Rogues Gallery is a semi-regular look at villain stories you should read. You can find others in this article series here and request which villain should be next here.
Ever since the much loved Star Wars Holiday Special Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett has excited fans with his proficient bounty hunting skills, an assemblage of weaponry, and a dash of mystery thanks to his armour and minimal dialogue. He’s become the gold standard of bounty hunting in the Star Wars Galaxy and his name brings fear into all criminals.
If you’re loving The Mandalorian on Disney+ and you need more Star Wars bounty hunter action in your life then you’ve come to the right place. Boba Fett has many awesome comics which detail his bounties and this list highlights five of his best.
It’s an eclectic mix of Canon and Legends stories that range from the serious to humorous, with plenty of action, and twists, along the way.
Read on to find out which stories made the list.
Bounty on Bar-Kooda
Written by John Wagner. Art by Cam Kennedy.
Continuity: Legends
Timeline: New Republic Era
It all beings with a Hutt in love.
In order to win over his potential future father-in-law, Gorga the Hutt hires Boba Fett to take out space pirate Bar-Kooda. Luckily the price is right and with the help of a stage magician he takes on the dangerous bounty.
Cam Kennedy’s art is fantastic. It has a strong 2000 AD style, with a hint of European watercolour washes. There are also a lot of small details that make it feel like a Star Wars comic. A lot of it comes from the environments, which are littered with junk and are populated by weird and wonderful on-lookers.
While Boba Fett is always played straight, there’s plenty of opportunities for humour. This is especially evident whenever a Hutt is involved, with their clever dialogue and humorously selfish motivations.
Single Issues: Star Wars: Boba Fett – Bounty on Bar-Kooda #1
Trade Paperback: Star Wars – Boba Fett: Death, Lies, and Treachery
Buy: Kindle | eBay
The Hunter’s Heart
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Marc Laming.
Continuity: Canon
Timeline: Undisclosed period during the original trilogy.
On a surface level, there isn’t a whole lot happening in this story. Boba Fett crosses is in pursuit of a bounty in which he has to cross a harsh desert in order to do it. But when you read into it, there’s so much more and it digs deep into what really motivates him.
For him, it’s all about the bounty and that sways his actions one way or another depending on what is required to achieve them. Acts that seem either villainous or noble are done out of self-interest and nothing more. It makes for an interesting character study as you’re lulled into thinking that he may be skewed one way or another.
He was always a man of few words in the movies and this story continues this trend. His actions always speak louder than words and doesn’t speak a word until the final two pages. When he does it’s brief and impactful.
Single Issues: Star Wars: Age of Rebellion – Boba Fett
Trade Paperback: Star Wars: Age of Rebellion – Villains
Buy: Kindle | eBay
When The Fat Lady Swings
Written by John Wagner. Art by Cam Kennedy.
Continuity: Legends
Timeline: New Republic Era
Just like its predecessor, Bounty on Bar-Kooda, this story also begins with Hutts in love. This time around Gorga the Hutt bride is taken hostage while they’re on their honeymoon. And guess who has been tasked with getting her back?
But it’s not just about the rescue mission as Fett also has to deal with the consequences of what he did in Bounty on Bar-Kooda. These collide in humorous ways, but also open up the opportunity for some bad-ass action.
Oh, and the title? That’s quite literal too, which you’ll certainly see once you’ve read it.
Single Issues: Star Wars: Boba Fett – When The Fat Lady Swings
Trade Paperback: Star Wars – Boba Fett: Death, Lies, and Treachery
Buy: Kindle | eBay
Blood Ties: A Tale of Jango and Boba Fett
Written by Tom Taylor. Art by Chris Scalf.
Continuity: Legends
Timeline: Multiple periods before the original trilogy.
A lot of people forget that Boba Fett is actually a clone of his “father” Jango Fett. This four-part miniseries explores the complicated relationship that Boba Fett has with his father as well as other “relatives” that he didn’t know he had.
It begins shortly before the Clone Wars and explores Boba’s relationship with his father. This mostly consists of a special brand of tough-love, which begins to explain why Boba Fett is such a bad-ass bounty hunter.
It then jumps in time to just before the original trilogy as we see Fett deal with the actions of his father and him discovering branches in his family tree.
While this can all sound very serious, Blood Ties is interjected with humour through some witty dialogue of Fett’s new “family member” as well as plenty of incompetent bounty hunters.
If you enjoy this story, there’s also a sequel miniseries called Blood Ties: Boba Fett Is Dead.
Single Issues: Star Wars: Blood Ties #1-4
Trade Paperback: Star Wars: Blood Ties
Buy: Kindle/Amazon | eBay
Enemy of the Empire
Written by John Wagner. Ary by Ian Gibson and John Nadeau.
Continuity: Legends
Timeline: Before the original trilogy
Boba Fett has been hired for the very important task, from Darth Vader of all people, to hunt down a colonel who has deserted the Empire. But this is no ordinary job, as this bounty is in possession of an extremely important item (which I won’t spoil the twist), which Vader is sure that Fett will want to keep for himself once he figures out what it is.
In the process of hunting down the imperial deserter, Fett will take on assassins that Vader has hired to kill him and have to put up with a monastery of monks who worship pessimism.
One of the major selling points of this story, which will certainly get many Star Wars fans excited, are the interactions between Boba Fett and Darth Vader. It doesn’t matter if they’re negotiating a fee – where Fett tries his luck at a higher price – or fighting over a lava pit on a distant world, when these two share the page it is simply exciting.
Single Issues: Star Wars: Boba Fett – Enemy of the Empire #1-4
Trade Paperback: ‘Star Wars: Boba Fett – Enemy of the Empire’ or ‘Marvel Epic Collection: Star Wars: The Empire Volume 4’
Buy: Kindle/Amazon | eBay
Have Your Say!
Do you have a favourite Boba Fett story? Let me know in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
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