The last couple issues were slow, but now I'm totally on board. Soule is writing something special here, as he did with 2017's Darth Vader series. Add that to the amazing art from Jesus Saiz, Arif Prianto, and Clayton Sowles, and this is the best Star Wars comic this year, in my opinion. I absolutely cannot wait to see where the next issue leads; I have a feeling it's only gonna get crazier and crazier, in the best way!

The issue ends with Vader sensing Aphra's panic attack and turning towards her, indicating that shits' about to hit the fan in the next issue. This issue was... amazing. Possibly the best one yet of this run, since the previous two arcs really felt like they were either dragging or rushing. And some of the stuff I don't like is still present, like Just Lucky, who I just can't bring myself to care about. I do wish that some of Aphra's old supporting cast returned the way Sana did, but I get that's a new run and Wong wants to do something new with the character. But yeah, amazing issue! Amazing writing, amazing art!

To my astonishment, this series has massive ramifications for the plot of The High Republic as a whole. I won't spoil what those ramifications are, but I wasn't expecting this plot point to be developed until the "bigger" adult novels like The Rising Storm in a couple weeks. It really just proves why The High Republic is the best thing to come out of Star Wars in years: everything is important and has meaning, not just the bigger stories with the bigger audiences.

To sum up, this is already one of the best Star Wars comics ever, with some of the most intriguing and exciting writing from Soule, art from Luke Ross that stuns as usual and fits the tone of this story perfectly, and unparalleled levels of hype for the return of Qi'ra and Crimson Dawn. The story of War of the Bounty Hunters continues next week with Bounty Hunters #13, though the next core issue isn't until July. I couldn't recommend a comic more, so please buy this one at your local comic shop!

I found myself really liking Domina Tagge and the Tagges in general more here than I do in Aphra's series, much like Wong's writing. Seeing the others Tagges makes Domina feel way more like an actual character, and I found myself appreciating her more without the baggage of the parts of the Aphra series I don't really like. And that just ties into the already-mentioned reasons why I liked this so much. I won't say much else about the plot because recommend reading it! And while you're reading it, you'll get to appreciate the awesome art from David Baldeon, who I don't recall seeing on Star Wars before, and he did a fantastic job. Check it out!

This might be the best issue of the series yet, just because of how well it ties every previous one together and makes it all make sense. I'm so much more excited to see where things go now, especially because of how the next several issues are about the War.

There is more that happens in the rest of the issue, but I don't want to spoil everything, since it has it's own plot twist at the end that promises to make next issue even better. I'll leave this review off by saying that this definitely feels like an essential chapter of War of the Bounty Hunters just as much as it is a part of its' own story, which is exactly what I wanted; we can only hope the other tie-in issues are the same way. Sacks continues to tell a really intriguing story that only gets better as it progresses, and Paolo Villanelli's art continues to be some of my favorite art in Star Wars comics ever. Check this one out!

I won't spoil too much more of what happens, since this is one of the best issues of the series and shouldn't be spoiled, but this series is finally starting to prove why it exists, alongside the likes of Star Wars, Vader, and Aphra. I always liked it, but now that things are more established, it gets to play around more and have just as much of a role in the War of the Bounty Hunters as the other series. Besides that, the art by Villanelli and Prianto continues to be AMAZING, and I can't stress that part enough. They put every single other artist working on Star Wars comics right now toshame. Bring on Issue #15!

Eventually, Dengar and Valance do get their invitation, setting up their debut in the big crossover next issue. The other half of the series' characters are one step closer to having their bounty hunting team, getting closer to a culmination of the series' own story, which I've been enjoying a lot. And of course, Vukorah is here, and she's always a win (my trans pirate queen beloved <3). The art by Paolo Villanelli is PHENOMENAL as always, to no one's surprise. Overall, just a fantastic issue! It's kinda funny how this was one of the weaker ongoings at first and now it's easily the strongest in my opinion.

That's it for this issue! So far, this series is everything I wanted it to be, and I can't wait to see how the arc wraps up over the next two issues. My only hope is that Lucky's motivations are explored more, since he's the only member of the "team" that hasn't been now. See you next issue!

I'm really loving this second arc of the series! Aphra continues to shine brighter than any of Marvel's other Star Wars series, though the High Republic started out with a bang too. The art and writing and everything about this issue was great, and I didn't even mention a few smaller things like the short detour to Lucky's subplot (mainly because there's not much to talk about yet) or the non-binary character that works for Domina. I highly recommend checking out this issue, and I can't wait for the next one!

There's not much else to say about this issue, the series continues to be fantastic! Beyond the writing and story, the art by Minkyu Jung, Victor Olazaba, and Rachelle Rosenberg continues to be amazing and perfect for the tone of the series. This arc is not only coming to a conclusion next issue, but next issue is also a Prelude issue for the big War of the Bounty Hunters crossover that's coming up. This series already has a leg up over the other series, since it's already been crossing over with other underworld characters and concepts from Bounty Hunters. And the issue after that has Durge!!!

This is a great issue, maybe one of the best yet in the series! The art by Height, Olazaba, and Rosenberg suits the series perfectly, although it's strange they mixed up the penciller for just this one issue.

The last panel of Valance with his face in his hands as he flies away from Lowikalonegenuinely hit me in the feels a bit. So... yeah, I really liked this issue. The series is finally starting to find it's footing, and I hope that doesn't change next issue! I didn't mention the art or lettering much in this review because it was stellar as always, that's been the most consistent part of this series. I think this series has a real chance to stand out among the current Star Wars ongoings... as long as it doesn't go back to copying from The Mandalorian. Read this issue!!

Both of these things are set-up for Marvel's huge crossover event, War of the Bounty Hunters, which now promises to be really exciting. The event hasn't started yet, but we already have two little prelude subplots leading into it. And... that's the issue! There was also a really fun interlude about T'onga and her wife Losha getting a big Nexu, teasing their return to the series later, but it was short and there's not much to talk about thereyet, although I will say I love how Sacks so casually includes LGBTQ rep in this series. The art by Paolo Villanelli was stellar as usual, as was the lettering by Travis Lanham. Next issue is a full interlude about Bossk filling time before War begins, and that promises to be good!

Both of these things are set-up for Marvel's huge crossover event, War of the Bounty Hunters, which now promises to be really exciting. The event hasn't started yet, but we already have two little prelude subplots leading into it. And... that's the issue!

The best Star Wars comic is back!! For those who haven't been keeping up with the primary War of the Bounty Hunters series (which, why would you), I recommend checking out the most recent issue there before this one, as it overlaps with this one a lot and includes a lot more context for Valance and Dengar's story.

Anyway, this issue was very, very good. It did a great job of being a set-up issue that felt contained and important in its own right. In series like Bounty Hunters (and even Star Wars), the set-up issues always feel really slow and boring, but that wasn't the case with this issue at all. The art by the new art team (replacing Marika Cresta's art from the first arc) was really good, the art style really suits the Indiana-Jones tone of the series. I'm super-excited to see where this arc goes in the next issue, more so now that Sana is playing a big role in the story!

The issue ends on a cliffhanger, with the two parallel stories colliding. Zeen and the Jedi are both surrounded by the Nihil, and their leader... Marchion Ro! Ro appeared in Light of the Jedi too, and in that novel he instantly became the newest iconic Star Wars villain. And here, in comic aimed towards kids, he's making his second appearance! This is why I love this issue. It's still at it's heart a comic book aimed towards kids, but it still feels significant and important, which is something I couldn't say about the mainline Star Wars Adventures series. Beyond the awesome story, the art was also really good; again, it was much better than the art typically seen in the Adventures series, and I hope that's kept up. I can't wait for the next issue!

This issue is mostly just set-up for the big story to come, but unlike with the preview issues that played the same role, I found myself way more invested this time around... mainly because I could see what was happening.

In any case, Aphra and Sana get a diagram of the Path Engine and head to their next stop, an auction on Midaar where a fake Path Engine is being sold. Vukorah's going there too, so it seems that there's finally gonna be a big showdown next issue. This issue was... good. Besides the already-talked-about pacing issue, the rest of the writing was great, and the art from Minkyu Jung and Victor Olazaba was really great. I'm still excited for the next issue though, and looking even further, the series is gonna bereintroducing Durge into Canon, something that should come as a welcome surprise to fans of Dark Horse's Republic comic series and the animated Clone Wars series from Genndy Tartakovsky.

I won't spoilt too much of the story becaue it's a pretty solid story, but it does finally start leading into War of the Bounty Hunters at the very end, as expected. There is something in this issue I've seen people complain about, and it's that Durge seemingly exists the story very abruptly. I don't think that's really a fair complaint, since it's pretty obvious he'll be back eventually (he even jokes about that in the issue), but I get it. Other than that the issue is extremely solid, the art is amazing as usual (this art team is quickly becoming one of my favorite art teams on Aphra, second maybe to the team with Emilio Laiso in the first run.. and even then Rosenberg was on that art team too!) Bring on the War of the Bounty Hunters!

It's a good issue, but I feel hesitant in passing judgment on it until we see the rest of the series.

There's honestly not that much to talk about, since so little happens, and that's probably the biggest issue with it: it's too concerned with the crossover than moving the plot along. Soule's writing and Ross's art are incredible on both fronts, but there's just not enough. That said, I still recommend the issue, since it's great, but maybe wait a little bit until the next one is out too.

The art was very good as usual, and the writing on Aphra's part is improving, so I'm starting to like the series more.

This series is... complicated. It's leagues better than IDW's other Star Wars series, but it's still lacking in some ways. These characters are extremely engaging and interesting (particularly how Zeen's story was seemingly an allegory for being LGBTQ and living in an unaccepting environment), but it's so barebones that it barely does anything with all that potential. The most consistent thing about it is the art, which is very good for an IDW Star Wars series. Harvey Tolibao and Rebecca Nalty are doing very well. I'm hoping the series gets better next issue, since it's pretty much locked in to actually doing something because of that cliffhanger, but we'll see.