– Spoiler Review –
Doctor Aphra #20 starts another era of the series, not only with a new arc, “The Catastrophe Con,” but Aphra creator and writer Kieron Gillen exiting from writing duties, leaving the keys in the very capable hands of Simon “Si” Spurrier.
Si Spurrier joined Gillen in co-writing the previous, and very wonderfully insane, but fun arc, “Remastered,” and since there seemed to be no discernible change with someone else holding the wheel, I was never worried about Spurrier taking over full-time. And in Doctor Aphra #20, while the plot and its story potential certainly scream Gillen influences (he did help plan out this arc, just not write it), the humor from Spurrier, at least this issue, seems to focus more on Aphra’s slyness, wit, and her reactions to situations, and less on the crazy and bizarre stuff that can happen around her. This recalls some the earlier issues of the series, when her shenanigans hadn’t quite taken her into the more bizarre corners of the galaxy, but either setting has proven to be fun place to explore my favorite character and I imagine this arc overall will strike a better balance between the two.
It’s only been a week since issue #19, where Aphra’s current flame Inspector Tolvan captured her and sent her off to Accresker prison, because love is really complicated, and we find Aphra in the midst of a interrogation by her jailers, trying to understand some rather shifty antics regarding her recent mission. See, Accresker isn’t your normal prison, as the inmates are given the task of cleaning up Rebellion starships in the aftermath of an Imperial fleet engagement, then return home to their massive, mashed-up pile of junked ships being towed by an Imperial crusier through the galaxy. To keep them in line, they have explosives implanted in them, and if they get too far from or don’t listen to their hubdroid, they go boom, so involvement in the raiding missions is rather mandatory. It’s bizarre, terrible, and an absolutely genius idea by the Imperials who, as we learned about from Jyn Erso’s time on Wobani and the labor they put the prisoners up to there, have no qualms with giving their prisoners some way to help the Imperial war machine. As for what the Imperials are concerned about regarding Aphra’s mission, they don’t quite buy her hilarious and patriotic story of how her original hubdroid perished, as did all her fellow inmates slaved to it, besides one, and conveniently one of the new hubdroids happened to be there to prevent them from exploding. This new hubdroid was Dek-Nil, Aphra’s insane but awesome improbability droid, implanted by Tolvan, since Aphra’s arrest was to get her safely away from the murderbots Triple-Zero and Bee Tee and then Dek-Nil would help her escape. But like all good plans Aphra starts, it shits the bed in the strangest, most interesting, and hilarious of ways and now escape seemingly won’t be so easy anymore. Yes folks, this is looking to be another fantastic arc for Aphra.
Aphra, in her own words is, “…no angel, but I’m not a bad person,” and she ended “Remastered” forced to face that fact after Triple-Zero’s attempts to make her realize she wasn’t any different than him. So confident in her plan, and so ready to push away those uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, she seems to be enjoying her stint in prison, but then the truly unexpected occurs: her plans are ruined by an unknown Force Ghost out for justice, who manages to turn Dek-Nil against her. In any other series, with any other character, heck, even Luke Skywalker, this might have sounded too insane to be true, but with Aphra, it’s par for the crazy course. Is the Force Ghost/spirit out to make Aphra pay for her various sins throughout the years, looking for justice for some sins visited on itself while it was alive, or some combination of the two? I don’t know, but I’m excited and intrigued as all hell to see where this thread goes. Also something interesting we might get into this arc, is what purpose, beyond a fashion decision, do Aphra’s electro-tattoos seem to have? This was teased in the big interview over at the official Star Wars blog with Gillen and Spurrier, and this issue has Dek-Nil, under the influence of an Imperial restraining bolt, blurting out Aphra’s resistance to the torture probe droid might be linked to them…and promptly suggests they cut off her arms to be sure; I really missed Dek-Nil and glad it’s still alive, as there were several hilarious moments with it and its improbability. Another intriguing thread to delve into, and while I don’t ever want everything explained, giving her tattoos a purpose besides a really cool, distinctive feature of her character would be more than enough.
The recent solicitations (July and August) haven’t seemed to hint about the muderbots coming after Aphra after she encrypted Triple-Zero’s precious memories, but Doctor Aphra #20 provided their pitch-perfect response to her actions, as well as set up for them to make a vengeful appearance. In a nice bit of dissolving from one scene to another, we are brought to the ruins of the muderbots’ crime empire, where Triple-Zero is chanting Aphra’s name, his flamethrower attachment burning righteous fury with piping flames, but he’s quick to tell a concerned Bee Tee he isn’t mad at all, but rather will be calm and measured in his retribution. Fat chance of that, and damn I can’t wait to see the fury the murderbots bring down against Aphra when they finally catch up with her, even if it scares the hell out of me with concern for Aphra’s well-being. Maybe if this Force Ghost messed with Dek-Nil, it could help mess with the murderbots if Aphra learns the lesson it will try to teach her? Can’t wait to find out!
With Aphra’s plan in shambles, her new “friend,” an Abednedo whom Aphra let tag along for her original escape plan but can never remember his name, finds a transmitter so she can work up a Plan B for them. I actually expected Aphra to try to contact Tolvan, but that would probably blow her cover, so I was left surprised and delighted she called Sana Starros instead. Sana and Aphra left things, like usual, at a very bad place back during the events of The Screaming Citadel, even if Aphra made some concessions and proved she can care, as Sana believes them meeting was where everything went wrong in the first place. Will Aphra be able to convince Sana to help her? I don’t expect it’ll be easy, and even if she does, it’s going to get very complicated, very quick, as there’s no doubt Tolvan and Aphra will meet (something the solicitations have been teasing for this arc). A confrontation between Sana and Tolvan, both with strong, stubborn points-of-view, and complicated relationships with Aphra, might end up be the biggest clash in the comics to date. It’s great to have Sana back in the comics, as she’s been MIA from the Star Wars series since Jason Aaron left back in October 2017, though she got two appearances in this same week with her role in Star Wars Annual #4 and this issue, while she had a big breakout moment as a co-lead in the latest novel, Last Shot! As great as those other appearances were, I’m betting the best will be here in the pages of Doctor Aphra.
New arc, new art team…well, actually, an old, familiar, and welcomed back art team! Kev Walker, who was the artist for the first two arcs and I really came to love his work, is back, and he’s joined again by Marc Deering on inks, with Java Tartaglia joining for the first time on the series with colors, though he helped out Walker and Deering with the recent DJ one-shot. I did enjoy Emilio Laiso’s work on the previous arc, but there’s something about the added definition Walker brings, as well as a more comedic style that fits the tone of Aphra that I really missed, while I will admit I do wish we still had the brighter look from Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors, but the darker colors here work well with the gritty, seedy nature of the prison. Joe Caramagna is back as the always trusty letterer, with Tom Groneman as Assistant Editor, Heather Antos upgrading to Editor, even after she left Star Wars comics in March, with Jordan D. White and Mark Paniccia as Star Wars Group Editors.
Here are a few other things:
- I really like that the original hubdroid’s body is basically a wider version of K-2SO’s upper torso, almost like the Imperials patched it together from a destroyed unit, really adding to the meshed together feel of the prison and fitting in the worn, used universe that is Star Wars.
- In the Annual issue and most of the Star Wars series, Sana’s been stuck in one outfit, so I was very pleased to see her in something new, but familiar.
Doctor Aphra #20 is a smooth transition in creative teams and a great beginning to a new arc, “The Catastrophe Con.”
+ Aphra’s plan failing in such a wonderfully weird way
+ Looming threat of Triple-Zero’s revenge
+ Sana incoming!
– Darker colors take a little getting used to
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
Doctor Aphra
Aphra (#1-6) | And the Enormous Profit (#9-13) | Remastered (#14-19) / Arc Review | The Catastrophe Con: #21 | #22 | #23 | #24 | Annual: #1 | #2
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