As we continue our journey through Dark Horse Hyperspace Stories, the writers continue to play with various genres. In the last issue, we got a little film noir with a foolish protagonist in Greedo and the femme fatale who derails his life with a simple smile. “The Hunt” leans into the space western with Boba Fett, who meets Viiveenn and promptly has to go into space dad mode. However, some significant issues make this chapter in the series a skip.

The Story

We are now somewhere during the Reign of the Empire, likely before the events of The Empire Strikes Back. Viiveenn is still searching for her Wookiee doll she lost before the end of the Clone Wars. Desperate, she turns to the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, Boba Fett, who initially declines as toy hunting is not in his realm of expertise. However, Viiveenn tells Fett that it is the only thing she has left of her late father, triggering Fett’s memories of losing his father. Unfortunately for both of them, she is followed by Bossk, who incapacitates Fett and captures Viiveenn. But Boba Fett is the best and easily tracks Bossk’s ship down, retrieving Viiveenn before being stopped by an Imperial Star Destroyer investigating a report of a Rebel traveling with a Wookiee, causing both to run for it. Fett lands his ship on a nearby planet and waits for his prey, Bossk. The two trade blows, but Fett and Viiveenn, of course, are victorious. 

Fett still declines to help Viiveenn but tells her never to give up if the doll means that much.

Since Fett can understand Shyriiwook, I wish Dark Horse could have just translated Viiveenn’s words in the speech bubbles instead of Fett repeating what she is saying. Comics and graphic novels can integrate translations more effortlessly within their copy (Dark Horse recently did this for Jabba the Hutt with Huttese in Tales from the Rancor Pit). 

There is some plot convenience of Bossk being on the same planet as Boba Fett unless Ridley is another hangout for bounty hunters.

The main problem with “The Hunt” is the circular narrative. We started with Boba Fett telling Viiveenn he could not help her and ended with Fett telling Viiveenn he couldn’t help. That alone makes this issue not worth the price unless you are a Boba Fett comic collector or a series completionist. We do not even get a doll appearance. There should have been SOMETHING to move the overall story forward unless Viiveenn on Coruscant is vital for later. Overall, it is one of the most lackluster stories in the series.

The Characters

Lucasfilm continues to transform Boba Fett from villain to anti-hero in the comics (he is very much a hero at the end of The Book of Boba Fett, but that is later in his life). 

An appreciated element of this series is how it handles the antagonists’ motivations through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. These characters are often motivated by Esteem or Love and Belonging, a simple way to let young readers explore character complexities. Boba Fett is a clone, but the fact that Jango CHOOSE him to be his son, claiming him as family, differentiated him (aside from the accelerated aging). And that family was taken away at the Battle of Geonosis. So, a young Wookiee looking for the last connection to her father would appeal to his sensibilities and motivate Fett to keep her safe from the Trandoshans.  

The problem is you need to know Boba Fett’s backstory to understand those levels, which might make this issue acceptable for Boba Fett collectors but not necessarily for the intended audience of young readers. There is a panel version of that moment from Attack of the Clones when Boba is holding Jango’s helmet to his head, and perhaps that is enough to connect the dots for people who have at least seen (and remember) the films.

At this point, Viiveenn could benefit from a dedicated issue exploring more of her relationship with her father, which would make her search more meaningful to readers (she has also lived through all these eras). But Lucasfilm seems more focused on including as many known Star Wars characters than developing the central new character. Again, we will see moving forward, but I am judging this issue. Here, Viiveenn mostly plays the damsel in distress, save for a hero moment with Fett’s ship to leave Bossk and his team stranded.

Despite Bossk’s lack of complexity, he and Boba Fett have a long history dating back to the Clone Wars after Mace Windu killed Jango Fett. That relationship also fell apart during the Bounty Hunters comic series, but oddly, their history is not referenced at all. Here, Bossk is the parallel straight villain to Fett’s anti-hero, which makes him uncompelling.  

Canon Contributions

Was the planet Ridley named after Dailey Ridley (Rey herself) or Ridley Scott (director/creator of Disney’s sister Alien franchise)? Either way, I don’t think this planet will ever matter past “The Hunt.” On to the next!