Star Wars Comic Shows How Boba Fett ‘Survived’ The Sarlacc

Star Wars Comic Shows How Boba Fett ‘Survived’ The Sarlacc

Despite the fact that Star Wars fan favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett is said to be one of the toughest bounty hunters in the galaxy, he almost suffered a humiliating death at the beginning of Return of the Jedi. While accompanying Jabba the Hutt’s entourage, Boba saw Luke Skywalker attempt to rescue Han Solo from being thrown into the Sarlacc Pitt, the residence of a dangerous carnivorous creature known to take over a thousand years to slowly digest its victims.

Eager to join in the fight, Boba fired up his jet pack and engaged the prisoners in battle – but was struck by a blind Han Solo who accidentally activated the bounty hunter’s rockets and sent him screaming into the Sarlacc Pitt himself. Fortunately, fan outcry allowed Boba to escape a long and painful death, although just how he survived is a matter of some debate. Star Wars short stories offer one explanation while Boba Fett’s upcoming appearance in The Mandalorian will undoubtedly offer another. However, there is a little-known comic book story that presents one version of Fett’s survival that the bounty hunter would not want to be made public.

In the Star Wars parody comic book series Tag & Bink Are Dead #2, two inept Rebel officers – Tag and Bink – get separated from the rest of the Rebels and only make it to Yavin 4 after everyone has relocated to Hoth. However, the two aren’t alone – Boba Fett has also made it to Yavin 4, hoping to track down Han Solo. The bounty hunter and the Rebels engage in a brief firefight, and – through sheer dumb luck – Tag and Bink manage to knock the infamous Boba Fett unconscious.

Star Wars Comic Shows How Boba Fett ‘Survived’ The Sarlacc

Taking advantage of the situation, Tag and Bink leave Boba Fett tied up and decide to steal his ship’s fuel. Boba is understandably furious at the indignity and swears vengeance. However, Tag and Bink don’t take the threat seriously – until they decide to hide out in Cloud City and discover that Boba Fett has already beaten them there. Not realizing that Fett is there to deal with Solo and not them, Tag and Bink manage to disguise themselves as Stormtroopers and lay low, although Fett remains hot on their trail.

The bounty hunter finally manages to track down his quarries in “The Revenge of Tag & Bink,” a short comic story included in Star Wars Tales #12. In the story, Tag and Bink wind up on Tatooine during the events of Return of the Jedi. While the two agree to help distract Boba Fett while Lando Calrissian sneaks on his ship to retrieve Han Solo’s carbonite-frozen form from Jabba’s palace, Fett recognizes Tag and Bink through their Stormtrooper disguises. In revenge, the bounty hunter ties them both to a pole and kick them into the Sarlacc’s Great Pit of Carkoon. Instead of instantly dying, however, Tag and Bink end up dangling on the pole, which gets wedged in the Sarlacc’s gullet.

Five days later, Luke Skywalker engages in his battle with Boba Fett and Jabba’s guards as he attempts to rescue Han Solo from being thrown into the Sarlacc Pitt. Inside the pit, Tag and Bink see several guards fall into the Sarlacc’s mouth and grumble that it would take a jet pack to get them out of the pit. At that moment, Boba Fett’s dislodged jet pack falls right into the pit, followed by Fett himself – screaming like a little girl. Using the pack, Tag and Bink manage to escape the pit along with Boba Fett and then make a new deal – in exchange for not disclosing that Boba Fett screams like a girl and got beaten by a blind man, Fett will let the two live. Hoping to put the embarrassing incident behind him, Fett runs off, not realizing that Tag and Bink stole his gun.

While writer Kevin Rubio later scripted a new version of Tag and Bink’s adventures during Return of the Jedi, this version remains one of the goofiest ways Boba Fett escaped certain death from the Sarlacc. Although the bounty hunter undoubtedly began spreading new rumors about his heroic escape, one shouldn’t discount that in at least one reality, Boba Fett had to be saved by two bumbling idiots to continue his infamous career in the Star Wars universe.