– Spoiler Review –
Doctor Aphra #39 marches us ever closer to “A Rogue’s End,” as the penultimate issue of the entire series sees Aphra on the run from something far deadlier than Darth Vader…her ex, Magna Tolvan!
Last issue we caught up with and resolved some hanging baggage with Chelli Aphra’s father, Korin, and now in the penultimate issue of the series’ first volume, it’s time to deal with the far bigger and more complicated part of Aphra’s past: her ex, Magna Tolvan. Whereas Vader ordered BeeTee to shoot to maim Chelli or Korin, Tolvan is shouting shoot to kill regarding Chelli once she makes her getaway from the captured Imperial shuttle, if that tells you anything regarding how jaded Tolvan feels about their complicated history. Last arc, Aphra figured out the Rebellion’s scheme to use her to kill Palpatine due to Tolvan letting her go too easily, even though she told Chelli she loved her still, and once the two get in close quarters here, Tolvan has a hard time following her own orders. They air some of their recent grievances with one another as they fight their way through the bowels of the Rebellion’s ship, but things take an unexpected and delightful turn thanks to their connection through their electro-tattoos. Back in “The Catastrophe Con,” which is where Aphra really used Tolvan by messing with her memories to save them both from Vader, Tolvan revealed she had gotten the same tattoos as Aphra since they can communicate through them and no one else can hear them! It was a neat reveal on how the tattoos weren’t just for looks and in Doctor Aphra #39, Tolvan and Aphra use them again: Tolvan manages to track her down via a feeling the tattoos create and Aphra uses it to glean some of Tolvan’s thoughts. They’ve never had such an intimate connection before, basically inside one another’s heads, and while Aphra goes prodding for the Rebellion’s base, which Tolvan thinks is because Aphra wants to sell them out to the Empire, Aphra asks Tolvan to read her thoughts as well. Tolvan doesn’t verbalize what she hears, but after a brief hesitation, we get the general gist: the two women, despite all that’s come between them and that they are standing in a trash compactor, embrace in a passionate kiss, brought to life in one of artist’s Caspar Wijngaard’s most stunning panels to date; it made me gasp in appreciation and delight, bringing me back to their big first kiss in issue #16. Their moment of passion is quick and fleeting, with Aphra taking off with the name “Hoth” as Tolvan sleeps, and the two are at odds once again. Tolvan doesn’t have the same ferocity in her chase by the issue’s end, and while the two made an important step in their relationship, the wounds haven’t fully healed or forgiven.
While Tolvan might still think Aphra will sell them out to the Empire, as she’s seemingly left her father behind in the ship’s brig as she makes her escape, Aphra has changed and her actions by issue’s end support and show how far she’s come. For starters, there’s an Aphra on the shuttle, but it’s Korin, not Chelli, as she had BeeTee throw him in the shuttle, while she and the droid hopped into one of the escape pods and launched them all. Tolvan and her crew bought the act and ignored the escape pod “distraction,” from which Chelli remote pilots the shuttle to pick up Vulaada! It’s one of Aphra’s least selfish plans in recent history, and while Korin and Vulaada are in a little bit of danger with the giant creature on the planet Aphra left her on and that the Rebellion has trackers on the ship, it does guarantee them more safety than she currently has. In fact, Aphra ends the issue basically sending Vader both a hint on the Rebellion’s base and the biggest middle finger she could manage (or at least that’s how I took it). As we know from The Empire Strikes Back, Vader doesn’t know where the rebels are at the beginning, but Aphra might be to blame for him searching cold planets, as she has Triple-Zero, via BeeTee’s link to his companion, tell Vader to “Dress warm.” While this is definitely a big hint, in a galaxy’s worth of planets, it doesn’t quite narrow it down, so in a way, assuming she doesn’t go back to Vader, this also felt like a bit of a middle finger to him, only providing a hint and wiling out from under his control once again…or maybe that’s how he’ll take it.
A deep, harsh, and stark red outlines Vader’s appearance in the final panel and one has to wonder if that was to provide a taste at his anger about Aphra’s hint or if something has happened to him after he smashed that artifact in the old Temple they scoured last issue…
Much like Phil Noto on the mainline series’ final arc for its first volume, Caspar Wijngaard, with colors by Lee Loughridge, has been a real treat these past few issues. I particularly like their work on how each location in a series of scenes happens to have specific colors, grounding you in a certain location even at a casual glance. The real highlight is all the emotionally charged battle and reunion between Tolvan and Aphra, as while Simon Spurrier’s excellent writing more than carries the scene, it was the art for their big kiss that literally took my breath away. The slight damage Vader does to Triple-Zero’s face, and the final glowing red scene of Vader, with Triple-Zero floating, were also memorable, great panels.
Here are a few other things:
- The finale to the first volume of Doctor Aphra, issue #40, is out December 11! Aphra’s story gets an epilogue in Empire Ascendant, out the week after, Dec. 18. And then we have to suffer a bit of break until Aphra relaunches with a second volume in April 2020!
- There was an excellent piece of fan-art called “We are the Spark” which highlighted a ton of female characters from across the Saga and Aphra, with Tolvan, were included! Over at 365 Women of Star Wars, Amy interviewed the artist regarding their work, and there are close-ups of each section of the piece so you can see a hi-def look at Aphra and Tolvan, in front of an LGBTQ+ rendition of the starbird symbol!
Doctor Aphra #39 reunites former lovers for some excellent character moments as the series gets ready to finish it’s first volume.
+ The Aphra and Tolvan reunion doesn’t disappoint
+ Aphra’s selflessness
+ Art taking my breath away
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 | #38
Annual: #1 | #2 | #3
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Rebels and Rogues (#68-75)
Jedi: Fallen Order – Dark Temple (miniseries)
Return to Vader’s Castle (miniseries)