– Spoiler Review –
Three years since Doctor Aphra tricked Darth Vader and found a way to live on into her own comic series, the first volume of said series comes to a close today in Doctor Aphra #40, stuck in a situation similar to how this all started, except now she has more than herself to look out for. Had there not been a relaunch coming, or even the epilogue in Empire Ascendant, this would’ve been a fitting finale for the character and also would’ve left me begging for more.
Throughout the first 40 issues, there have been plenty of opportunities and attempts for Doctor Chelli Aphra to change from her most dastardly of ways and start caring about more than herself. And while her holo-message to those she loves, where she waxes poetically about how she’s comes to terms with herself and how she is, seems to say she hasn’t changed, her very own actions have spoken a bit louder than her excellently written speech by Simon Spurrier. At the end of last issue, I felt like Aphra had put into motion her most selfless plan, as she hung in an escape pod and remotely rescued her father and ward, Vulaada. Issue #40 reveals it truly is her most selfless plan, as it leads to Tolvan, Korin, and Vulaada all coming together under the safety of the Rebellion, as she buys them time to set up Hoth from an Imperial invasion. How she goes about buying them time, directly confronting Darth Vader, is one of the most fitting, funny, and harrowing plans she’s ever conceived, and I love how calm and collected she is during her confrontation with Vader, as she’s truly in her element, motivated by the most important aspect to any heroic endeavor, as so eloquently put by Rose Tico in The Last Jedi: love.
Out of her love for those three people in her life, she’s put herself in the dangerous situation this time around, instead of shielding herself from the danger with the lives of others in the way. Having dealt with Vader for a while now, and seeing how the Temple on the asteroid seemed to do a momentary number on him, Aphra decides to lead them on a wild goose chase to a cold planet named Tython, home to the Je’daii and its first order as seen in Legends, though that history is only hinted at here but its connection to ancient Force users remains…and therefore there’s a similar temple to the one in the asteroid. Aphra lures Vader into its central chamber, a Force confessional (a fascinating concept), and the weight of all the users who have used it dampens his connection to the Force enough where Triple-Zero and BeeTee, recruited to her side last issue with the promise to set them free again, do solid damage to Vader before being destroyed by him. In his weakened state, Aphra’s able to connect to his suits’ controls, using his machine parts against him, making a hilarious call to the Empire to delete probe droid data and thus give the Rebellion extra time to set up Hoth. Despite Vader’s situation, and the possibilities before her, Aphra doesn’t kill him, which is a fascinating decision despite it being obvious she wouldn’t, as her reasons are rather interesting: for starters, she’s still a fan of his, despite all he’s done to her and his constant desire to have her killed nowadays, while she can understand how he’s hiding all his pain (hence why she knew the confessional would overwhelm him) and it being released can be so much worse. But the truly fascinating part is her admitting to Vader he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him.
There are a lot of choice phrases and observations Aphra makes about herself and the galaxy at large over the course of the issue, like how the true measure of a life is whether you can live with yourself or not (words she says as Vader’s own attempts at not living with himself weaken him where she can use him), but saying Vader is the best thing that ever happened to her is the juiciest, most interesting to me. Would she even be where she is right now without Vader pulling her into his life? The answer is probably no, she’d not be anywhere close to where she is now, and probably had a higher chance of being dead without Vader in her life, surprisingly enough. By bumping into him and getting caught up with his schemes, and breaking out to make some of her own before being put back in his orbit and the Rebellion’s, she met the potential love her life, reconnected with father, avenged her mother’s death, and even began taking care of a ward, and now she stands over the damaged body of Vader, making her own choices and taking responsibility for the situation, a far better person than she was before all of this. We’ve seen the change slowly happen over these 40 issues, been rooting for it through the ups and downs, but to finally have her realize it in the end…that’s something wonderful I can’t really describe.
Triple-Zero, and his counterpart BeeTee-One, have been excellent foils, enemies, and always come packed with tons of dark humor, so when Vader sliced them up with a lightsaber or pulled them apart with the Force, I was both a little shocked and a little delighted. The Doctor Aphra series hasn’t faltered after their departure, and while it was a short one, I enjoyed it and was kind of hoping they’d not come back for a while, so to see them sliced and diced meant it would be more permanent, which is why I was a little shocked. But then the final page reveals Aphra managed to salvage them, to a point, with Trip only having half a face (but his full brain), while BeeTee’s processing core is uploaded in her escape. Part of me was a little disappointed, but the majority of me is excited to see how they’ll come into play for the series relaunch (and Empire Ascendant one-shot next week)!
Caspar Wijngaard (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer) continued their excellent, brilliant work in the final issue, going big with Vader slicing through Triple-Zero, BeeTee’s destruction, and even the battle the two have with Vader before he takes them apart, but also capturing plenty of excellent little moments, like the opening panel that captures the typical Aphra looking-solemnly-down-and-ready-to-give-a-speech pose so well it took me back to the Darth Vader series days. Loughridge’s colors are so deep and specific, I’m going to miss how he handles panel to panel, scene to scene, and really sets the mood. And Simon Spurrier, who made the transition from Gillen to him seamless, might’ve ended up the better custodian of the series, especially thanks to making this short 4 issue arc something to behold.
Here are a few other things:
- According to writer Simon Spurrier, the Aphra epilogue in Empire Ascendant is only 10 pages, and you can catch a glimpse of the first 4 in the official site’s preview! Just scroll past the equally compelling The Rise of Kylo Ren preview to find it!
- With the holidays and The Rise of Skywalker coming up, it might be a little bit before I get the arc review up for “A Rogue’s End,” but both it and the overall Volume 1 series review should be out no later than the end of January!
- Considering Vader will be on a more personal journey and focused on the Rebellion during the events of the Aphra series relaunch, I’m looking forward to the next Volume of Aphra having less Vader and have the series stretch its wings a bit.
- Speaking of the next Volume of Aphra, the new creative team, Alyssa Wong and Marika Cresta, had a small little Q&A with assistant editor Tom Groneman at the end of the issue. So excited for them to take over in April!
Doctor Aphra #40 brings “A Rogue’s End,” and the first volume of the series, to an end I wouldn’t have minded had it not been announced to come back!
+ Aphra finds the change we’ve all seen
+ Motivated by love
+ Aphra having the upper hand on Vader
+ Art team takes series out on a high note
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 | #39
Annual: #1 | #2 | #3
CURRENT SERIES COMIC REVIEWS:
Star Wars
Rebels and Rogues (#68-75)
Jedi: Fallen Order – Dark Temple (miniseries)
Return to Vader’s Castle (miniseries)