– Spoiler Review –
From a reunion between exes a long time coming (wonderfully planned for Pride Month!) to an insane plan to assassinate the Emperor, Doctor Aphra #33 might be full of set up but it’s still one of the best series around for its snappy, funny, and downright enjoyable presentation and infectious characters.
Ever since issue #32, I’ve managed to get back into my seat and have been sitting on the edge, wondering how Tolvan and Aphra’s reunion would finally play out. Issue #33 wastes no time in covering the moment, with Tolvan understanding her memories were a lie Aphra made the Bor tell her, not having time for Aphra’s mumbling explanations, taking a moment to admit she missed Aphra, and promptly shooting Aphra in the face; their reunion after everything didn’t disappoint and honestly, could’ve gone much worse, as Tolvan only shoots Aphra on stun. We get a bit of info on Tolvan since joining the Rebellion, like how she buried herself in work, immediately putting together her team to avoid thinking about what the Bor made her think she did. The Rebellion is testing her, first in sending her after Aphra without telling her who the target is and later in testing an artifact Aphra procured against Imperials, and is now using her anger and newfound lack of compassion to craft her into a weapon for their purposes; poor Tolvan, I hope Aphra can help her here somehow! Beyond the stun bolt to the face, Tolvan and Aphra don’t speak, with both of them unable to find the words, their feelings for one another still strong despite everything but the past an obstacle nearly impossible to scale; but once again, I have hope they’ll work this out somehow! The issue ends with Aphra leaving the Rebellion’s temporary HQ when offered a job on a morally dubious weapons project, leaving her and Tolvan right where the stun bolt left things. I don’t think this will be the last we’ll see of Tolvan this arc, as while the solicitations haven’t given much away, I have a theory and it involves said weapons project…more on that in a bit.
When Aphra is stunned, we get more flashbacks to her youth after her mother Lona takes her away from her father, Korin. Last issue we saw the tragic end of their time together on the quiet little planet, but here we go back to the beginning of their adventure together. Lona imparts her neutral, pragmatic worldview on little Aphra, teaching her some life lessons that will shape Chelli Aphra into the woman we know today, from how the winner gets to rewrite history until its rewritten again, to the piece of advice she revealed to Lopset/Evazan in “The Catastrophe Con,” on how evil is just a measure of how much your choices take away other people’s (which little Chelli counters regarding Lona’s ‘kidnapping’ of her). The through line to the Aphra we know today is unmistakable, allowing us to finally see how her current philosophy took hold in her mind. As Aphra learns about General Cracken of Rebel Intelligence’s plans regarding the weapons project, she flashes to her mother’s words, coming true before our very eyes about idealists not realizing how much they change as the ends start justifying the means.
Cracken, tired of having to constantly protect Mon Mothma from the tireless Empire, wants to take off the head of the snake sending people after her: Emperor Sheev Palpatine himself. To do so, he confiscates the weapon Aphra procured in the previous issue, easily picking her up because both the Rebellion and Empire are able to track her movements since she became public enemy #1 to the Empire due to her Martyr of Milvayne status from the last arc. The Empire wants the weapon probably for the same reasons Cracken does: use it to assassinate the head honchos of the Rebellion. The Farkiller uses a kyber crystal per shot, but the long distance weapon is highly precise and highly deadly, and Cracken plans to reverse engineer the weapon and combine it with the plans for the Death Star, creating a smaller, long distance version of the superweapon, depicted here in issue as a mini Death Star with a long barrel sticking out of it, held between two B-wings; it’s ugly as hell but Aphra is enamored. Cracken is doing this on his own, without Mothma’s knowledge, hence the arc’s title, “Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon,” and his attempted recruitment of Aphra is due to what he knows of the rogue archaeologist, though she changed a little more than he or she realize.
Aphra says no to bringing the weapon to fruition, leaving Tolvan to be used by the Rebellion, while Lona’s advice about, “…doing right by the people they love,” flashes through her mind, which she seems to think taking Vulaada away is following said advice instead of staying behind and helping out Tolvan. The move mirrors her mother’s when she took Chelli away from their father instead of staying and trying to help him out, and this parallel will gain even more traction next issue as the July solicit revealed she returns to planet Lorna chose for them. As for how Tolvan could become involved again, and even star in the next arc, in the recently released Alphabet Squadron, Cracken is now the head of Intelligence for the New Republic, so whatever happens with the weapon, I imagine he blames it on Tolvan, whom Aphra finally comes to save, and the two are forced on the run together whether they’ve made nice or not yet.
Despite a dialogue/set up heavy issue, Simon Spurrier’s snappy writing keeps it enjoyable and funny to read, knocking out a problem most other series can’t quite escape. As for the art, we have 3 artists this issue and two pairs of inkers/colorists: Art) Andrea Broccardo, Caspar Wijngaard, and Wilton Santos; Inks) Marc Deering and Walden Wong; Colors) Chris O’Halloran and Stéphane Paitreau. Having been enjoying a lot of their art recently across series, and with Santos and Wijngaard having double-teamed the previous issue, it was easy to tell the breaks in artists, though Caspar handling the flashbacks with Santos and Broccardo dealing with the present makes the most sense, as those two have similar styles that can meld together well while Caspar’s is distinct so him handling a different era helps differentiate it. Highlights in art for me were: little Chelli being made at those birds; the screens of footage from the previous arc on Cracken’s screens were literally taken from panels; Aphra in the recovery wing looking like a punk-rocker; the silly image of the rebel superweapon; Tolvan’s face as she points her gun at Aphra.
Here are a few other things:
- It was pretty awesome the reunion between Aphra and her most recent girlfriend took place during Pride Month!
- I really loved Aphra’s line hoping the historian who had information on the Farkiller’s maker wasn’t her dad, only for it to be Korin and she swears appropriately.
- Yes, I’m still holding out for my theory on Voor/Lona, especially since it feels like these flashbacks are building to something other than just giving us an important glimpse into Chelli’s past.
- It seems the Black Series figures of Aphra, Triple-Zero, and Beetee One are in the wild!
Doctor Aphra #33 might be all set up, but damn if it isn’t full of all the goodies that makes the series Marvel’s absolute best.
+ Aphra and Tolvan reuniting
+ Lona’s advice shaping Chelli
+ Making set up issue fun
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: #32 | Annual: #1 | #2
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