– Spoiler Review –
In Doctor Aphra #38, Chelli Aphra has a reunion with her father in the most awkward of places: an Imperial torture room! From a bounty of familiar faces returning, Vader pitting the Aphra’s against one another, Vader messing with powers he doesn’t care to understand, and plenty of laughs, marching towards the end of this series has never been more enjoyable!
Korin Aphra hasn’t really been in the picture since the series’ opening arc, “Aphra,” back in 2016, as Chelli and Korin seemed to bury some of their baggage with one another and parted ways. I forgot how much I enjoyed the two together though, as honesty comes often and sometimes brutal between them, resulting in rather refreshing and funny conversations. At the outset, there’s Chelli trying to get her dad to grasp the severity of the situation he’s in and his admittance he didn’t really change since they last saw one another, then later they have a humorous and touching heart to heart as they debate who Beetee-One (yup, the murderbots are back!) should allow to live. I particularly enjoyed this final interaction because Aphra reminiscences on her past adventures, taking readers on a trip back to previous arcs. I also really love how Korin calls out Aphra’s slightly callous, but totally understandable (and funny) joke regarding Professor Ud’s death from last issue. Needless to say, these two are disasters in their own rights and together they provide lots of entertainment and opportunities for deeper, more revealing dives into Aphra. With Beetee pointing his guns at them, as per Vader’s orders after he believes their lead on the rebels was worthless, Korin not only finally tells his daughter he’s proud, he decides to take the sacrifice so she may live. At first, I was a little surprised by Korin’s decision, as he normally is trying to save Chelli via resurrecting some ancient power to overcome the evil in the galaxy instead of directly being involved with her life, but by trying to save her directly for once he hasn’t changed his goals, he’s just narrowed the scope for once. It was a big moment between the two, as it looked like Aphra’s usual self-preservation kicked in a bit and she’s already hoping for such an outcome during the scene, but she’s visibly shocked and frightened for her dad’s life when he actually commits. Neither Aphra dies though, not yet at least, as the Imperial shuttle they are on is attacked, but more on that in a moment.
Earlier in the torture chamber, the murderbots Triple-Zero and BT-1 make their glorious return to the series, though according to General Veers, the Empire wiped their memories so they have no recollection of all the destruction they wrought, which Trip would be devastated to learn. There’s a lot of good humor from Trip’s torture droid routine, especially when he shocks Aphra before she learns about their wiped memories. Part of me doesn’t believe they actually had their minds wiped, as Trip seemed far too smart to let that happen, so if they aren’t, I wonder if they are actually here to help Aphra escape the Empire…or to get back into the torture business, but we’ll have to wait and see in the next few issues if they truly are or not! Before Triple-Zero can dig into Korin, Chelli appeals to her dad’s archaeologist side, getting him to inform on the rebels because he can’t stand how they mistreat ancient sites, especially an old Force Cult one not too far away. Darth Vader decides to take the Aphras with him, to see who is more useful, while he goes and investigates a lingering Force presence. Deep in the asteroid, which Korin reveals is an ancient school of a Jedi sect, ghosts of Vader’s past confront him in a swirling mist, like Obi-Wan, Yoda, and even Ahsoka to name a few, seen in a spooky, excellent panel by artist Caspar Wijngaard and colorist Lee Loughridge. How does Vader react? Did you guess striking out with rage, thinking he’s above whatever ancient power lies within? Then, dear reader, you’d be correct! Sorry, you don’t get anything though. When Vader lashes out, the mist clears and reveals he’s sliced through an old totem with his lightsaber, which he storms away from and begins Korin and Chelli’s punishment for their failure to find the rebels/bringing him to a place that brought back the memories he’s repressed for so long. While Vader orders the asteroid bombed so he doesn’t have to experience the memories again, as he leaves the totem, it begins repairing itself, making one wonder just what Vader has unleashed/pissed off.
Moments before Bee Tee can kill Korin, someone attacks their shuttle, knocking out not only the murderbot, but Korin and the stormtroopers aboard…though Aphra seems to be missing. The attackers turn out to be the Rebel Alliance’s Team Misericorde, led by one Magna Tolvan, and they’re here to kill Aphra! Last arc, Tolvan and Aphra seemed to exchange some kind words despite the reality of Aphra’s deception, but even Chelli admitted Tolvan let her go far too easily due to what she had done to her. And now she wants to go as far as kill Aphra?!? Is it because she knows the threat Aphra poses as an archaeological asset in the Empire’s search for the Rebellion, especially since Aphra ascertains the rebels might be heading someplace cold from leftover debris on the asteroid? Or is it simply because Aphra has basically joined the Empire, regardless of her job with them/reasons?
In my review for last issue, I took Aphra forgetting Vulaada on the Ash Moon as a return of her selfish, self-preserving nature. I should’ve known better though, as Aphra truly has begun trying to look after others, as we see Vulaada listening to a message from Aphra telling Vu she left her to protect her…just as a scary, loud beastly screech breaks the silence of the planet; safe is a relative term when it comes to Star Wars. It was Tolvan, well not really Tolvan, but Magna Tolvan on Twitter who suggested Aphra didn’t forget Vulaada by accident, but actually on purpose as a way to protect her ward. When she sent me that tweet, right away I realized it sounded like a better takeaway from last issue than what I had suggested and she was thankfully right! Make sure you go and give her a follow; she’s rather excellent at her Tolvan-isms!
Simon Spurrier is really digging into the depths of the Aphra series this arc, connecting and recalling events and characters from all across its 38 issues so far, and I can’t wait to see how it all fits together once issue #40 drops next month (with #39 later this month). I’m also really impressed with how well Spurrier has captured Korin, as we saw some glimpses in the previous arc, but with the character front and center here, it feels exactly how it did back when Kieron Gillen was writing the series. The art, by Wijngaard and Loughridge, is rather short of stellar, from the aforementioned ghost-filled page, the emotional range conveyed for Aphra as she relives her adventures and missteps, the red hue to Vader’s eyes, and so much more. From the writing to the art, at least the first series of Aphra comics is going out on a really high note.
Here are a few other things:
- While we had the return of major recurring characters like Tolvan and the murderbots this issue, just last week we saw the return of some of the side characters, like Winloss and Nokk, and in an extremely excellent Doctor Aphra Annual #3!
- For quite some time, I was a little worried about the announcement of the Doctor Aphra series’ end, but once the publishing panel at NYCC last month promised more of her, I rested easier. And then the invigorating news came in: Aphra will return April 2020, relaunching with an all-female creative team!
Doctor Aphra #38 packs a lot in an excellently paced, drawn, and written issue.
+ Aphra and Korin together again
+ Vader messing with powers he doesn’t care to understand
+ Returning characters/reminiscence
+ Art team continues to knock it out of the solar system
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 (#32-36) / Arc Review | A Rogue’s End: #37
Annual: #1 | #2 | #3
CURRENT SERIES COMIC REVIEWS:
Star Wars
Rebels and Rogues (#68-75)
Allegiance (miniseries)
Jedi: Fallen Order – Dark Temple (miniseries)
Return to Vader’s Castle (miniseries)