– Spoiler Review –
Doctor Aphra #1 (Vol. 2) has finally arrived, bringing Aphra and her misdeeds into the post-The Empire Strikes Back world, with an all-female creative team and all-new team, while still retaining the lightning in the can which makes her such a special and memorable character.
Doctor Aphra #1 (Vol. 2) makes for an excellent jumping on point, as it does a lot of heavy lifting for setting up plot, new and old characters, while touching on events from the previous volume. Alyssa Wong’s script pops along despite the weight of exposition, as the characters offer laughs and intrigue throughout, with personalities and motives that should provide plenty of drama and fun ahead. The new treasure to hunt, the Rings of Vaale, and its history are quickly entrenched and the plot moves fast towards Aphra assembling a crew to go after it. The introduction of the primary antagonist, beyond Aphra’s own tenancies to self-implode from time to time, offers a unique challenge that changes the formula up from Vader or the murderbots Triple-Zero and BT-1 and is something I’m really looking forward to exploring. As much as things have changed, the Aphra series feels the same, but improved and I’m hoping this quality and the smart additions/changes can keep up throughout the second volume’s run.
The new crew and characters have plenty of potential and are all ones I’m excited to see more of, even the antagonist, while hints at their history with Aphra makes for tantalizing fodder for expanded stories: For starters, Just Lucky’s past with Aphra, like an adventure on Dathomir, sound like a blast to see, and while we don’t get to know much about Lucky, his quips could rival Aphra’s; Next there’s Detta Yao, a young grad student from the Shadow University where Aphra went to school, whose ‘doctorate thesis’ has her believing the Rings of Vaale are real. She reaches out to Aphra for help, since the University won’t because they believe it to be tall tales, and kicks off the whole journey. Yao exudes a more mindless personality, but her hidden blade when attacked towards the end of the issue reveals she has more layers than expected and I’m interested to see more; Doctor Eustacia Okka, who has previously looked into the Rings herself, of course isn’t too happy to see Aphra when they show up to ask her for help. Aphra’s list of jaded female acquaintances grows again, because of course they would, though it’s unclear what transpired between the two. Okka has a droid companion TA-418, the same droid as Cal Kestis’ in Jedi: Fallen Order (which wasn’t on the original solicitation cover but has been updated onto the current cover); Black Krrsantan carries over from the previous series, a Wookiee bounty hunter that hangs out with Aphra for the money and adventure, and I’m glad to see him back; And then there’s Ronen Tagge, scion of the Tagge family, who seems like the anti-archaeologist, as he enjoys priceless, one-of-a-kind stuff most when he’s the last to touch it, meaning he destroys them immediately afterwards aka a historian’s worst nightmare! Aphra might want to put weapons in an armory or get lots of money from them, but at least she respects them enough to keep them intact. His ability to throw a small fleet around the galaxy to pursue the Rings and Aphra’s team makes him formidable, while I’m curious how or why Aphra never dealt with him in the first place…unless he knows she helped Vader, which led to Cassio’s death. All in all, a really great and uniquely arrayed list of characters I’m eager to meet and explore in the coming series!
Aphra’s having a tough time finding jobs, especially since Vader still wants her dead but isn’t actively pursuing her anymore, so the thought of finding the Rings of Vaale, as crazy and potentially unreal it might seem, is right up her alley. She plays like she’s never heard of them, but with Aphra nothing’s ever that simple, so I’ll be curious to see how much she might already know on her own. Of more interest is Aphra’s little references to Magna Tolvan, her ex, Vulaada, her ward, and her father, all whom she risked her life for to divert the Empire’s search for the Rebel base on Hoth, as she still wishes she had been able to do more. I’m sure we might see them later on in this volume, which I’m anxious for, but I’m excited for this “Fortune and Fate” arc to focus on all the new characters and settings instead for the time being.
As for the new art team, Marika Cresta offers her art skills with Rachelle Rosenberg for colors and I’m already over-the-moon by the look and style! Cresta draws Aphra more like a POC than some of the previous artists, naturally bringing out a more Asian-leaning look, and that alone is a highlight. The little facial ticks of characters, from Aphra’s snicker, Okka’s distrust, or Yao’s feigned school girl act, bring out more personality for all of the characters and making me even more intrigued about them. The action scenes are easy to follow and I loved the already fun image of giant statues playing fetch as a distraction for Aphra and the crew to get away from Tagge’s men. Rosenberg’s colors offer a brighter palette, even more so than when she was part of the first volume a few times, and she seems to bring out the best of Cresta’s character work. I’m looking forward to see how they tackle the Rings of Vaale and their curses! Joe Caramagna provides lettering, with some fun effects for when Tagge destroys the artifacts.
Here are a few other things:
- Aphra raiding Hoth is two for two with her raiding Rebellion bases after abandoned; the first volume had her visiting Yavin IV, which is how she met Magna Tolvan!
- Domina Tagge, Ronen’s aunt, was a big part of Marvel’s Original Run of Star Wars comics, so between Cassio’s survival in the first Vader series in 2015, Ronen here, and now Domina mentioned, the family is coming back together again!
- The Ark Angle III might be the least well-made of her ships, but I’m sure she’ll get a chance to upgrade to a IV soon enough!
- Doctor Aphra #1 (Vol. 2) is both one month late and one month early: originally scheduled for April 1, the COVID-19 pandemic brought comic shipping to a halt, and only recently did we learn the issue would be rescheduled for May 27…only for them to announce it would be out digitally on May the 4th as a Star Wars Day present! Marvel’s updated release schedule goes up to late June and only includes 2 other Star Wars issues before they ramp up back to “normal” in July, so I imagine the second issue of the Aphra relaunch might not be out until at least July. In the meantime, please make sure to pick it up from you local comic shop the issue hits physical shelves May 27, as they’ll definitely need your patronage!
- But before the next issue, make sure to look out for the upcoming Doctor Aphra: An Audiobook Original! Adapting and expanding on Aphra’s introduction in Darth Vader (Vol. 1) 2015, the audiobook will feature a full cast and expanded content from original story, like the inclusion of Sana Starros. It’s written by Sarah Kuhn and will be out July 21!
Doctor Aphra #1 (Vol. 2) is off to an excellent start, keeping much of what makes the character and her series an absolute blast intact, while offering plenty of new and intriguing ideas to make it fresh, new, and potentially even better than before!
+ New crew, who dis’?
+ Alyssa Wong captures series/character’s spirit and offers even more
+ Art from Marika Cresta and Rachelle Rosenberg shines
+ Lots of history between characters, potential of new artifact
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DOCTOR APHRA (Vol. 1) REVIEWS:
Full Volume 1 Review
Aphra (#1-6) | And the Enormous Profit (#9-13) | The Screaming Citadel crossover (#7, 8) | Remastered (#14-19) / Arc Review | The Catastrophe Con (#20-25) / Arc Review | Worst Among Equals (#26-31) / Arc Review | Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon (#32-36) / Arc Review | A Rogue’s End (#37-40) / Arc Review
Annual: #1 | #2 | #3