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Review: "Star Wars: Jango Fett #3"
The third issue of the Jango Fett miniseries picks up pretty much where we left off: Jango following the trail of a mysterious thief. He doesn’t even know what they look like, but it’s his only lead, so here we are.
It’s curious to note his interaction with an administrative droid who greets him when he gets to the mining district that he landed at. The droid tells Jango that “even Mandalorians” are honor bound to leave their weapons outside of the town limits. This is a bold proclamation to make to a Mandalorian, given that according to Din Djarin, weapons are their “religion.”
To no surprise, Jango rebuffs the droid. Ever since Jango Fett was introduced to the Star Wars universe, he has always done whatever he wanted. In “Attack of the Clones,” he freely removed his helmet whenever he wished, and in front of several people. Working as a bounty hunter, it doesn’t seem like he cared much to collaborate with Mandalorians. For anyone familiar with his background in the “Legends” comic, “Jango Fett Open Seasons,” you’ll note that the group Jango belonged to (Jaster Mereel’s True Mandalorians) were wiped out long ago by the Jedi and a Death Watch trap. Their demise was the reason Jango Fett became an independent bounty hunter.
It would be interesting to see some of these details confirmed in a future canon story. Mr. Ethan Sacks, if you’re reading this: please note that it would go a long way for us Fett fans to take the best elements of Jango and Boba’s “Legends” stories, and make some of those details canon. Being an author of something considered canon, you now have the ability to restore to the Fetts (and their fans) some of their greatest achievements, as well as the details that made them into fan favorites long before Disney took over Star Wars. “Open Seasons” and the video game “Star Wars: Bounty Hunter” would be fantastic references for Jango. It is a pity you weren’t involved in “The Book of Boba Fett” because I think you understand the Fetts far better than Jon Favreau.
Jango and the droid are jumped by goons who are paranoid about bounty hunters showing up to collect the prices on their heads. Jango, of course, makes short work of these fools. It’s like sending Pit Droids from Episode I to fight against a Droideka or a MagnaGuard: they simply stood no chance whatsoever. As I’ve said before, Jango Fett’s offensive and defensive capabilities are both very high: that’s why he’s the best bounty hunter in the galaxy.
As Jango reaches a bar with several posted bounties on the wall, he provokes the thief by telling all of the patrons that he’s looking for whoever stole the Hope of Glee Anselm. This scares the guilty thief into making a run for it. For those who have read the first 5 issues of “Star Wars: Bounty Hunters”, this should be a familiar face: Nakano Lash. Lash is a Nautolan bounty hunter whose path would eventually meet with Boba Fett’s on several missions. Ultimately, Boba himself would be the one to bring about her demise.
But, for now, we have rewound the hands of time, and two ghosts from Boba’s past are alive and well: Jango Fett and Nakano Lash. Curious that Lash ended up meeting both Fetts during their prime. As Jango closes in on her, a powerful blaster shot knocks Jango down. It’s a shot from Aurra Sing, another great bounty hunter. (I mean, I guess she doesn’t really need an introduction, does she? She seems pretty well known by the fandom nowadays, especially after Star Wars The Clone Wars.)
What follows is a very curious sequence. Jango and Aurra are fighting each other, but making references to past jobs they’ve had together: “Just like the Pyke spice-runner job. Remember?” It appears these quips were some sort of code between them on what move to make, because it leads to a set up where Aurra makes lining up a shot on Jango, but then shooting over his shoulder to a judicial lawman also involved in this situation. This idea seems to be solidified in their conversation after the scuffle.
Aurra: “Don’t remember you throwing me so hard during the Pyke spice-runner job.”
Jango: “Don’t remember you kicking me in the face back then either.”
Aurra notes that there isn’t a Republic Judicial on Dorin, the planet that they’re on. So the guy that she shot wasn’t legitimate: he was an imposter, working for another unknown party. While Aurra and Jango decide their next move, Nakano tells them that she had been recruited by the fake Judicial to acquire the Hope. However, the suits she and her friends were provided were rigged to blow. It isn’t made clear what suits she is referring to. Maybe I missed something, but perhaps she is part of the black armored group Jango encountered earlier. It’s the only other group that has been involved in this conflict thus far. Nakano only survived because the detonator in her suit was a dud.
Nakano then breaks the Hope, revealing to Jango and Aurra that it was a fake this entire time! Unfortunately, this means that Jango and Aurra have been set up.
Meanwhile, at what appears to be a bar for bounty hunters, we see all the tracking fobs in the hunter’s hands going off. One of the hunters present is none other than Cradossk, Bossk’s father! You can tell it’s him by not only the strong resemblance to Bossk, but also the red jumpsuit, which is identical to Bossk’s yellow jumpsuit except for the color. When Cradossk was brought into Canon through the mobile game “Star Wars Galactic Defense,” I was the one who created and authored the Canon Wookieepedia page for him.
Also in this bar, we see Vigor Struk, the infamous Spear Guy from the previous two issues. He utters only one word: “Fett…”
And thus we’re left on a very interesting cliffhanger. This series is short but sweet, and so far is 3 for 3 in terms of being a good quality comic. I commend Ethan Sacks on closing the loop between Jango, Nakano Lash, and Boba. It makes for a truly interesting connection as well as a cruelly ironic one, give her final fate later on. I also commend him on not contradicting previous Canon. Consistency is important for immersion, and immersion makes for a richer experience in fiction. It turns fictional stories into a “living universe.”
Sacks also has handled both Aurra and Jango quite well, giving them versatile, believable, and awesome skills. However, it is not to the point where they are overpowered. Jango’s overall persona and “vibe” are also captured faithfully in my opinion.
Will Jango and Aurra get to the bottom of this conspiracy? How will Spear Guy fare in his final confrontation with Jango? Will we see Cradossk again? Will the loss of the Hope of Glee Anselm lead to war between the Nautolans and the Anselmi? Will Goku and the Z Fighters stop Frieza from getting the Dragonballs? These questions and more will — I presume — be answered in the 4th and final issue of this miniseries. Until then, chalk up another win for Ethan Sacks and for Jango Fett fans (and Aurra and Cradossk fans as well actually).
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