A Bounty Hunter And A Father – Star Wars Age of Republic: Jango Fett #1 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
A trio of bounty hunters are waiting for their fourth on the planet Telerath. Their fourth turns out to be the infamous Mandalorian bounty hunter, Jango Fett. He’s brought along his son, Boba, for the mission. He wants his son to follow in his footsteps, and this is a good training opportunity for Boba. The bounty hunters are charged with returning the daughter of a powerful man unharmed and alive. During the mission, Jango reflects on his life as a living cloning template on Kamino.
Star Wars Age of Republic: Jango Fett #1 may be the best of the Age of Republic comics so far. It expands on a character with little background–especially if we’re not counting the Expanded Universe canon (which I personally do, still love the new films, though).
The comic shows Jango Fett to be far more than what you see in Attack of the Clones. He is a father with grand ambition for both himself and his son. He wants to be known as the best bounty hunter there is, and he wants Boba to be the same.
We also learn how he feels about the Clone Army made from his DNA. It’s interesting, and it gels with what you’d expect from someone with the ambivalent moral code of Jango Fett.
We get some cool moments from young Boba Fett as well. You are given glimpses of the future ahead of him and the moral code he is developing under his father’s tutelage.
Luke Ross is the artist on this chapter as well, and he continues to impress with his balance of heavy detailing, ability to create a good depth of field, and use of shadowing to imbue a pseudo-realistic style. Jango’s armor looks great throughout, and Ross is able to rend expression from strange aliens like the Rodian character that is in much of the comic–and that’s no mean feat. Java Tartaglia’s color work is a good balance of earth tones cast against the vibrant silver and blue of Jango’s armor.
Star Wars Age of Republic: Jango Fett #1 delivers a highly compelling and well-paced glimpse into the life of Jango Fett and his young son, Boba. We see what kind of father Jango is and how he wanted his son to turn out. Writer Jody Houser absolutely nails it. This is a great read, and it comes highly recommended.
Star Wars Age of Republic: Jango Fett #1 comes to us from writer Jody Houser, artist Luke Ross, color artist Java Tartaglia, letterer VC’s Travis Lanham, cover artist Paolo Rivera, and variant cover artists Inhyuk Lee, Leinil Francis Yu with Jesus Aburtov, and Mike McKone with Guru-eFX.
