– Spoiler Review –
Doctor Aphra #34 not only finds Chelli Lona Aphra back where she started this arc, but she’a sounding a little too much like her mother and…is that crazy, scary Wookiee who I think it is? “Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon” continues to be unspeakably good.
Not on top of Aphra’s list of things to do? Be caught up in a damn fool’s idealistic crusade, so Aphra peaces out from the Rebellion and heads back to where she spent a considerable amount of time sequestered away from her father under the watchful eye of her mother: Arbiflux. Her “ward” Vulaada isn’t the happiest with the decision, as Aphra’s ignoring her mom’s pearls of wisdom right now, especially the whole “evil’s just a measure of how much you take away other people’s choices,” but their new home isn’t so safe when General Cracken (the damn fool) warns them mercenaries are on their way. One of bounty hunters the Imperials hired to track her down turns out to be Black Krrsantan, a less than friendly Wookiee we haven’t seen since Doctor Aphra #13, who knows she could have more credits for him alive than dead, so he helps them and the giant quaberworm escape…right back to the Rebellion for protection. She agrees to help them make the Farkiller weapon she stole at the beginning of the arc into a mini-Death Star assassination superweapon (the idealistic crusade), or so she says, right up until she isn’t and tries to steal it. Good thing for the Rebellion, they have someone who knows her intimately well, bad thing for Aphra, it’s Tolvan, and the ex-Inspector stops her in the midst of her well executed plan…which is rather normal for Aphra. Unless she was predicting Tolvan might get involved, but we’ll have to wait until next issue to find out!
For months now I’ve been promoting a theory that the Imperial PR Minister Voor is Aphra’s mom, Lona, and while this issue didn’t outright confirm it, I’d say it left us the biggest hints I might not be crazy after all. I know what you’re thinking though: this issue showed us Lona Aphra dead, Head Butler Ryan! For all appearances’ sake, I’d say you’d be correct, but let’s contemplate the playing dead trope and why Lona might employ such a tactic (and it’s not just to continue confirming my theory…maybe): With the raiders’ strike, Lona has realized her attempt at protecting Chelli, more so to protect herself if Chelli ever got hurt than Chelli’s actual protection, has failed, which is why she calls in the Imperial cavalry…it’s also why she plays dead, as she knows she’s not good enough to protect her daughter anymore, giving Chelli a reason to leave. Plus, why does Lona have direct contact to the Imperials, let alone an Imperial cavalry? We know Voor isn’t just a head of the PR department, she reports directly to Emperor Palpatine himself, which sounds like someone who would have an Imperial cavalry on call. The other hints within the issue include: Aphra believing Lona was trying to control everything to keep her safe, and as we’ve seen with Voor, she’s pretty obsessed with keeping populations safe by controlling every facet of their lives (see: Milvayne), like she did with a young Chelli; though the airstrike she calls down on Milvayne is a big mark against my idea. And then there’s Voor’s plans for Aphra, still nebulous, though she sets up a fake job to get her to come to her, so why all the interest in Aphra if Voor is simply a head of Imperial PR? Sounds like a very Lona move, trying to take away Chelli’s choices without asking again, posting images of Aphra everywhere, hoping her daughter chooses to reach out to her for help. Yes, I’ll admit everything is confirmation bias of my theory at this point, but letting us meet Lona and the growing mystery around Voor sure feels like it’s building to something and hopefully we’ll know one way or another soon enough!
As I pointed out above, Chelli is likely right about how Lona feared how much she loved her daughter, to the point most of their time together, and the pearls of wisdom, were more about protecting herself from heartache than protecting Chelli herself. Chelli might’ve done her damnedest to not be like her mother, but how she’s acted to Tolvan, by taking away her choices without asking in an effort to protect herself more so than protecting Tolvan from Vader’s wrath, or to Vulaada, by offering the ward her own personal pearls of wisdom, she’s certainly turned out more like her mother than she’d probably like to admit. We already saw her make a potentially big sacrifice, leading me to believe Aphra will finally make a change for the better this year, and her attempt at taking the Farkiller weapon to the Imperials to be branded a hero, taking the heat off her and her companions, as well as stopping Cracken from going and doing something incredibly stupid, is a minor step in the right direction, as her plan isn’t about saving only her skin for once.
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about Krrsantan’s return when the solicits first teased it, but I found myself glad to see his furry, scarred face. With the murderbots gone, it seems like the proper time to reintroduce the character, as he’s another frenemy from her past with antagonistic intentions for sticking around with her and he can have a chance to shine a bit more than in previous arcs where he played second fiddle to Triple-Zero’s shenanigans. Having him back to collect on Aphra’s considerable debts makes sense, but I wonder if we’ll find out how his time literally whipping his former masters into cage fighters, like he was, turned out. Also, the more Tolvan the better all the time, so of course it would be her who knows Aphra is playing the Rebellion when she returns for help. It’ll be interesting to see if Aphra saw this coming or how Tolvan will handle the situation.
Again we have a mixture of artists with Wilton Santos, Cris Bolson, and Andrea Broccardo, two inkers in Marc Deering and Walden Wong, with Chris O’Halloran and Stéphane Paitreau on colors. Minus the final panel, where Tolvan looks decidedly…un-Tolvan-like, I really enjoy the art overall, both flashbacks and present. In the flashbacks, I liked the opening page and all the variety of things Lona and Aphra are up to as Chelli details all the ways her mom was being overprotective, while the panel of Aphra/Vulaada’s return to Arbiflux (with the city in the background), Aphra’s nonchalant usage of her joystick to turn the Ark Angel on their pursuers, the shot of Krrsantan floating in space with Aphra seen through a window, and the view of Indigo Squadron were all excellent panels.
Here are a few other things:
- I moved at the beginning of the month and got some neat bookshelves to fill up, so I shared a photo on Twitter of how Doctor Aphra and the Murderbots got top shelf!
- This won’t be the last we’ll see of Aphra this month: she’s in the 4th issue of Galaxy’s Edge! Last month’s Galaxy’s Edge #3 teased her involvement in the series. Make sure to check out #4 when it hits your local comic shop’s shelves July 31, as it even has an Aphra variant cover!
- Elsa Charretier, prolific in IDW’s Star Wars Adventures comics as both a writer and artist, took to Twitter earlier in July to tease her drawing Aphra, which might mean she’ll be coming to IDW’s comics soon! If true, while Charretier previously drew Aphra for Women of the Galaxy and Amy Ratcliffe got to write about the character there, if Charretier is writing Aphra’s IDW appearance(s), she’d be the first woman to write the character, which is a long time coming. I imagine we’ll learn a little more on July 19 at SDCC’s Lucasfilm Publishing Panel!
Doctor Aphra #34 is another fun issue with lots of depth, which is what makes the series Marvel’s best time and time again.
+ Aphra’s looking a little Lona-like
+ Black Krrsantan’s return!
+ Aphra’s plan at the end…and how it gets interrupted, per usual
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 | #33 | Annual: #1 | #2
CURRENT SERIES COMIC REVIEWS:
TIE Fighter (miniseries)
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Age of Republic (miniseries) | Age of Rebellion (miniseries) | Age of Resistance (miniseries)
Star Wars
Kieron Gillen Retrospective (#38-67) | Greg Pak – Rebels and Rogues (#68-73)