The biggest bounty in Star Wars is up for grabs, and Darth Vader and Jabba the Hutt will clash as the race to claim Han Solo gets volatile. Previews of upcoming Star Wars comics show that the War of the Bounty Hunters also means war for two of the galaxy’s most powerful villains.
The comic event War of the Bounty Hunters takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The time spanning between when Han Solo is captured on Bespin and encased in carbonite, and when the smuggler is rescued by Princess Leia and the other rebels on Tatooine, wasn’t featured in the films. What once seemed like a simple Boba Fett delivery from Cloud City to Jabba’s Palace is proving to be so much more. Solo’s capture sets off a chain of events that brings the criminal underworld, bounty hunters, Rebel Alliance, and Empire into a chaotic conflict. Han Solo’s troublesome exploits have given everyone personal motivations for laying a claim on him, and that’s a recipe for destruction.
Star Wars has released information and covers on several upcoming stories in the War of the Bounty Hunters event. Two of the largest players vying to claim Han Solo are Darth Vader and Jabba the Hutt, setting the Dark Lord of the Sith and the head of the Hutt crime family up for vicious conflicts. It was Jabba the Hutt who initially put the bounty on Solo, but War of the Bounty Hunters #3, by Charles Soule and Luke Ross, promises a clash when Vader decides Han is property of the Empire. During The Empire Strikes Back, Vader agreed to turn Han Solo over to Boba Fett, after capturing Luke Skywalker in Cloud City. Lando Calrissian learned Vader is not afraid to change the nature of a deal, and the fact that Luke’s capture failed, and the other members of the Rebel Alliance escaped, could play into why he wants custody of Han Solo once more. Whatever the reason, Jabba the Hutt won’t let his long sought trophy go without a fight.
The Galaxy’s biggest gangster and the Empire’s most powerful enforcer are destined to have a few skirmishes during the bounty hunters’ war over Solo’s frozen body. Star Wars #16 by Charles Soule and Ramon Rosanas, will follow their efforts to attain their prize, as they cross paths with Leia, Chewbacca and Lando on a remote world named Jekara. The Rebels will be there to rescue their companion from the possession of Boba Fett, but the involvement of Darth Vader and Jabba won’t make anything easier for anyone. In Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #13 by Alyssa Wong and Minkyu Jung, Vader’s search for Solo will also bring him in contact with his former associate, Doctor Aphra. The galaxy’s craftiest archeologist has worked hard to avoid Darth Vader, and Aphra will probably need to help him get an edge over Jabba and the others if she wants to walk away alive one more time.
Jabba the Hutt and Darth Vader’s paths have been loosely intertwined in the past. Anakin Skywalker being a Tatooine native has always given Vader a familiarity with the Hutts’ operations. They’ve successfully negotiated and worked around each other’s interests. However, Han Solo’s fate will be the thing that could finally make their previous tact irrelevant. Both individuals want Han Solo, and the galaxy will have to survive their fight to attain him as War of the Bounty Hunters ravages the Star Wars universe.
