Star Wars Insider: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters
Titan Comics
September 25, 2019
Star Wars fans are well-versed with Star Wars: Insider, the Titan Comics magazine published in collaboration with Lucasfilm. Star Wars Insider: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters collects several interviews with the series’ stars, and includes behind-the-scenes shots, and profiles of beloved and underrated characters.
As a coffee table book, Star Wars Insider: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters will be a great addition to fans’ collections. It is easy to flip through and a genuinely engaging read—I imagine many readers picking their favourite reads from the book to share with others.
I particularly enjoyed the variety of interviews in this collection—we get to learn more about the actors behind Greedo, Zam Wesell, and Aurra Sing. There are also in-depth interviews with Simon Pegg, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Joonas Suotamo, Billy Dee Williams, and Jonathan Kasdan. These interviews give readers more insight into the making of the Star Wars films, the costumes, suits, and personalities of the characters they played or wrote.
Aside from the interviews, the insights we get about the making of the Star Wars films was the most fascinating part of Star Wars Insider: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters. There’s a breakdown of the fight scene between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jango Fett on Kamino in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones that was a delight to read.
Though many fans still spend far too much time denigrating the prequel trilogy, I have a particular affinity for those films, particularly Attack of the Clones which was stunning to look at, had a gorgeous film score, and was massively exciting. Much of my enjoyment of the film has to do with the scenes on Kamino, an unusual planet with a fascinating alien species, and the birthplace of Boba Fett. The first appearance of the beloved and mysterious Fett may have been the primary draw for many fans—but for me the draw was Temuera Morrison’s Jango Fett, a cool, suave character, who was imbued with more depth in the film than I expected. Thanks to Morrison’s Jango, Boba was given a new lease on life, and much more history than any fan could have imagined.
It isn’t surprising that a large part of this book is dedicated to Boba Fett. The first 30 pages are all about Boba—the history of his appearances, his evolving costumes, and the toys that were made in his honour.
As fascinating as a character like Boba can be, I think Star Wars Insider: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters spent a bit too much time on the character. Had some of the articles been kept for other collections, this book would have been more interesting. I say this because there simply isn’t enough information about Boba available in the canon or the expanded universe to fill out so many articles. As a result, the opening section of the book comes across as repetitive, with the same stories about Boba’s appearances and toys being shared over and over again.
Five chapters is a lot for one character, but when almost all of them mention that Boba’s first appearance was in the Star Wars Holiday Special, that his first suit was all-white, and that an infamous rocket-firing Boba Fett toy had to be recalled because it was a choking hazard, it stops being an interesting read.
I would have much preferred a lengthier breakdown of Boba’s stories from within the expanded universe—as much as I would love to read all the books and comics from the EU, I have never managed to do so. I would expect a book like Star Wars Insider: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.
Some of the articles were also a bit outdated, which made for strange reading. For instance, Harrison Ford’s interview was from around the time he was promoting Hollywood Homicide, which is a bit incongruous when Ford’s run in the Star Wars films ended with Han Solo’s unfortunate demise in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. It would have been more interesting to read about his thoughts on that film.
I also found that this book lacked a focus on female characters. We get only a short interview with Aurra Sing voice actor Jaime King, and Zam Wesell actor Leanna Walsman, and though we learn more about the making of the Aphra comic series, there are no other female characters featured prominently in this book. Given the way other Star Wars women have been spotlighted elsewhere—particularly Rey and Amidala—it’s disappointing to not have other female characters highlighted in this book. Especially since Star Wars has no shortage of female rogues and heroes, including the sidelined characters of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Star Wars Insider: Rogues, Scoundrels, and Bounty Hunters is set to be a collector’s item that will be treasured by many. It didn’t hit all the right spots for me, but it certainly will rekindle the spark that will light the fire that all Star Wars fans know to be the Force.
