– Spoiler Review –
Doctor Aphra #32 begins a really fantastic jumping on point for those of you who haven’t enjoyed the blundering disaster that is Aphra, as the “Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon” arc both is easy on newcomers and a true damn delight for long-time fans, with an ending that had me about falling out of my chair in sheer delight.
Fresh off her stint as the Martyr of Milvayne, finally freeing herself of the murderbots Triple-Zero and BeeTee, monster hunters Winloss and Nokk, Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba, and Tam Posla infested with a Force-infused fungus (don’t ask), Aphra is back to her usual shenanigans hunting down artifacts and weapons for a fistful of credits. But it isn’t quite her usual self, as the events of “Worst Among Equals” have brought some change to the usually selfish survivor, as now she’s looking after a ward Vulaada, a scav-scum of Milvayne she saved at the risk of her own life for once, though she’s having a bit of a time with it. This change was never going to be easy for Chelli Lona Aphra, I mean she’s taking Vulaada on her latest deadly escapade, which starts off as a much closer homage to the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark than even Aphra’s premiere in Darth Vader #3, and she puts Vulaada in even more harm’s way to get an item they weren’t sent into the death trap for and when they already had an exit…so like I said, it’s not easy for Aphra yet. Vulaada is parts younger version of Aphra, orphaned and had to fight for survival on her own, though she’s had a qaberworm pal, and parts of what Aphra is trying to be, as Vulaada already knows a thing or two about caring for someone else thanks to Gurtyl. Their back and forth isn’t as philosophizing as her time with the verbose Triple-Zero, but it’s just as entertaining and hilarious, as she calls out Aphra on all her bad choices, forcing Aphra to come up with more excuses, or a lack thereof, for these dangerous situations she drags Vulaada on. If you live your life always looking out for yourself, adjusting to looking out for others, especially at the risk of your own life, won’t come quickly, but it’s pretty amazing to even see Aphra trying to be responsible in this regard and I’ll be curious how she manages it as the arc goes on.
For now, Aphra blames it on lingering maternal problems, which leads to the second most exciting part of the issue: flashbacks where we finally (well, maybe not finally…) meet Chelli’s mom, Lona Aphra, in the flesh!! Getting to see Lona has been a hope of mine for a while, especially after the tease with Aphra’s memories of her being remixed by the Bor in “The Catastrophe Con,” so finally getting to see the moment Lona takes Aphra away from her dad due to his over-obsession with the Ordu Aspectu, and how their life on the range comes to an unfortunate end, is a true bucket list for this Aphra fan! Chelli is very close to her mother in most regards, from how she views the world and those in it, but Aphra’s devotion and belief in the artifacts she procures comes from her father, Korin Aphra; Yes, Papa Aphra finally has a first name too!! I hope we get more time with these flashbacks, which are both cute, due to seeing little Chelli, and hilarious, due to little Chelli and how her mom is trying to raise her. The flashbacks in this issue are most of the story Aphra revealed in Darth Vader #10, though we don’t get to see her come back from a cave with a cannon and save her mom, their family getting back together, and her mom’s death on a forest world afterwords, but I believe those parts of the story are false, as this issue lines up with the 18 years ago flashback in issue #2, where Aphra is dropped off at home after her mother’s “death.” I put death in quotation marks and hinted earlier we might’ve seen Lona before, as I’ve had a theory since issue #29 that Minister Voor, a PR head for the Empire, could actually be Lona! Voor makes contact with Aphra for the first time this issue, as she’s the one who asks for Aphra to grab the artifact she and Vulaada are after in the opening, though she’s hooded and it’s via hologram like we first met her. But at the end of the last arc, we saw her without the hood, and she had a very curious interest in Aphra’s fate, going so far as to hide her intentions from her boss, Emperor Palpatine himself! Comparing the flashback Lona with Voor from the end of last arc, their faces are rather similar despite it being two different artists, and they both have striking white hair, while the hooded look for Lona was introduced via the Force-infused hookspores in “The Catastrophe Con” and Voor’s introduction was a similar look, so what I was beginning to think was a far-out there theory might be more likely than I ever dreamed! Having her mom still around could help Aphra deal with any lingering maternal issues, as she’s made a type of peace with her dad back in the first arc of the series, and even if Voor isn’t Lona, it’ll be interested to see what Voor’s ultimate goal is here, but I’m growing more and more certain of my theory with every passing issue.
While I originally thought getting to meet Lona would be the greatest thing about the issue, the ending managed to beat it, basically knocking me out of my seat like I said in the opening: the reappearance of Magna Tolvan! Ever since this arc was first teased in the solicitations, I’d been hoping it included Aphra looking for Tolvan, as the last arc showed her finding out Tolvan was alive and well with the Rebels, having survived a meeting with Darth Vader by answering his questions about killing Aphra truthfully, thanks to Aphra Bor-wiping her mind and giving her new memories of their time together. And now here she is, in all her splendor and glory, Captain of Extraction Team Misericorde*of the Rebel Alliance Intelligence Service!! Instead of Aphra looking for her, Tolvan found Aphra, which will come as quite the shock considering her memories of killing her. Consider this the most awkward reunion with an ex in the history of ever…something only Aphra could pull off. As excited as I am for the Voor plotline, and finding out if she’s Lona or not, this is far more intriguing to me and I can’t wait to see how Aphra approaches the situation and how Tolvan responds.
On art, we have two teams, one dealing with the current set storyline, the other with the flashbacks. For the present, there’s Wilton Santos on art, Marc Deering for inks, and Chris O’Halloran on colors; while the flashbacks have Caspar Wijngaard for art, Don Ho on inks, and Stephanie Paitreau. I might be wrong on who inks and colors with whom, but for sure it’s Santos in the present and Wijngaard in the past. I enjoy Santos and team’s work, from the bright and vibrant traps of the temple Aphra and Vulaada raid, there’s electric flying eels so what’s not to love, but I wasn’t a big fan of Santos facial work for Aphra, as she didn’t quite have her Asian-inspired look and the expressions weren’t as expressive as we’re used to for her series, but there was more to like than dislike. After Caspar’s work in Doctor Aphra Annual #2 and Age of Republic – Special #1, I already knew I’d enjoy his work here and he did not disappoint in the slightest, from the great facial work to the more prominent lines and backgrounds. Despite my misgivings with Santos, I felt the same way about Emilio Laiso when he first took over the series from Kev Walker and he’s since morphed into my favorite artist on the series besides Caspar, so maybe I just need a little time to get used to it. Either way, I loved how the two teams overlapped a bit in the end, with the flashback of the raiders coming for Chelli and Lona being mirrored by the Rebels coming for Chelli and Vulaada. More of that, if the flashbacks continue!
Here are a few other things:
- *Who better to reveal what Tolvan’s team name of Misericode stands for than Tolvan herself, over on Twitter! The Tolvan fan account on Twitter thought like I did, that it had more to do with misery/sadness, but it turns out she discovered it’s a blade that’s used to deliver a deathblow, an act of mercy…which is fitting for the hardcore mentality Tolvan has regarding her purpose to bring wrongdoers to justice, combined with softer heart beneath.
- We’ve learned what the unique electro-tattoos Aphra can do, from disrupting signals to allowing another electro-tattoo wearer to speak to Aphra via vibrations, but why did Aphra get the tattoo…and get it only on one arm? In regards to the first part, it’s revealed Lona has them on both arms, though they are a blue variant, so Chelli was likely following in her mother’s footsteps, but for the second half, well, I have a theory: in the flashback of the raiders attacking, Lona loses an arm in their initial attack, and the exact same arm Lona lost is the one Aphra got tatted! Could be coincidence, but seems like a good reason to get a tattoo, honoring a parent who has passed. And on the subject of mommy issues, Lona has grey/white hair and so too does Tolvan, something I just put together!
- Sister Six was a bizarre but great new character and I’m glad to see her with the Rebellion still, where we left her at the end of “Remastered” arc.
- Aphra will be in another series this year, the Galaxy’s Edge miniseries building up the story around the park! The July solicits revealed she’ll be in the series’ 4th issue.
- As far as fun, spoiler-free reviews go, packed with some connections even I miss, go no further than Marie’s website, The Star Wars Review! Check out her Doctor Aphra #32 review here.
Doctor Aphra #32 is a truly excellent beginning to a brand-new arc, “Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon,” as it not only is a great place to finally join this amazing series, long-time fans will have plenty to enjoy.
+ Lona Aphra in the flesh…and my growing suspicions about Voor
+ TOLVAN IS BACK AND OH BOY THERE WILL BE QUESTIONS
+ Aphra trying to make this selflessness gig work
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 (#26-31) / Arc Review | Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon | Annual: #1 | #2
CURRENT SERIES COMIC REVIEWS:
TIE Fighter (miniseries)
Age of Republic (miniseries)
Age of Rebellion (miniseries)
Star Wars
Ashes of Jedha (#38-43) | Mutiny at Mon Cala (#44-49) | Hope Dies (#50-55) | The Escape (#56-61) | The Scourging of Shu-Torun (#62-67) | Annual: #4
Vader – Dark Visions (miniseries)