Valance the Hunter is a character who should be long forgotten. Dead and buried deep in a toxic acid lake. But Valance is a character who won't stay dead. He's a character who rose from obscurity and now has his own ongoing series of comics. But let's start from the beginning.
A long time ago... (1978)
Life #1
In the comic Star Wars #16, Beilert Valance was born on planet Shinebone, a mining world somewhere in Wild Space. As a child his parents suffered death from plague (which is ironic since Valance will be plagued by death). When Valance was old enough he enlisted in the Empire and became a stormtrooper. Valance through the ranks and became a Sergeant Major. On planet Doniphon, Valance's platoon was attacked by Rebel starfighters. Proton torpedoes took out 16 of Valance's men and the Sergeant was left for dead, abandoned by a Empire that did not spend time or resources on the injured. Imperial Records indicate that Valance did not survive the assault on Doniphon. Just one more casualty in an endless war.
Life #2
But Beilert Valance did not die, not technically. His body was so ravaged that the medical droids would not even use bacta (too precious in wartime) to heal him. But after a 271-hour surgery the droids had replaced his left arm and left-side of his face with cybernetic parts. Valance, to his horror, was now a cyborg.
Valance had no love for droids. The galaxy had developed a prejudice against cybernetic life forms during the Imperial era and Valance had a particular hate for cybernetics (including himself). Valance could not return to the Empire for this reason, so he became a bounty hunter instead.
After saving a princess from the Death Star, Luke Skywalker had a price on his head. And what was worse, Luke's two closest associates were a pair of droids that he considered friends. Valance began to hate Skywalker, nicknaming the boy "Droid Lover".
Valance's quest for Skywalker took him from Telos IV to Aduba-3 to the Jungles of Ultaar. In his wake he left death and destruction. Finally, on the trade world of Feriae Junction, Valance encountered his target. Even with a lightsaber, the Jedi-in-training was not much of a match for the bounty hunter. Valance had Skywalker pinned in a few moments, his blaster aimed to kill.
Then Skywalker's droid C-3PO moved himself between the hunter and his master. The protocol droid was ready to sacrifice himself so that his master might live. Something changed in Valance in that moment. Seeing that droids were capable of compassion, he found some compassion himself. Perhaps his heart grew three sizes. The hunter let Luke and his droid go.
Valance decided he owed a debt to Skywalker and thereafter focussed his life on protecting the boy. This would ultimately bring his face to face with Darth Vader. On planet Centares the two fought on the shores of Rubyflame Lake, a body of water corrupt with acid and toxic chemicals. The hunter was not much of a match for the Sith Lord. Vader had Valance beaten in a few moments. Valance was offered the chance to serve Vader, but he refused. Valance told Vader that the boy who blew up the Death Star was growing and someday would be Vader's equal.
Valance plunged into the lake where his body was instantly melted away.
Valance's encounter with Vader and subsequent death was featured in Star Wars #29. It was only his fourth appearance. The year was 1979 and his short reign in the Star Wars franchise was at an end...
Right?
Life #3
The year is 2019 and Marvel comics has resurrected the original Star Wars comic series which had been cancelled since 1986. The special issue "Star Wars 108" featured a return of some deep-cut characters including Beilert Valance. Valance's robot corpse sat at the bottom of Rubyflame Lake for years. Eventually a salvage crew looking for old parts accidentally recovered his body.
Awakened from his stasis, Valance set out on a new mission, to locate the Great Life Jewels of the Red Nebula. The twin jewels were said to have the power to preserve life by one who carried them, however they also carried a fatal disease known as the Crimson Forever.
After arriving in the Red Nebula, Valance reconnected with Skywalker and located the twin jewels, but he is not the only one who seeks them. As Valance is about to use the gems to restore his organic body, Domina Tagge arrived on the scene and shot the hunter in the back. Domina threw one of the jewels into the fiery heart of the Red Nebula, hoping that the separation of the gems would bring back the “Crimson Forever” plague, but Valance, still holding one jewel, jumped into the nebula himself.
Before Valance was burned alive by the fiery core of the Nebula, he joined the Life Jewels finally restoring his organic form. Valance the Hunter, in the last moments of his life, finally enjoyed peace.
Life #4
In an alternate universe (The Disney Universe), Beilert Valance is still a child. On the planet Chorin he works with his father in the mines. They are slaves, but not for long. The Empire soon liberates the planet and Valance is free to travel the stars and make his own destiny.
The year is 2018. The comic is "Han Solo: Imperial Cadet #1". The character is Cadet 404-913. The audience doesn't know that this cadet is the Legends character, Valance the Hunter. They will find out in a few issues.
Valance has no love for his fellow cadet Han Solo. The kid was a scrumrat from Corellia. I suspect what Valance actually saw in Solo was himself. After all, Valance was a former slave and Valance has a well-established characteristic of self-hate. So the two did not get along.
The squad of Valance and Solo were assigned to planet Qhulosk, where the Empire was engaged with the Qhuloskian army. Valance's TIE fighter was shot down during a battle and Solo lead his squadmates to rescue their fallen comrade. Valance was part of a system where the injured were not rescued and therefore could not believe his eyes when his squad recovered him from the battlefield. Valance was sent to the medical bay, but the Empire declined to spend the credits to fix his eye or leg. Valance was removed from the navy and into the infantry.
On planet Mimban, Valance would be further injured. He was gunned down by enemy fire and then caught in an explosion. His body burned. His flesh melted. Valance's life serving the Empire had come to an end.
Life #5
The year is 2019. The comic is "Target Vader #1". Valance has been given his own limited series. Valance has been given a mission by the crime syndicate "Hidden Hand". The mission is to take down Darth Vader. If history is to repeat itself (as it often does) then in a few issues Valance will encounter the Dark Lord of Sith and Valance will be killed once more.
Valance takes up the "Hidden Hands" mission even though it includes working on a team (Valance despises teams). The team includes the bounty hunter Dengar, who is a bitter rival.
On planet Heva, the team attempts to capture Vader. They shoot down his TIE fighter and try to get close enough to utilize an EMP device that they hope will immobilize Vader . But the team of bounty hunters are no match for the Dark Lord of Sith. One by one he cuts through them. As his team falls Valance attempts to use the EMP on Vader, but it's too late. It's Valance's turn to die.But that isn't what happens. It turns out Dengar betrayed the team of bounty hunters to The Empire. Valance is captured and interrogated by Vader himself. Vader wants to take down the "Hidden Hand" and Valance is just the cyborg for the job. It turns out that the "Hidden Hand" are the ones who destroyed Chorin, his childhood home. Valance infiltrates the crime syndicate and leads Vader right to them. However, Valance manages to slip away during the firefight, escaping Vader's clutches. Valance does not die at the hands of the Sith. Valance, against all odds, survives.
Life #6
The year is 2020 and Beilert Valance has risen from obscurity. He has been featured in the limited comic series "Han Solo: Imperial Cadet". He frontlined the limited comic series "Target: Vader". And now he is the lead character in an ongoing comic series "Star Wars: Bounty Hunters". The future seems bright for Valance the Hunter, except that one threat could end all his success: COVID-19.
The events of "Star Wars: Bounty Hunters" takes place between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi". Valance is a notorious bounty hunter working alongside of hunters such as Boba Fett and Bossk. Valance has since acquired a droid, Nine-Four-El, that aids him in his bounties.
Though two issues of the comic were released in March of 2020, much of the comic industry halted publishing in the first few months of the crisis. Though a third issue is set to release in June, there has been no dates announced for the continuation of this comic line.
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