– Spoiler Review –
As the Spark Eternal continues to possess Chelli Aphra’s body, scheming for more power, various groups descend on it for various reasons. Just Lucky and Ariole on behalf of Ronen Tagge, to give him the Spark’s power, while Sana Starros puts together a crew of misfits and exes to save Aphra and get the Spark for Domina Tagge. What follows is Doctor Aphra #23 (Vol. 2), an absolutely delightful set of reunions and ensemble shenanigans, with tons of humor, heart, and even more familiar faces returning!
At the end of last issue, the Spark Eternal found a source of more power, the stores aboard Crimson Dawn’s flagship the Vermillion, thanks to digging around Aphra’s memories, while the rogue archaeologist seemed to hint her old pals, the delectably morbid duo of Triple-Zero and Bee Tee, contained even more arcane knowledge and sources of power. As the Spark boarded the Vermillion to pursue the stores there, Sana Starros was putting together a crew, a veritable who’s who of Chelli Aphra’s past, present, and future, including the long-awaited (for me and I’m sure many other fans) return of Magna Tolvan!
As expected, Magna dresses down the arrayed gallery of misfits, one of many hilarious moments throughout this splendid issue (I particularly liked her reaction to Aphra’s dad, Korin, and Kho Phon Farrus), but while that aspect of the ex-Imperial Inspector hasn’t changed, we do see how she squares being amongst the Rebellion now instead of the Empire. I wasn’t expecting this glimpse of depth and change, though it’s welcomed considering this is the first time we’ve picked up with and seen Magna since 2019, where she describes how she now realizes the Empire’s version of Order lacked compassion and instead was tyranny, so to remove such corrupt machinery, one has to tear it down, and she hopes the Rebellion can help build a place where everyone can thrive. One could say this is all thanks to Aphra, who showed her the hypocrisy within the Empire as she pushed her to break the rules, but it’s as much to do with Magna making peace with her new life and finding her purpose once again (free of Aphra, to boot) as it does whomever helped show her the way. Despite this… or well, maybe because of it, Magna declines to help Sana and the crew to rescue Aphra, saying she doesn’t need such a mess in her life. I was dying here laughing, my poor dogs likely wondering what was wrong with me, as there’s so much good comedic beats and timing throughout this issue and this was no exception. Magna eventually decides to help, but not after Sana basically pleads her, hinting at a potential connection between these women in the absence of Aphra that extends beyond exes, and I’m right there with Kho and their “ooohhh” reaction to the exchange between these two that changes Magna’s mind. It speaks a lot to how personal Sana takes finding and saving Aphra, regardless of Domina’s demands, and like I said, raises some interesting questions about what Sana and Magna were up to together in the time between this series and the original Aphra series. Magna vows to be done with Aphra after helping this time, but as Eustacia rightfully calls out, haven’t they all said that before, even her father? Even in this opening scene, Magna Tolvan’s return is handled exceptionally well, as writer Alyssa Wong has proven before, they have such a deft hand at handling characters with history as an approachable character for new and old readers of Aphra’s misadventures, but also finding a way to move the character forward and add new aspects to them. They’ve already made Sana’s return full of hidden depth and memorable growth, something I already will come for Magna however long she remains in the picture this time.
As I said before, I was laughing quite a lot this issue and, besides previous scripts from Alyssa, I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed this hard. I think it stems mainly from how relatable these reactions and exchanges are, as while we might be in some giant space fantasy sci-fi universe, Magna totally not wanting the hot mess that comes along with Aphra or later Lucky trying to hype up his workers despite some previous missteps both sound and feel like something I’ve heard said to me and others or said myself. Alyssa also slays it with big, ensemble casts, which this issue is full of, from the group Sana has gathered to Lucky and his crew also after Aphra and the Spark Eternal, and they manage to not only give everyone a brief chance to shine, but move the plot along and develop new and old characters alike. Case in point, the excellent remaining scenes with Sana, Magna, Detta Yao, Eustacia, Kho, and Korin, which follows the crew as they pool their knowledge of Aphra together to figure out where she/the Spark might’ve gone next. We learn a little more about Kho and their history, like how they picked their targets thanks to Sava Sun, aka the Archivist that’s aligned with Qi’ra and her Crimson Dawn, and how Sun played into any insecurities they had, partly due to Aphra and how she treated them back in the day, but now Kho is done with her and the Dawn. We also see how each person thinks of Aphra from what they contributed to the discussion that led them to Birukay, and then later see how despite her, the group meshes well together, especially once they stumble into a group of Crimson Dawn seemingly trying to protect something Aphra hid and must fight together to survive. It’s a fun scene, not just from the dialogue or how pairs like Detta and Kho help overwhelm the Dawn arrayed around them, but from Minkyu Jung’s art, Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors, and Joe Caramagna’s lettering, as it their fight through the Dawn reminded me of some 80’s action flick or the recent Suicide Squad film, a well-trained team of misfits chatting their way through death and destruction, pulling off surprising moves and convenient teamwork despite themselves. But when they get to the center of Aphra’s hiding spot, they find not everything’s as it seems, with a surprise that left me hopping around my living room, my dogs’ belief in my sanity probably shattered. But we’ll get to what they find in a moment…
Waiting in the wings to find Aphra and the Spark Eternal as well, but on behalf of Ronen Tagge and the money he provides, are Just Lucky and Ariole, with Ronen’s goons from the opening arc (that survived, at least) to help. Somehow Lucky has a tracker on the Volt Cobra, so he sends the goons after the ship, in another humor-filled conversation where he tries to keep the team’s spirits up despite what happened last time. Lucky and Ariole are heading to the Vermillion in the meantime, considering they last saw Aphra with Ascendant technology there before the groups split in a not-so-friendly manner. There’s a chance here for Lucky and Ariole to talk, first about Lucky’s management style and then why he’s not wanting to kill anyone on this mission, but while he says it’s because he has principles, I imagine it’s more to show Ariole he can change and still cares. We might not get a chance to see if Lucky’s about to turn over a new leaf however, as when the two arrive on Crimson Dawn’s flagship, they get the absolutely spooky smile of the Spark Eternal awaiting them, especially when it seems the Spark should’ve been somewhere else…
The issue actually starts with the Spark on the Vermillion, meeting Sava Sun, knowing she’ll have knowledge of where to gain power thanks to Aphra knowing who she is. Their meeting is brief but it certainly shows how unhinged the Spark is in its quest for more power and their same bizarre, spooky smile in the beginning is what greets Lucky and Ariole towards the end of the issue. During the Spark’s infiltration of Aphra’s memories, looking for sources of power, Aphra deliberately allowed it to find knowledge about Triple-Zero and Bee Tee, as I mentioned before and theorized was the case in my review of last issue. What or why was she lying about the muderbots? We find out this issue, thanks to Magna and Sana as they deal with the Crimson Dawn, slowly realizing what they stumbled upon wasn’t a hiding spot, but actually a trap…for the Spark or her enemies, as in the hut the group finds: THE MURDERBOTS (cue jumping and shouting in excitement all over again). After the first hint of their continued existence and role in Aphra’s life last isssue, we find them all repaired again, ready for murder and torture, at their leisure, of course! Even better than that, and in what somewhat felt like a nod to Star Wars Visions, Bee Tee is wearing a straw hat on one of his guns and Trip with what sort of looks like a tropical scarf (cue riotous laughter for this fitting reappearance to the murderbots)! If the first 22 issues of this series weren’t already chaos enough, between the group of new and old frenemies from Aphra’s past and now the return of the murderbots, it’s only going to get more unhinged from here and I cannot wait to see what Alyssa Wong and team has in store for us!
Honestly, the deranged look artist Minkyu Jung gives Sparkra, the twisted smile, teeth showing but almost like it doesn’t want to show them/doesn’t know how to do it normally, plus the wide eyed stare, like it hasn’t blinked since taking over Aphra’s body because it doesn’t know any better, is so unsettling and unnerving, it’s perfect; Rosenberg’s colors accentuate what Jung’s attempting, the sickly look to Aphra’s skin, more pale even despite the constant red glow from the Spark on her chest, while the mainly white eyes with the creepy red edges and pupil make it hard to miss that she’s likely not blinked in awhile. What really sells and has ignited excited ships (or fulfilling ships people have been asking/hoping for) is Jung’s faces for Magna and Sana when the latter pleads for the former to at least do it for her, as Sana is her usual dour or scruff looking until she lets down her guard and looks innocent in front of Magna, who also clearly goes from resolute and determined like she usually does, to a little bit of shock, like she can’t help but react when Sana gets pouty. After Kho’s delightfully expressive “Ohhh,” the following panel is a close-up of Sana and Magna, the latter of which has now let down her walls and looks rather lovingly at Sana as she says “…this isn’t fair.” These series of expressions from Jung, with wonderful colors by Rosenberg that help the background fade away on the focus be on them as they focus on one another while Joe Caramagna’s lettering hangs between them like silent words whispered between two people who care about one another a ton, are why I’ve loved his work so much, and these panels take me back to the near kiss between Sana and Aphra in the “War of the Bounty Hunters” arc, one of my favorite moments of last year. The full page of Sana and Crew arriving on Birukay is an abrupt and fitting scene setter, as Rosenberg’s colors immediately overwhelm the senses with the neon-like palette, causing your eyes to enjoy the odd and alien looking for the world Jung’s put on the page, but then your extended stay on the page slowly reveals the reality it isn’t as beautiful as you originally thought, the dead bodies littering the beaches a reality check. As I mentioned earlier, the battle scenes succeeds so much due to the efforts of the art team, Magna and Sana back-to-back in several panels, showing a deeper familiarity hinted at in their exchanges earlier, while the cool image of Kho sliding under an attacker they’re hoisting up for Detta to stab shows the misfit teamwork in all its glory. And yes, the final page of the returning murderbots is an unforgettable one, as the script for Trip certainly makes him sound like a pleasant butler-like droid like most protocol droids, and their beach-wear accoutrements make them seem friendly, but that’s quick undercut by the familiar big yellow eye on Bee Tee, the gun the straw hat is over, and Trip’s fingers of doom.
Here are a few other things:
- Knowing Detta’s history of backstabbing, her being the one to find the tracking beacon Lucky and Ariole had placed on Sana’s Volt Cobra, but not tell anyone about it, should result in something interesting later in this arc. I imagine it’ll involve…backstabbing! But, I’d love to be wrong.
- Despite being included in the montage last issue, Vulaada doesn’t appear in this issue, nor her qaberworm, so I’m curious if she’s been given her own mission, she actually didn’t accept the invite considering she seemed to rule the little group she was with, or something else entirely. She wasn’t shown last issue for no reason, so I’m sure we’ll see soon enough.
- Everything going on with Aphra at the moment is important enough to make the solicitations for the upcoming Revelations one-shot, a comic coming out in November which promises to hold a glimpse of the future of Star Wars comics!
- It seems like every passing day, we have even more fan-art around Aphra and the characters around her! Since the last issue, there’s been plenty of great new additions: First, Jake Bartok’s Indiana Jones-riff; this tender one from Izzy of Tolphra aka Aphra and Tolvan; Bruce’s quick sketch of Aphra and Tolvan if they were in a band; more art of Aphra and Tolvan, this time from Will; and this stunning, wonderful snapshot of Aphra by Ella!
- Alyssa Wong joined the team at Fulcrum Transmissions to talk about Girlbossing, starting on Aphra, and what it means to her. Go give it a listen!
- Curious about Domina’s orientation? Alyssa revealed the answer has been right in front of us all along (while showing a fun glimpse BTS at their scripts for the series)!
In issue #23, humor, heart, and plenty of wonderful surprises and interactions make for another stunning entry in Alyssa Wong and team’s Doctor Aphra run, proving lightning can strike far many more times than twice…with tons of side-splitting laughter to go and promises of more chaotic goodness to go with it.
+ Magna’s return doesn’t disappoint already
+ Ensemble cast moments bring lots of humor and character building…
+ …while still letting certain characters shine and push the story forward
+ THE MURDERBOTS RETURN
+ Art team captures both beauty and mayhem, adding to humor and suspense
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: #22