordering on pot-de-glue, who comes to scratch the friendship with a Losha whom she nevertheless traumatized during their last meeting , playing girlfriends, recalcitrant allies, crazy about her cats tookas. What ? Such an evolution would have required time, space, numerous issues to build, develop and be coherent. There, once again undoubtedly pressed for time and not having the necessary space for this, Sacks presents the new Vukorah to us as if nothing had happened…
Last but not least: someone forgot to give the writer the memo stating that when Scourge droids encounter useless organics, they don’t turn away but eliminate them…
Drawings: Tinto does what he can
And fortunately Arif Printo is still present in the coloring, just to maintain continuity with Paolo Villanelli because, it’s nothing to say, Davide Tinto has difficulty living up to his compatriot, he whom we had already been able to follow in the mini-series The Clone Wars – Battle Tales at IDW. The designs are quite ordinary, and the dynamism of its Italian predecessor is absent here. And as in addition, Ethan Sacks’ script moves quickly, there is hardly time to come up with scenes that send…
Some characters, on the other hand, have become physically unrecognizable. This is the case of Losha, again, who one would believe has abused steroids as her musculature has developed, or even of Vukorah, with a more puny, more flexible, almost acrobatic appearance. If we understand the interest in seeing them team up in this way, they hardly resemble what we saw of them under the pencils of their predecessors.
Thus, Davide Tinto delivers a fairly ordinary performance in the end. Nothing is fundamentally missed. Nothing will leave a lasting memory either.
Conclusion
The series is about to end, and you can feel it, but not necessarily in the best way. Pressed for time, Ethan Sacks hardly has the time to develop as much as he is used to, and the whole thing is not helped by any graphic part. It’s also a shame not to have made the suspense regarding Valance’s memories last longer…
Note : 70 %
Note that after its pre-publication in the 4 softcovers Dark Droidsthe entire arc will be in the contents of the seventh and final volume of the bookstore series Bounty Huntersavailable on October 16 from publisher Panini Comics.
Don’t hesitate to come and tell us what you thought of this story, either by going to its profile, or directly on the forum topic dedicated to the series!
And see you soon for the next ActuaLittit is!
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