Topic: Boba Fett in the New Marvel Comics (SPOILERS)

Hello all!

I wanted to talk about the new "unified" Star Wars canon, and more specifically the Marvel comic book series, and even more specifically Boba Fett's involvement thus far. I must say, I am a HUGE fan of the writers and artists work so far, always eager to read each new issue! With that said, I urge only those who have read the series up to this point to participate with this topic due to spoilers! I think it's safe to say that Fett's presence itself is not spoiler worthy, but some of his actions and roles are.
So...

SPOILER ALERTS

Boba Fett's first appearance was in "Darth Vader: #1," in which it assumedly chronicles the first business interaction between the Sith Lord and bounty hunter when Vader hired Fett to track down the pilot who destroyed the Death Star. For those unaware, that pilot was Luke Skywalker, haha ;P Immediately, we see that Boba is confident in his abilities, and assured Vader that this pilot would be captured. While there is more dialogue here than you might expect from him after watching "The Empire Strikes Back," but it does affirm that he is seemingly not intimidated by Darth Vader as seen in the film. The interaction took place on Tatooine after Vader met with Jabba the Hutt for official and personal business deals, the personal of which involved hiring Jabba's best bounty hunters as we know.

At the conclusion of "Star Wars: #4," we see Fett on the cold trail of Luke, and is seen interrogating a group of Rodian gunslingers. Fett already knows his target is from Tatooine and was an associate of Ben Kenobi, but doesn't know his name... and is portrayed in a very single-minded fashion, almost obsessively hunting for that name in the following issue. It is reminiscent of Vader's Ahab mental state in "Empire," and establishes the ruthlessly effective conduct of Boba Fett while on the hunt; he is a cold, hard bounty hunter on the galactic frontier of the Outer Rim.

Soon, we see Fett at his most brutal in the Cantina from "A New Hope." He knew the information he was looking for was there and would not relent in antagonizing the unruly patrons until he had the final piece of the puzzle. A large, six-armed alien had its fill of the bounty hunter's bullying, and challenged him by mocking Fett as a "child." Fett was pleased to make an example out of the beast and quickly dismembered one of its arms and broke three others, and pinned it down on the ground. That was enough to cause a young man to attempt in fleeing the cantina, only to be captured and tortured by Fett. This time, Fett's interrogation brought him useful information with a name and history of his prey, but he executed the reluctant squealer regardless, perhaps due to him wasting valuable time. It is then we see him ambushing Luke Skywalker at Ben Kenobi's old house with a flashbang in the next issue, who is searching for answers himself.

The flashbang deactivated RD-D2 and blinded Luke. Fett was about to take the young Skywalker into custody, but was soon met by erratic resistance when Luke brandished his lightsaber. A heated engagement took place, with Fett overpowering Luke for the most part. In fact, it was during this fight when Luke was given his trademark facial scars (Mark Hamill was in an accident between "A New Hope" and "Empire"). However, with the help of the Force, Luke telekinetically slammed a strong box to the back of Fett's head in an unexpected moment, knocking him unconscious long enough to escape. Unsuccessful in capturing his quarry, Boba Fett confronted Darth Vader. Though failing with bringing in his target, he brought Vader a name: "Skywalker." Again, Fett seems full of confidence in spite of the circumstances.
Now, I wish to talk about issue 6's battle...

I can't say I expected anything different, really; we all should've known that Luke would have managed to escape somehow, and a "versus" between the two characters has been teased for months now. That said, I wish they would have handled it differently than what we saw... so, here is what I would have loved to have seen more:

I would have kept the beginning largely the same; Fett ambushes and blinds Luke, which not only foretells his interaction with the blinded Han Solo in "Jedi," but again gives the opportunity of Luke to use his developing powers, which have grown since he was training blindfolded with Obi-Wan during the first "Star Wars." Fett cracked Luke with the butt of his rifle in the comic, then Luke tried to sucker punch Fett and hurt his hand in the process... all of that, I'd keep the same. After the panel of Luke wincing in pain though, I'd have a close up of Fett's visor... and in a similar scene in the last issue with the six-armed monster, we would only see the result: Boba Fett carrying Luke over his shoulder out of the house. We don't need to see how, like in the cantina, the result speaks for itself.

Now... we can't have Luke brought into Vader's custody; that would be hard to write around the films, plausibly so anyway. So at this point R2 may find a way to help out Luke by distracting Fett, although a chance to use the Force MUST be made somehow... perhaps in a way that causes Fett's jetpack to malfunction, giving an opportunity to escape. We CAN'T make Boba Fett look weak, though... in the last issue, Luke had to drive away a bunch of Tusken Raiders from Ben's house. Well, perhaps before Fett can give chase after Luke, the Raiders would return in greater numbers, forcing him to fend them off while Luke and R2 get away. Things would then proceed as they did in the comic.

Just my two-cents... I am still quite happy with the comic, and am excited to see more Fett to come!
So what are your thoughts? What would you like to see in the future out of Boba Fett, or what would you have changed? Are you happy with his portrayal? Give your thoughts!

quinncrain64, great review and insight!

Not to shift your topic here, but any thoughts on the portrayal of Boba Fett in these comics versus how prior comics, such as the Boba Fett mini-series, Dark Empire, and/or Twin Engines of Destruction, initially from Dark Horse Comics and now re-published as "Legends" by Marvel?

Some of the feedback we're seeing is that Boba Fett is more violent in this new Marvel series AND more verbose. That seems to be polemic: enjoyed by some, disliked by others.

Thank you very much!
---
No worries, I think this topic should be a pool of thought as a whole. though, I do intend to catalogue all of Boba Fett's involvement within the new comics for our community as a reference board.

I digress, though!
---
With the EU, I felt that Fett's character varied too often with the writers, which made him inconsistant. For example, "Shadows of the Empire;" while almost universally praised by all Star Wars fans (myself included, mind you), Boba Fett jabbered quite often in it with tongue-in-cheek one liners that bring James Bond to mind.

*Boba Fett shoots one of 4-Lom's arms off* "That's what I call disarmed!"

Another portrayal may have him speak little to no lines, which you might expect from after watching "Empire," just not in broken run-on sentences like in "Agent of Doom" or "Sacrifice." Don't get me wrong, I love all of the old comics, but they just seem like one writer's interpretation after another, which is suiting now that they are all considered Legends. It also proves just how powerful a character Boba Fett is; I have to respect each of these writers working with him, because when they do, they work on a  largely blank canvas... I can't blame anyone for letting their imaginations run rampent, as it's like the kid in a candy store application for the artist.

Personally, I feel that Daniel Keys Moran, the "Death, Life, and Treachery" and "Bounty Hunter Wars" trilogies, and "Twin Engines of Destruction" captured a more consistent portrayal of Boba Fett that fitted well with the character in the films.
---
In most of the EU, Boba seems just as ruthlessly capable as he is portrayed now, albeit maybe not as dark a tone as Marvel is going with. I think that is because we are starting to see the ruthless brutality was only alluded to before. I look at Fett's involvement in the new comics similar as I do at Grand Moff Tarken's in "Rebels," as each of their introductions brought about a darker theme that almost seems to hit you with the dark other half of the coin, a reality check of sorts. I also find that this new canon Boba Fett fits better with what we have seen in the film's than the majority of the EU, which is something new writers will have to remain on top of as they continue to flesh him out (although, I still am hoping they keep him largely as a blank canvas for our imaginations to work with, haha).

BUT, that is only how I feel about all of that. I can see why people will either love it or hate it, and the reality of it is is just that.

Quinn, cataloguing what's happening in the comics would be very helpful! It sounds like an effort that we'd like to publish on the larger bobafett.com site, beyond just the boards, too. ;-)

Great points about the variety of dialogue in past comics.

As for Daniel Keys Moran (aka J. D. Montgomery), couldn't agree with you more. Small tangent: we interviewed him back in 2007, which you may know about already:
http://www.bobafettfanclub.com/news/fettpedia/daniel-keys-moran_jaster-mereel/
http://www.bobafettfanclub.com/news/fettpedia/daniel-keys-moran_jaster-mereel-2/

John Wagner (writer of the "Death, Lies, and Treachery" mini-series), Andy Mangels (writer of TEOD), and K. W. Jeter (writer of "The Bounty Hunter Wars" novels) definitely did a great job. Do you think the writers of the new comics are up there, too? Or are they doing what some of the other comic/novel writers doing, too?

Good points about rooting it back to the films. That's certainly the whole game plan since Disney took the helm and began the Lucasfilm Story Group.

Thanks my friend, I am eager to see what you cook up for the site as a whole with all of this!
---
WOW! Now that was an interesting interview, kudos for scoring such an opportunity! Mr. Moran too often goes unoticed; I myself forgot that he was the one who built much of Boba Fett's character framework as a brutal gunman who serves his harsh sense of the greater good.

As for the newer writers, I believe the risk is just as great as the potential... with the way Boba Fett's character is being portrayed now, there is a chance that his moral ambiguity may be painted totally black. I feel that would weaken him as a character too much, as it was his gray nature that allowed him to have his code... it allowed him an even greater mysterious air, as well. Take a look at Clint Eastwood's characters in the Man With No Name triology on which Boba is based; incredibly gray painted, harsh justice, for the love of money sort of men who appeared just as mysteriously as they disappeared. Boba is all three of them rolled into one by Daniel Keys Moran's portrayals, which in turn becomes stitched into the Fett of the films seamlessly.

I can only hope that future writers revive the morally ambiguous "live by the code" gunfighter Boba Fett that we have all learned to love. Then again, I am open to a fresh take of the character... so as long as it works, anyway, haha!