Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Reading Order Checklist

Have you ever wondered what happened to Han Solo between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi? Well, now you don’t have to.

War of the Bounty Hunters, a massive Star Wars comic event, tells what happens between the two films. Boba Fett has captured Han Solo and frozen him in carbonite for easy transport to Jabba’s palace. However, it’s not going to be a simple job. The Rebel Alliance, Empire, and a long string of bounty hunters also want Han!

Comic book events, especially on the scale of this one, can be confusing. Luckily, the Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters reading order is here. It has everything you need to know to make reading simple, with recommended reading order, collected editions, and much more.

Background Reading

What do you need to know before going into War of the Bounty Hunters? Not much really. If you’ve seen Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back then you’ll know all about how and why Han Solo is trapped in carbonite. If you’re a completionist, and need to know what’s happened in the comics before this crossover, check out the ultimate guide to Marvel’s Star Wars comics.

How to Read War of the Bounty Hunters

War of the Bounty Hunters is structured similar to how Marvel does many of their big events, such as Civil War or Secret Invasion. There’s a miniseries that tells the main story and then auxiliary issues that tie-into the events of that story.

For War of the Bounty Hunters, the main story is told in the miniseries of the same name. Then, existing Star Wars Comics (Star Wars, Darth Vader, Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, and Doctor Aphra) and some one-shots tell side stories that relate to what’s happening in the main tale.

You don’t have to read all of the tie-ins if you don’t want to. You’ll get a full story if you read War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha and War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha #1-5. After that, it’s up to you as to which tie-ins you decide to read.

You can pick which tie-ins you read based on the story situations they present, your investment in a particular character(s), and your interest in the overall event.

Preludes

These issues build up and directly lead into War of the Bounty Hunters.

War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Steve McNiven.

Star Wars (2020 series) #13
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Ramon Rosanas.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #12
Written by Ethan Sacks. Art by Paolo Villanelli.

Darth Vader (2020 series) #12
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Guiu Vilanova.

Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #10
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by Ray-Anthony Height.

War of the Bounty Hunters

War of the Bounty Hunters #1
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Luke Ross.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #13 (tie-in)
Written by Ethan Sacks. Art by Paolo Villanelli.

Star Wars (2020 series) #14 (tie-in)
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Ramon Rosanas.

Darth Vader (2020 series) #13 (tie-in)
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Guiu Vilanova.

Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #11 (tie-in)
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by Minkyu Jung.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #14 (tie-in)
Written by Ethan Sacks. Art by Paolo Villanelli.

Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #12 (tie-in)
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by Minkyu Jung.

War of the Bounty Hunters #2
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Luke Ross.

Darth Vader (2020 series) #14 (tie-in)
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Guiu Vilanova.

War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt #1 (tie-in)
Written by Justina Ireland. Art by Luca Pizzari and Ibraim Roberson.

Star Wars (2020 series) #15 (tie-in)
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Ramon Rosanas.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #15 (tie-in)
Written by Ethan Sacks. Art by Paolo Villanelli.

War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-LOM & Zuckuss #1 (tie-in)
Written by Daniel José Older. Art by Kei Zama.

War of the Bounty Hunters #3
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Luke Ross and David Messina.

Star Wars (2020 series) #16 (tie-in)
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Ramon Rosanas.

Darth Vader (2020 series) #15 (tie-in)
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Raffaele Ienco.

Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #13 (tie-in)
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by Minkyu Jung.

War of the Bounty Hunters #4
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Luke Ross and David Messina.

Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #14 (tie-in)
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by Federico Sabbatini.

Darth Vader (2020 series) #16 (tie-in)
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Raffaele Ienco.

War of the Bounty Hunters – Boushh #1 (tie-in)
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by David Baldeón.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #16 (tie-in)
Written by Ethan Sacks. Art by Paolo Villanelli.

Star Wars (2020 series) #17 (tie-in)
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Ramon Rosanas.

War of the Bounty Hunters #5
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Luke Ross and David Messina.

Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #15 (tie-in)
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by Minkyu Jung.

Darth Vader (2020 series) #17 (tie-in)
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Raffaele Ienco.

War of the Bounty Hunters – IG-88 #1 (tie-in)
Written by Rodney Barnes. Art by Guiu Vilanova.

Star Wars (2020 series) #18 (tie-in)
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Ramon Rosanas.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #17 (tie-in)
Written by Ethan Sacks. Art by Paolo Villanelli.

After War of the Bounty Hunters

War of the Bounty Hunters leads directly into the next Star Wars event, Crimson Reign. You can find out all about it in the Star Wars: Crimson Reign reading order.

What should you read next? Here are a few options.

Crimson Reign #1-5
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Steve Cummings.

This is a 5-part miniseries that follows Qi’ra after War of the Bounty Hunters.

The following ongoing comic books deal with the fallout of War of the Bounty Hunters. The next set of trade paperbacks are labelled as Crimson Reign, but that appears to be all marketing.

Star Wars (2020 series) #19 (tie-in)
Written by Charles Soule. Art by Marco Castiello.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #19 (tie-in)
Written by Ethan Sacks. Art by Ramon Bachs.

Darth Vader (2020 series) #19 (tie-in)
Written by Greg Pak. Art by Guiu Vilanova.

Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #17 (tie-in)
Written by Alyssa Wong. Art by Minkyu Jung.

Collected Editions

Prefer to read the whole crossover in a collected format? These are the trade paperbacks you’ll need to track down.

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters
Collects: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha, #1-5

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Companion
Collects: War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt #1, War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-Lom & Zuckuss #1, War of the Bounty Hunters – Boushh #1, War of the Bounty Hunters – IG-88 #1

Star Wars Volume 3: War of the Bounty Hunters
Collects: Star Wars (2020 series) #12-18

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters Volume 3: War of the Bounty Hunters
Collects: Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #12-17

Darth Vader Volume 3: War of the Bounty Hunters
Collects: Darth Vader (2020 series) #12-16

Doctor Aphra Volume 3: War of the Bounty Hunters
Collects: Doctor Aphra #11-15

Doctor Aphra Volume 2: The Engine Job
Collects: Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #6-10

Note: Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #10 is a prelude issue to War of the Bounty Hunters.

Doctor Aphra Volume 3: War of the Bounty Hunters
Collects: Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #11-15

Additionally, there’s a massive omnibus edition. It collects every issues involved in this event in one big collection.

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Omnibus
Collects: Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #1-5, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters – Jabba the Hutt, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters – 4-LOM and Zuckuss, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters – Boushh, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters – IG-88, Star Wars (2020 series) #13-18, Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #12-17, Darth Vader (2020 series) #12-17, and Doctor Aphra (2020 series) #10-15.

Have your say!

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