Of the six bounty hunters introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, I always considered Dengar to be my least favorite. In the movie, Dengar is standing next to Boba Fett, Bossk, IG-88, 4-LOM, and Zuckass, all who are visually more appealing, so I might be not be giving Dengar a fair chance. To me, his outfit looks cobbled together; he has the chest plate of a Snowtrooper and he is wearing several pieces of Stormtrooper armor. His clothes below his armor do not look like they fit. The worst offense of all, he is a human, not an alien or a droid, wearing a turban instead of a cool helmet. Everyone knows having a cool helmet is a prerequisite to being a great bounty hunter!
Surprisingly, Dengar was the first of the infamous six bounty hunters used significantly in a post-movie story, appearing in Star War #68 and 69. Boba Fett also appears in Star Wars #68, but only in one panel, although an argument could be made that is him on the cover instead of Fenn Shysa. I tend to believe it is Fenn. In new continuity, Boba Fett has more than a brief appearance in Darth Vader #1 and is a significant character in the first arcs in the Star Wars and Darth Vader titles. A 4-LOM like droid has a speaking part on Cymoon 1 in Star Wars #1 and the 4-LOM even shows up in a panel in Jabba's Palace in Darth Vader #1. I would not be surprised if other members of the infamous six are in the background in Jabba's Palace. But sure enough, before Bossk, IG-88, 4-LOM, or Zuckass have a decent role in a story, Dengar is used in Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon , appearing in Star Wars #10 - 12. He even is shown on the cover of Star Wars #11.
Star Wars #11a - Marvel Comics, U.S. (November 2015)
On the cover, Dengar is being attacked by Chewbacca. Inside the comic, Dengar, working for Jabba, subdues Chewbacca on a rooftop on Nar Shadda with a shock bolt, but C-3PO shorts it out, rendering himself immobile. Chewbacca recovers and begins fighting Dengar bare-handed. Dengar uses a concussion device on Chewbacca that injures the Wookiee. Dengar is looking for Han Solo, but he is weary of continuing the fight with Chewbacca and wants to kill him. Han shows up just in time and shoots Dengar in the back. In the opening pages of Star Wars #12, Dengar recovers and threatens to use a thermal detonator when Chewbacca picks him up and tosses him off the building. Dengar falls followed by the detonator which explodes. Since this story takes place prior to The Empire Strikes Back, we know Dengar survives the encounter.
Admittedly, Dengar's appearance in the story is pretty cool and he does prove to be a worthy adversary, having taken down the mighty Chewbacca. Dengar is still my least favorite character visually of the infamous six, but he does have a certain panache and I wouldn't mind seeing him show up in future stories.
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