“The Lost Findsmen”
Creative Staff:
Story: Ethan Sacks
Art: Alessandro Miracolo
Colors: Arif Prianto
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
What They Say:
Zuckuss is teetering between life and death… A mysterious event has put the Gand bounty hunter in a deep coma reliving his past. Can T’onga and 4-LOM save Zuckuss before his mind is lost? And before the Empire’s most lethal unit hunting Valance catches up to them…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
My hesitance at the start of this series at the time of its original release is still there because something about it more often than not just doesn’t click. Certain elements work, especially when focused on Valance, but the variety of the cast and the bounty hunters themselves aren’t as compelling as you’d hope. That said, I’m enjoying taking it at my own pace a fair bit later and knowing that there’s a lot ahead of me as well. The book comes from writer Ethan Sacks and it has a pretty solid feeling overall as we get to see the slow growth and exploration of this fairly complex character and his history. With this issue, Alessandro Miracolo steps in on the artwork after the previous arc and Arif Prianto are very familiar names within this franchise for the comics and it looks and feels quite good with the variety of characters and some of the seedier aspects of the concept.
This issue does something that’s certainly welcome at this point in focusing on some interesting character background. We’ve had some before for others but they’ve been mixed in execution and, well, quality. This one gives use a look at Zuckuss and does it in an interesting way. With the Bestine arc behind us, T’onga and her crew along with Valance are on the run. Inferno Squadron is tight on them at the moment and tensions are high, especially since Bossk keeps trying to kill Valance. While T’onga’s trying to keep things going and escape the Imperials, Zuckuess suggests heading into the Lost Souls asteroid field because he, as a Findsmen of his people, can work the controls to get them through it. The familiarity to Empire Strikes back is certainly there but we aren’t gett a lot of panels of navigating through the field here. It’s mixed in two ways with the smaller part the drama on board the ship while the other is a flashback of sorts.
I say “of sorts” because Zuckuss, mid-journey after shaking the Imperials, ends up having a seizure of sorts and goes through a complicated memory of his time when he was younger going through the trials to become a Findsmen of his people. THe visual design for it and getting largely nearly naked Zuckuss and others of his species going through it, a retrieval of a specific flower and facing various threats, is admittedly very standard material. But the execution of it and getting to know more about Zuckuss’ past in this way while 4-LOM does his best to bring his friend back into the present before Zuckuss’ body gives out gives it all some solid tension. And even though it’s a familiar tale in the flashback it’s pretty effective in just about every way to make the character feel more dimensional and interesting because you’ve got a sense of what he’s lost and why he’s bonded with 4-LOM in particular and has an affection for this found family of his.
In Summary:
While any meaningful material with Inferno Squad is delayed until the next issue, what we do get here works well in showcasing the tension aboard the Edgehawk that T’onga is trying to manage. But it’s also quite clear about who Zuckuss is with this pretty solid flashback. I had fun with the action figure when it was first released in the 80s but never came up with any kind of backstory for him. What we’ve seen in this series has been largely weak and uninteresting to me, but this story helps to make him a bit more interesting and his species as well. The concept and structure is pretty standard but the execution is what makes it work, especially with the great artwork from Miracolo. Definitely a good installment that has me curious to see what’s next as we go into the final run of issues.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 9+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: March 8th, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
