– Spoiler Review –
Doctor Aphra #29 makes for another funny, important issue in the “Worst Among Equals” arc as the most dastardly arm of the Empire, the PR Department, tunes into Dr. Evazan’s show of Aphra and Triple-Zero on the run!
After last issue’s reveal that Doctor Chelli Aphra is loyal to Triple-Zero, i.e. at least why she’s not shut him down yet, due to being the one who brought him to life, she doubles down on it this issue in her continued efforts to show him people, and even he, a maniacal murderbot, can change. With his legs in disrepair, and Aphra being winded quickly having to lug him around as they continue to flee Milvayne lawmen and monster hunters, she has to make a case for why he should allow her to fix his legs, as doing so requires her to shut him down/mess with his matrix. She makes a surprisingly poignant point about the Milvayne society, as their willingness to narc on one another to be compliant to the Empire means it’s a world full of treachery, so having some faith/trust in each other might be best way to make it out of their situation. Despite his sarcasm about her speech, he lets her operate on him, much to the viewing audiences’ delight, and he ends up saving her from certain death only moments later, though writing up his actions as self-serving, nothing to do with any loyalty to her. While all arc I’m sure Aphra’s intentions to see if he she can help change him has their merits, this issue revealed, to me at least, another motivation behind her attempts: she’s looking for a good reason not to finally shut him down once and for all because, deep down, she wants to. Imagine this arc ending with her shutting him down, hiding his matrix back in the very cell she stole him from; it’d be a fitting way to move this series into a wholly fresh, new era, as it would make a giant, full-circle moment with Aphra’s very first introduction in Darth Vader #3 back in 2015. This arc already feels like a great jumping on point as it washes away fully explaining some of the crazier things, like a reanimated, Force-imbued hookspore-full Tam Posla, but it also feels like it’s heading towards leaving a lot of these lingering threads in the past, with the recent May solicitations backing up my theory a tad. I feel like if anyone should be the one to end Triple-Zero’s time in the galaxy (for now), it should be Aphra, whom birthed him, as only she’ll care about his actions, good and bad, as he’s laid to rest. I really enjoy Triple-Zero, so I’d be sad to see his murderous intentions and sarcasm leave us, but it feels inevitable at some point he’ll leave the series and this seems headed towards such a conclusion.
A new arm of the Empire was introduced this issue, the PR-minded Coalition for Progress, and damn is their introduction very funny and fitting, especially for this arc, but it’s also an intriguing glimpse at other ways the Empire keeps planets in-line. How the Coalition works is, in exchange for allowing the planet to police itself, the planet allows the PR department to monitor it from afar to see if there’s any rise in dissidence/disloyalty to the Empire. It’s a great way for the Empire to avoid lengthy or costly wars, or potential destruction of resources, and still gain control of systems throughout the galaxy, as even the unnamed, cloaked head of the department* says their success with the program at Milvayne has caused other planets to capitulate. The Death Star, had it not been destroyed, would’ve likely made the PR department one of the most expansive sections of the Empire, as it would be watching over every planet as they fell in line out of fear over the ultimate weapon. Besides their intriguing part of the Imperial system, their introduction was full of humor, from how they have insurrection markers to their leaders patient “Hms.” Better yet was towards the end, when the boss decides it’s time to forgo their agreement with Milvayne because the two ruffians, aka Aphra and Triple-Zero, have inspired too much rowdiness, and then sends down a rail gun strike, murdering many innocents to get at the two reprobates.
The strike catches Aphra and Triple-Zero at a bad time, locked up in a trap jail concocted by the intrepid monster hunters Winloss and Nokk. While the last issue ended with the two outlaws under the guns of the reanimated Tam Posla and Milvayne police, they manage to get out of that situation not by pointing out he’s a reanimated corpse, as Triple-Zero mentions there are only two systems against undead fungal lawmen, but by telling the cops Tam became the most despicable thing to a lawman: a vigilante! As Triple-Zero mushes his fleshy steed onward to the aforementioned repair of his legs, the monster hunters are in hot pursuit. Taking advantage of Trip’s soft-spot for his droid companion BeeTee, they use his deactivated shell to lure Trip, and therefore Aphra, into their smart little trap as the two are hopping across the Milvayne sky traffic. The strike from the PR department destroys one of the engines of the ship Winloss and Nokk use, so the monster hunters flee while Aphra and Trip plummet to their deaths in a poetic final panel. As their certain death rushes up to meet them, Aphra asks if people can change, and despite how the two have been loyal to one another throughout this ordeal, he tells Aphra no, she’s a disaster, and she pulls everyone down with her, with that last line accompanying said final panel of them being pulled down to their deaths. I think they’ll come to realize, once this arc closes in April, that Trip is wrong and people can change, but they kind of need to get out of their current situation for us to even worry about the eventual results of Dr. Evazan’s experiment with these two. As for how they get out of their death descent? My guesses include: the monster hunters come back with a bigger ship, the viewers of Milvayne who have been enjoying the broadcast come to their rescue in some Truman Show-like moment, reanimated Tam uses the Force to bring the ship in so the hookspores can get their justice, or Vulaada, who had betrayed Aphra last issue, makes the save of the day (my favorite theory). We’ll just have to wait and see until March!
Once again, the move to Simon Spurrier as the writer for the series was a smart, perfect choice, as he’s kept the characterizations alive but also dug deep into the core of every single one of them…also, he introduced us to Winloss and Nokk, who they are incredibly fun, so he’s been doing something right. As for art, Emilio Laiso (art) and Rachelle Rosenberg (colors) continue to be my favorite of the Aphra series teams, but it seems next arc will introduce us to whole different team, so enjoy their work here will we have it! I adored their work with the audience tuning in, the funny looking PR ship, the chaos of Aphra and Trip’s escape across traffic/the giant rail gun attack tossing the world into even more chaos, and simply some of the panel layouts.
Here are a few other things:
- *I threw this out on Twitter, and I know it doesn’t have much chance of being true considering the person in question is supposedly dead, but the way the Force-imbued hookspores manifested as Aphra’s mom in “Remastered” looks A LOT like the unnamed, cloaked head of the PR department. Same artist, Laiso, so I imagine it might be some overlap due to their style, but would be quite the surprise if true!
- First Doctor Aphra got a standalone Vintage Collection figure and a special 3-pack with her and the murderbots, Triple-Zero and BT-1, but all three characters have been scheduled to get their individual The Black Series figures out later in 2019. At the recent New York Toy Fair, their Black Series figurines were revealed in their full glory, so check out these pics! So cool Aphra’s little cap can be taken off!
- The solicitation’s for May’s comics came out last week and Aphra‘s next arc has been revealed, and while it doesn’t reveal she’s still searching for Tolvan as I’ve been hoping, the solicits could be withholding such information. Also, a new artist joins the series, Wilton Santos, who has been helping out on select Age of Republic issues. When will we get a female artist, if ever, for Aphra?
- “…sweating like a Hutt at a buffet,” might be the funniest line of the issue, at least as a simple, straightforward joke. My favorite parts were the audience’s reactions to their plight. Also, kudos to having one of the couples watching being two women; nice to have some casual LGBTQ+ representation.
- A little surprised we didn’t get any appearances from Evazan this issue, but the PR department did say the only way to track down their signal would be to get Triple-Zero’s eye.
Doctor Aphra #29 reveals that PR in the Empire definitely isn’t a joke.
+ Aphra’s potential real reasons for helping Triple-Zero
+ Triple-Zero coming around
+ Nice little trap, Winloss and Nokk
+ Don’t mess with Imperial PR!
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 (#20-25) / Arc Review | Worst Among Equals: #26 | #27 | #28 | Annual: #1 | #2
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