Rogues Gallery is an occassional 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 The 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 the gold standard of bounty hunting in the Star Wars Galaxy, striking fear into all those he pursues.
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 that detail his bounties, and this list highlights five of his best.
This is 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
t all beings with a Hutt in love.
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 plenty of small details that make it feel like a Star Wars comic. Much of it comes from the environments, which are littered with junk and are populated by weird and wonderful onlookers.
While Boba Fett is always played straight, there are plenty of opportunities for humour. This is especially evident whenever a Hutt is involved, with their clever dialogue and humorously selfish motivations.
Issue: Star Wars: Boba Fett – Bounty on Bar-Kooda #1
Collected edition: ‘Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The New Republic Volume 7’ or ‘Star Wars – Boba Fett: Death, Lies, and Treachery’
Buy: Amazon/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 a harsh desert to score a bounty. However, the more you read, you’ll soon see there’s so much more to it, digging deep into what really motivates him.
For Boba Fett, it’s all about the bounty. That sways his actions one way or another, depending on what’s required to achieve his goal. 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. This story continues that trend. His actions always speak louder than words, so much so that he doesn’t speak a word until the final two pages. However, when he does, it’s brief but impactful.
Issue: Star Wars: Age of Rebellion – Boba Fett #1
Collected edition: Star Wars: Age of Rebellion – Villains
Buy: Amazon/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’s bride is taken hostage while they’re on their honeymoon. And guess who has been tasked with getting her back?
However, it’s not just about the rescue mission, as Boba 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 opportunities for Boba Fett’s signature brand of action.
Oh, and the title? That’s quite literal too, which you’ll understand once you’ve read it.
Issue: Star Wars: Boba Fett – When The Fat Lady Swings #1
Collected edition: ‘Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The New Republic Volume 7’ or ‘Star Wars – Boba Fett: Death, Lies, and Treachery’
Buy: Amazon/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 Boba Fett has with his father as well as the other “relatives” 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 Boba Fett deal with the actions of his father and the discovery of 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.
Issues: Star Wars: Blood Ties #1-4
Collected edition: ‘Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Empire Volume 7’ or ‘Star Wars: Blood Ties’
Buy: Amazon/Kindle | 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 has 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, is the interactions between Boba Fett and Darth Vader. It doesn’t matter if they’re negotiating a fee or fighting over a lava pit on a distant world; when these two share the page, it’s thoroughly exciting.
Issues: Star Wars: Boba Fett – Enemy of the Empire #1-4
Collected edition: ‘Star Wars: Boba Fett – Enemy of the Empire’ or ‘Marvel Epic Collection: Star Wars: The Empire Volume 4’
Buy: Amazon/Kindle | eBay
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