– Spoiler Review –
We’ve seen what Sana Starros and Kho Phon Farrus are up against in the fight against the Spark Eternal now possessing Chelli Aphra’s body, but now Doctor Aphra #22 (Vol. 2) peers inside to see what Aphra’s up against in another stellar, wild ride which continues the creative teams’ blockbuster streak so far.
After Chelli Aphra’s death at the Spark’s hands, and subsequent resurrection under possession (only Chelli!), we got a small glimpse of her still being in her body, somewhere, but the Spark drowned her out. In issue #22, we finally see how that’s working out for Aphra, who finds herself in a direct rip from the 2016 series’ opening issue (a deep cut I really loved seeing), in where she’s double-crossing someone (no surprises there) to get the loot, but she has the wherewithal to notice she’s already done this before just as the Spark makes itself known. Aphra’s quickly caught up on what’s happening to her body, as she pieces together the visage before her is the Spark possessing her, and it confesses it’s poking around in her brain. In typical Aphra fashion, her first response is to physically fight the Spark, but that works as badly as you’d expect and suddenly the two are on a journey through Aphra’s memories, as the Spark wants to know why Aphra feels familiar. I suspected it had to do with using the Thought Dowser a few issues back during her escape with Sana, Lucky, and Ariole from Crimson Dawn’s Vermillion, with writer Alyssa Wong laying the groundwork for the connection when Aphra says she can hear it in her head, trying to pry things open. Wong constantly makes close reads and remembering what’s come before a rewarding aspect of the series, as they also delve deeper into the character with wit, charm, and reckless abandon.
As you can imagine, even if you’re just starting to read about Chelli’s misadventures now or have been from the start, she has a lot of dark memories to explore and visit, and I loved the wild journey the Spark takes us and her through. After the opening memory, the Spark’s next stop is one on Accresker Jail, where a Mairan (aka Bor Gullet’s species from Rogue One) had its way with her mind as the Imperials tortured her (during the great “The Catastrophe Con”). It’s a way for the Spark to unnerve Aphra as it attempts to dig deeper and locate what connects them, but also to share its discoveries about minds and memories it’s made, hinting at its own past and feelings that might be one of Aphra’s ways out of this memory-lane-drag. The next stop? A memory we haven’t seen before, of a job with Just Lucky, set around what seems like the gap between the 2016 and 2020 series, where the two manage to share a little moment before the chaos of Aphra’s past catches up to them (when doesn’t it?!). We get to see a happier, less testy time between Aphra and Lucky, as their appreciation of a beautiful view (and a hilarious joke by Lucky about how many partners Aphra might have to bring to see it) leads him to tell her about patching up things with people if given the chance because life’s too short to be sad and lonely, echoing her time with Sana in this series so far, while hinting at the direction things could go with the return of Magna Tolvan, and of course Lucky’s own efforts with Ariole. It’s a great new wrinkle to what has seemed like a rocky past between these two, planting the seeds for maybe more patching to be done in Aphra’s future even with him…if she can get out of the Spark’s grasps.
The Spark isn’t here for the mushy memories though, instead it picked this one because it contains an overwhelming and almost indistinguishable feeling that permeates much of Aphra’s past: the rush she gets when placing her hands on a new artifact, shown in a mesmerizing way by the art team of Natacha Bustos and Rachelle Rosenberg, with a bunch of different Aphra’s reaching out to the artifact behind the memory-visiting Aphra, showing off outfits from across her past in previous series. The Spark is trying to sort through these strong memories to find the connection, to find why Aphra might seem familiar, and the Spark manages to locate it: when Aphra used the Thought Dowser, as I mentioned before. Alongside the Dowser are tons of other powerful artifacts Qi’ra and Crimsom Dawn has located over the years, so the Spark sees them all as its next feast for power, using the hacked codes aboard the Ark Angel V to get her way aboard the Vermillion.
Before it gets there, Aphra begins prodding back, realizing if the Spark’s in her, she’s able to access its memories too considering it’s still just a piece of tech. What follows is an absolutely mesmerizing sequence, as we see the final memory the Spark had prior to Kho, the Sava, Aphra, and Sana awaken it. The Sith are at the Ascendant’s Sanctum, here to snuff out the heretical cult, but we learn some surprising things about them history has gotten wrong. The Ascendant didn’t worship the Sith, they actually were trying to fight them, building tech that mimicked the Force to help fight them. Why remains a mystery and I’m hooked about learning more…did they think the Jedi weren’t doing enough? Were there not enough Jedi to fight them back at that time? Did they just want to take matters into their own hands? Regardless, the Ascendant fell by the hands of the Sith, as we see unfold quickly here, not before Miril and the Spark, in a more symbiotic relationship than the one Aphra and the Spark have at the moment, decimate a bunch of Sith with their own blades, followed by Miril sacrificing herself to save the Spark. It of course used the centuries since to become self aware, which has led us to where we are now, a Spark that isn’t as friendly or as connected the person wielding it like it used to be. As I mentioned earlier, when the Spark talks about how interesting memories were, it sounds more like a Spark that used to be friends with someone, who had someone to talk with, confirmed here by Miril wearing it, so we’re seeing there are layers to the Spark that was hard to imagine only a few issues ago.
The cache of artifacts onboard the Vermillion is just a taste of relics Aphra’s located and knows about, so the Spark thanks her for all the power it’s about to accrue, but it thinks she’s still holding something back. Aphra tries to fight the interrogation, but the Spark is powerful, leering at the suggestion it’d worry itself with the likes of Sana, Korin, or Magna, but it uncovers something that left me speechless, shouting, and worried as all hell: the murderbots! That’s right, fresh off the return of Magna Tolvan last issue, we have our first direct reference to Triple-Zero and BeeTee-One, the murderbots who caused even more chaos and murder than Aphra was capable of throughout the 2015 Darth Vader series and 2016 Aphra series. Last we saw them, BT-1 had no chassis or body, only just a chip of him left, while Trip still had his head at least, jetting off to parts unknown of the universe alongside Chelli. But there’s more here than meets the eye with their potential return, as I can’t tell what part Aphra’s lying about misdirecting the Spark about when purposefully thinking of them, as she has a wicked look on her face when the Spark leaves, saying she’ll see it soon. Supposedly, she promised them she wouldn’t tell anyone where they are and that she hid secrets inside them even they don’t know about it, but that final look from Aphra tell us she’s planning something by mentioning them, whether they have been rebuilt or not is even up for debate, but we just don’t know quite yet what her plan will be; The Force knows I’m damn eager to see what she has up her electro-tattoo sleeves!
While Minkyu Jung continues on as artist for part of the issue, alongside Rachelle Rosenberg on colors and Joe Caramagna for lettering, Natacha Bustos swings into action for the majority of it. I really loved her taking over the Bounty Hunters series for an entire issue and her style fits well here and feels appropriate she’s drawing the memory sequences since it helps separate it from reality Jung’s been presenting; I hope she’ll stay on to work on these mind parts in the series going forward when/if issues start switching more often between inside Aphra’s head and the real world. Much like earlier in the series with Marika Cresta’s work taking full advantage of the unique quirks of the comics medium, the team likewise uses the medium in fun and different ways. For starters, one of the smaller things that really stood out to me was Caramagna’s thought bubbles and lettering providing some really neat effects, like how the Spark’s red-colored bubble/dialogue melded with the bubbles of others during the memories, creating the visual of how it’s walking through Aphra’s thoughts on the effect alone. Then there’s other moments, like the one I mentioned earlier, with all the various past Aphra’s reaching out to an artifact which an arresting visual thanks to all the memorable outfits or the way the Spark is leaning outside the panels at one point, against the page’s edge, panel breaking placement to remind us we’re in memories that can shift and change and that the Spark has a bunch of control and power within if it’s able to be outside the confines of the action. It’s pretty incredible how similar to Kev Walker’s art Minkyu Jung managed to get with the opening few panels, down to even the little lines on character’s faces, but it’s just different enough it brings about the concept of how our memories are imperfect, they do change and shift over time, so of course it wouldn’t completely be the same. Rosenberg’s colors throughout tell their own story, from the growing red surrounding and taking over the opening memory, dark shadows closing in as the Spark closes in on Aphra, the bright colors of the lighthouse Lucky and her are pilfering grow darker as Aphra’s past catches up to them until the glowing red of the orb she’s speaking overtakes the palate again, to the glow of the Spark on Sparkra’s chest in the real world casting a creepy shadow in the final panel of the issue.
Here are a few other things:
- How about this incredible piece of Aphra art by Heather Antos, the editor of Star Wars comics for Marvel back when the character was first introduced? I was honored enough to win a chance to commission a piece from her and this was the stunning thing she produced! Now I got to go about getting it on my walls!
- Speaking of art, here’s more fan art, both by The Leviathan on Twitter: revealing all the space tax fraud she’s committed, by The Leviathan; how about these two cute little takes on Lucky and Ariole?!
- Don’t forget, this issue has Aphra’s Pride Month variant cover!
Doctor Aphra #22 (Vol. 2) is another spectacular issue by a creative team swinging for the fences and pulling it off every time, taking advantage of the medium to not only tell a wild, fun ride for Chelli Aphra and frenemies, but to explore its lead character and those around her in greater, compelling depth.
+ Trip down memory lane
+ Glimpse of the Spark’s own past
+ The Murderbots?!?! Don’t torture me with a good time!
+ Bustos, Jung, Rosenberg, and Caramagna push the medium in this exploration of Aphra’s mind
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DOCTOR APHRA (Vol. 2) REVIEWS:
Fortune and Fate: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 / Arc Review — The Engine Job: #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 — Crimson Reign: #16 | #17 | #18 | #19 | #20 | #21 — The Spark Eternal