Canon Comic Review: Doctor Aphra #23

– Spoiler Review –

Doctor Aphra #23 continues Chelli’s latest misadventure, “The Catastrophe Con,” where the catastrophe might be her selfish tendencies and all those she’s dragged down with her, something she’s having more and more trouble escaping, much to our benefit and amusement. The best continues to shine in another fantastic issue!

Putting Aphra’s current flame and her scalding ex together seemed rife for “fireworks” as Sana put it a few issues ago, but I’m happy it’s been less about those two fighting one another and more about how they help each other see Aphra for the problematic disaster she really is…though not like either of the women are saints either. Their lack of fighting over Aphra builds on something this series has been pointing out and dealing with since issue #1, and came to a head at the end of the “Remastered” arc in issue #19: Aphra knows she’s not a good person, with her continuous self-serving actions a big part of that, and her ability to not care about who she hurts to get what she wants makes her more like the murderous protocol droid Triple-Zero than she’d like to admit, no matter how much she does regret her actions. Someone like that doesn’t inspire loyalty, as Tolvan puts it, and Sana’s still so pissed over their falling out because, as she points out, Aphra regrets being caught in moments of indifference, not that she is indifferent. So why would either woman try fighting over Chelli Aphra, a woman who hasn’t changed and always puts herself over others? This has been a refreshing, funny, and rather deep ride into the psyche of Aphra, as she really can’t keep running from her problems anymore due to all these parties with grievances merging on her location.

For Sana we’ve come a long way since she and Aphra first butted heads in the “Rebel Jail” arc, and later The Screaming Citadel, as in both, Sana basically was ready to straight up kill Aphra on sight for whatever reason they broke up (can we please get that story, soon?). By the end of TSC, Sana mellowed slightly, especially after Aphra made some surprising, selfless decisions, though was basically still ready to kill her. But in Aphra issue #23, she lays it all out, revealing she has some sympathy for Aphra, even if she believes the rogue archaeologist deserves to suffer, because Aphra didn’t ask to be born awful, essentially saying she doesn’t believe Aphra can ever change as the worst parts of her have always been there. For Tolvan, just seeing the way Aphra and Sana interact, and how Sana was yelling about Aphra in their brief battle last issue, she can immediately pick up the way Aphra hurt Sana. Chelli asks Tolvan if she’s going to ask her about Sana, but Tolvan delivers her accurate guess of the story with coldhearted precision, leaving Aphra hurt and disappointed. When Tolvan overhears Sana, who has known Aphra much longer, tell her she’s never going to be able to change, the Imperial Inspector makes a surprising, dangerous decision because she too believes what Sana is saying.

In a way, neither of them are wrong. They’ve both been burned by Aphra before, no matter how much affection they give her, like Tolvan coming out to rescue Aphra despite it putting her job on the line (even if it was after Aphra blackmailed her to make it happen), and they continue to be burned, so all the evidence points to them being burned again and again in the future. Aphra definitely has the ability to make the change, heck, even the desire to change after being rattled by Triple-Zero’s assertions, but it’s not happening in issue #23. Chelli, no matter if the jail is falling apart around them, the other inmates are after them because they think it’s her fault (it is!), or her love interests are pointing out her self-serving flaws, has been working on a plan to get her hands on the ancient Jedi lightsaber surrounded by the deadly Force-possessed hookspores at the expense of their rescue from the doomed jail. In fact, her ruse to get Tam Posla out to rescue them is actually all part of the larger plan for the hookspores to possess someone else to create her opening, as spores want a new host with a strong sense of justice and Tam fits that to a T (literally…get it?). With Sana and Tolvan there to continually point out her flaws, Tam bringing his baggage from how Aphra sent his boyfriend to his death to serve her goals, with Triple-Zero pissed as all hell (and hiding it horribly) that she encrypted his memories, Sana only here because Hera Syndulla was not pleased with the encryption or the bow on the head nonsense (another bit of meta commentary on that panel in #17), and now SOMEONE WHO THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD ON HIS WAY….Aphra can’t really avoid all of her baggage any longer, as they’re all converging on a place she cannot escape. To paraphrase a line from the solicitation for the series’ 25th issue, “All her mynocks are coming home to roost.” Also, why didn’t I think of that one before?!

Tolvan makes a direct call to Aphra’s former employer, who violently fired her some time ago: Darth Vader! Aphra’s continued survival is no longer in question for Vader, though I’m curious if we’ll learn that he did know she survived him shooting her out an air-lock, something I have always felt was 60-70% possible as he’s got some soul deep inside and potentially knew she could survive, unlike Triple-Zero, who will not give her any chance to survive their next encounter. Anyways, Tolvan reveals the conspiracy Aphra blackmailed her with to Vader (aka Vader wanting to recruit Luke), and since Aphra would be the only person still alive who could know that, beyond the murderbots, Vader will be coming to lock down this latest rumor to keep his plans secret. So literally every mynock from her past is roosting, no joke; This one is just the most serious of them all.

Si Spurrier’s writing has made the transition from Gillen seamless, offering plenty of laughs, digging deep across Aphra’s checkered past, and connecting the entire series so far for fun, funny, and exciting misadventures. The solicitations for November reveal he’ll be the primary writer for the next arc too and I couldn’t be happier. Art is from Kev Walker (pencils), Marc Deering (inks), and Java Tartaglia (colors), who continue to hit the right blend of humor, seriousness, and a mix of horror with the spooky, creepy hookspores. The humor comes from the expressive faces, like Aphra being happy with her plan to lure in Posla or hurt when Sana and Tolvan tell it to her straight, or the lack thereof expression, as Tolvan battens down her emotional hatches, getting more Imperial-esque as Sana’s words and Aphra’s actions build a divide between the two. One of my favorite panels has to be Sana yelling at Aphra after figuring out what she’s up to, with Lopset looking on like, ‘damn, this is awkward, just going to stay out of it.’ Same, Lopset, same.

Here are a few other things:

The SDCC 2018 Aphra and Murderbots Vintage Collection 3-pack figures when on sale at Hasbro’s online shop on 8/13 and I managed to snag myself one! It was delivered on the Saturday following, so of course I went and immediately had to have a photoshoot. It’s pretty damn surreal to hold a Doctor Aphra action figure while reading a new issue from her very own series, something I only hoped for after she quickly became my favorite new character back in 2015 due to her time in the Darth Vader comic (and she was many people’s favorite considering she won the poll to become an action figure!). She’s come a damn long way and she’s still got quite the future left, no matter how dire the situation looks as the events of this arc continue. Now where’s her novel, movie and/or TV show, and/or video game??!? Here’s my photoshoot!
Growing up I always looked forward to getting all the action figures, but as an adult I only get ones for characters I enjoy. #DoctorAphra‘s SDCC set was the first absolute, must-have, I’ll sell my soul set in the past 10 years or so. Thus…photoshoot!! #actionfigures #StarWars pic.twitter.com/jpmbMl4hJh
— Mynock Manor (@MynockManor) August 18, 2018
Twitter user Kenny Z, who I mentioned some time ago, has a completed BeeTee rolling around, and he shared of picture of his muderbot proudly wearing his SDCC set as a trophy hat. I’ve also since shown Aphra’s displeasure with how Tolvan and Sana treated her this issue with this photo. BUT if you want a set of your own, keep your eyes on the set’s page at HasbroToyShop, as they’ve promised more stock (which it’s currently on sale again, as of this writing at 11:45 pm CST).
Aphra says, “It belongs in an armory!” this issue, a line she’s well-known for from her debut issue, Darth Vader #3 back in 2015, and, correct me if I’m wrong, she hasn’t said it since until this issue of her own series.
There’s a panel which basically highlights each woman’s different point-of-view: as Aphra reveals the prison’s destination, a planet with a population of 2 billion, Sana laments the potential loss of rebel recruits, as the planet has a high percentage of sympathy for the Rebellion, Tolvan is worried about the percentage of law-abiding Imperial citizens, and Aphra is concerned about herself and those around her being killed.
When the hookspores read Aphra, Tolvan, and Sana, the only one who it can’t read is Lopset…is it because he’s a changeling, so he has too many “minds” to read, or is there something else going on with Lopset?
Um, did Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes just get killed off this issue by Triple-Zero?!!? Because that musical group floating through space sure looked familiar.

Doctor Aphra #23 proves beyond a doubt this is Marvel’s best, no matter how close the current Vader series gets, while setting up a convergence of epic proportions!

+ Aphra unable to escape her actions now
+ Tolvan and Sana’s real-talks with Aphra
+ Humorous and spooky art
+ Yup…even Vader is now on his way, you loyal, stupid, hurt disaster, Tolvan

Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.

Canon Comic Review: Doctor Aphra #23

+ Aphra unable to escape her actions now

+ Tolvan and Sana’s real-talks with Aphra

+ Humorous and spooky art

+ Yup…even Vader is now on his way, you loyal, stupid, hurt disaster, Tolvan

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