The comic focuses on Beilert Valance, a former Imperial officer turned bounty hunter.
The series is a continuation to Han Solo: Imperial Cadet (where Valance was first reintroduced into canon) and Target Vader, and has a prequel comic "Two Sides to a Sortie" in the Empire Ascendant oneshot compilation.
The series has crossed over with the main Star Wars comics, Doctor Aphra, and Darth Vader for the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover event.
The series concluded in January 2024 with Issue #42.
Tropes in this series include:
- All for Nothing:
- At the end of Issue #26, Cadeliah makes it clear that she's been indoctrinated by Crimson Dawn and is now choosing to stay with them, making everything T'onga's team went through to save her this.
- Valance reluctantly agrees to rejoin the Empire and serve Vader's agenda in order to keep the base housing Cadeliah safe, unaware that the base has since been destroyed after Crimson Dawn exposed its location.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: In Issue #18, Vader threatens to destroy the rebel base where Valance hid Cadeliah if Valance doesn't serve Vader in hunting down Crimson Dawn's moles.
- And the Adventure Continues: The final issue ends with a montage showing all the characters going their separate ways and moving on with their lives.
- Assassination Attempt: In Issue #23, Dengar kills the leader of Mourner's Wail during a meeting in a restaurant on Milvayne.
- Asshole Victim: Khamus of the Unbroken Clan was about to kill his lover and unborn child to save his own skin when Nakano Lash shot him.
- Broken Pedestal: Valance's mentor, Nakano Lash, became this to him when she seemingly violated everything she taught him about being a bounty hunter on a whim. She becomes more of a Rebuilt Pedestal when he finds out why she did what she did.
- Call-Back:
- During Aphra's cameo in the first issue, mention is made of her having saved the Emperor from an attempted coup, which occurred during the penultimate arc of the first run of her own series.
- Star Wars Rebels revealed that some time after Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Hondo Ohnaka lost his crime organization, the Ohnaka Gang. We now see that the Ohnaka Gang is now being led by a Captain Skragg.
- Valance is still pissed at Dengar for selling him out to Vader.
- At the end of Issue #6, Valance goes for help from the Rebel outpost on Lowik, which he helped set up back in Target Vader.
- When Valance and Dengar run into Chewbacca and Threepio on Nar Shadda in Issue #13, Chewie is very much not happy to see Dengar again after he attacked the two during their last visit to the Smuggler's Moon during Star Wars (Marvel 2015).
- Call-Forward: In Issue #15, T'onga and Losha recruit Tasu Leech, one of the criminal leaders that Han will end up bowering money from in a bad deal in The Force Awakens.
- The Cameo: The first issue has Valance doing a bounty at Black Spire Outpost on Batuu.
- Canon Immigrant:
- Valance is a bounty hunter from the old comics that are now considered Legends. He made his first official canon appearance in the Star Wars: Han Solo - Imperial Cadet comics, followed by the Star Wars Target Vader comics and the Bounty Hunters prequel "Two Sides to a Sortie" in the Empire Ascendant oneshot compilation before the Bounty Hunters comics were released.
- Manaroo, Dengar's love interest from Tales of the Bounty Hunters in the Legends continuity, pops up during War of the Bounty Hunters.
- Continuity Nod:
- When Vukorah appears in Issue #15, she's still wounded from her recent encounter with Aphra in the latter's own series.
- In Issue #23, Dengar does a job on Milvayne, a planet introduced in the tail end of the 2016-2019 run of Doctor Aphra.
- The Coup: In Issue #20, Vukorah assassinates the Grand Leader of the Unbroken Clan and purges all his loyalists so that she can assume control of the syndicate and pledge its services to Crimson Dawn.
- Crossover: With the second run of the main comics, the second run of Doctor Aphra, and the third run of Darth Vader for the Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters crossover event.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Khamus was convinced his father would kill him for having a child with the heir of the Unbroken Clan and died trying to eliminate her and his unborn child, triggering a massive gang war. When Khamdek learns the truth years later, he is horrified that his son believed that and sadly declares that he would have understood.
- A Day in the Limelight: Issue #11 is focused on Bossk.
- "Die Hard" on an X: Issue #10 sees Valance sneaking around on a Rebel ship that's been taken over by the Ohnaka Gang.
- Drowning My Sorrows: During the War of the Bounty Hunters cross-over, T'onga and her crew finds Zuckuss wallowing in misery aboard a Gand sanctuary space station — one of the few places where his species can enjoy a fresh supply of ammonia far from their homeworld — after being separated from and seemingly being betrayed by 4-LOM.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Vukorah hates harming animals, and is thus horrified when she kills Losha's pet Nexu in self-defense.
- Evil Duo: Zuckuss and 4-LOM, a pair of bounty hunters chasing down Valance.
- Fantastic Racism: Valance is frequently looked down upon for being a cyborg.
- Gunship Rescue: During the climax of Issue #22, 4-LOM swoops in on a ship to save the other bounty hunters who have been cornered by Unbroken Clan forces.
- I Have Your Wife: Jabba is forcing Dengar to do his bidding by holding Manaroo captive and threatening to feed her to the rancor.
- If I Wanted You Dead...: Inverted in Issue #15. When Vukorah finds Deathstick waiting for her in her safe house, she knows that the assassin isn't there to kill her since she didn't immediately attempt to do so.
- I'm Standing Right Here: When the bounty hunters are pinned down by the Unbroken Clan in Issue #22, Bossk suggests to T'onga that they strap explosives to Zuckuss and send him out to die as a distraction. Zuckuss points out that he's standing right behind the two and can hear them.
- Living MacGuffin: Cadeliah is the rightful heir to both the Unbroken Clan and Mourner's Wail and could potentially end the war between them if she lives long enough to inherit.
- Love Redeems: Haydenn eventually abandons the Empire to save Valance by restoring his deleted memories with a backup copy.
- Mob War:
- One has been going on between the Mourner's Wail and Unbroken Clan syndicates every since Nakano betrayed and killed the heir of the former during a mission on his behalf. Cadeliah, as biological heir to the ruling bloodlines of both groups, could end the war if she lives long enough.
- During War of the Bounty Hunters, Mourner's Wail ends up targeted by the restored Crimson Dawn, while the Unbroken Clan is recruited into an alliance with them.
- The Mole: Commander Purpura sells out his ship to the Ohnaka Gang for a payoff, having lost faith in the Rebellion.
- Mook Horror Show:
- Valance pulls this on the Ohnaka Gang in Issue #10.
- Bossk turning the tables on the people hunting him on Malastare in Issue #11.
- The Mutiny: In Issue #40, T'onga's crew get sick of her seemingly doomed efforts to save Valance and turn on her, stranding her (and Zuckuss, the sole exception to the plot) on a Scourge-infested planet.
- No OSHA Compliance: In Issue #27, the Pyke Syndicate decided to hold a disco party on a space station that's orbiting a black hole.
- Not What It Looks Like: A flashback in Issue #12 to Valance's first bounty hunter job reveals that he was part of a crew that he ended up betraying when he realized that they were targeting Han. However, in the process of all the fighting, Han saw Valance and thought that he was trying to kill him, not giving Valance a chance to explain things.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Losha gives a brief one to Vukorah in Issue #26, calling her a lonely sociopath that no one cares about and no one will mourn when she dies. It actually seems to put Vukorah in a Villainous BSoD.
- Reforged into a Minion: After Valance is damaged to the point of death during War of the Bounty Hunters, Vader has him resuscitated and rebuilt to serve him.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Haydenn gives Valance one of these in Issue #27, as he fumbles his way through trying to ask her about a Relationship Upgrade.
- The Usurper: General Vukorah seizes control of the Unbroken Clan in Issue #20.
- Worthy Opponent: How Bossk thinks of Grummgar.
- You Have Failed Me: When Vukorah finds Deathstick waiting for her in a safe house, she shoots the minion who assured her that said safe house was secure.
