– Spoiler Review –
Aphra’s sharing custody of her body on a trip down memory lane and Sana Starros’ crew is finding out the mess they’ll have to go through to still help her, but are both too late for the Spark Eternal’s ultimate plans? Find out in our review of Doctor Aphra #29 (Vol. 2)!
Last issue ended with the reveal a very Spark possessed Aphra, despite Chelli just winning joint custody of her body, meeting with Qi’ra aboard what looked to be the Amaxine Station, a central location to some early events in The High Republic initiative and even The Rise of Kylo Ren. So it was a little surprising this issue starts with Aphra and the Spark investigating an ancient Ascendant site on Pyrr IX instead, leaving me wondering if the meeting with Qi’ra already happened before Aphra had a chance to have custody of her body again or it had yet to happen, though the final page cleared everything up in a satisfying yet troubling way. Our glimpses of the past careen between flashbacks and the Spark’s own memory overlaying the present, though I absolutely love how the latter is handled and what the former provides for context regarding the truth of what we’re seeing. The flashbacks we’ve been seeing throughout the series of Miril’s journey, the leader of the Ascendant and creator of the Spark, to complete the Sith-hunting AI have been largely playing out in timeline order it seems like, especially after the events we see happen here. Miril wants to ensure the Spark is alive just like the Force is, or at least as alive as it can be, believing it hasn’t quite found its own will considering how unreliable syncing with it is for her so far. Exhausting all her ideas, Miril decides to visit Ilith, Miril’s former right-hand man who splintered off and started his own sect of the Ascendant, though where Miril is largely teaching her Spark to be ‘good,’ to be the group’s shield against the Sith, Ilith believes it needs to hate to become what the Ascendant want it to be, funneling such feelings into his own Spark. The Sith Darkseekers put both of the Sparks to the test, arriving shortly after Miril does, and it quickly seems clear Ilith has the right idea, as he’s able to wipe the Darkseekers out…besides one, which kills him. He pleads for her to destroy his spark, least they use it against her and wipe them all out for good, so she obliges him. So why would the Spark want to return to the site of a destroyed sister Spark? What benefits could a destroyed version offer in their upcoming Sith hunting, which it promised to pull Aphra along for in issue #27? Turns out…everything.
Before we get into what that means, I have to express my nearly uncontrollable enjoyment on how the joint custody aspect was played up both in Alyssa Wong’s writing and the art, as well as how the overlayed memories functioned as well. Aphra put herself on the line to gain access to her body again, having had a virus injected into her body which would take out the Spark…and Aphra with it, but for her she’d rather be dead than be captive in her own body any longer. The resulting sharing is hilariously reminiscent of Sméagol/Gollum from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, especially with Natacha Bustos’ art, Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors, and Joe Caramagna’s letters, as one panel will have Aphra on the left side with the black word bubbles while the Spark panel has her on the right side, this time with the red lettering and red glow we’ve come to associate with the Spark in her eyes. Whereas most times we see this type of cinematic shorthand for multiple personalities, both sides seem to accept it/don’t notice it, but Aphra’s annoyed by it, as if she’s witnessing the panel switching herself, semi-breaking the fourth wall without actually doing so. As annoyed as they both of are of one another, at least there’s one thing they can agree on: Triple-Zero needs to shut up about splitting them physically in half to deal with the issue, which the art team conveys wonderfully with the split color word bubble and Rosenberg giving one eye the red glow. They’ve had their arguments and fights internally before, and those have been enjoyable, but this take on the dynamic is even more so, especially in little moments like the Spark helping Aphra see her memories but it’s done with annoying shock to the forehead, delivered by taking over one hand which Aphra tries to hold back. I hope we’ll get more of this going forward, but the final few pages throw a wrench into that possibility for now. Elsewhere, the haunting overlays of the past on the present, red lines at times showing us the shape of who the bones on the ground belonged to, were a neat way to let the past play out now Aphra’s not stuck inside the Spark’s memories anymore, while it expands the memories to red-filled holograms of the events as the Spark saw them, allowing the drama of the Darkseekers messing with the Ascendant gathering to play out live, a big mess of an event that leads to the fall of one sect. As the memories show Miril leaving the destroyed Spark behind, the present shows Spark-possessed hands of Aphra reaching for it, Aphra curious about the item, but the arm jams the broken piece into the Spark, where it takes over Aphra’s body again, claiming it’s now balanced and no virus or archaeologist are left/able to stop it now! What?!??! Supposedly the left over piece has strengthened the Spark Eternal, allowing her to shut out Aphra for good and override the virus, leaving the good doctor’s fate in a scary limbo. And while we might not know what’s going on with Aphra herself, the Spark is taking her body out for a spin in the galaxy, picking up where it left off in its Sith hunting ways: joining Qi’ra on the Amaxine Station! This is where my confusion on the order of events was cleared up, and as welcomed as it was, I didn’t like the answer, as it seems Aphra’s big gamble backfired and now her body’s being taken to the same place Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader are heading to next as well.
Thankfully, Aphra’s gamble with the virus isn’t her only one. The issue diverts to Sana Starros, Magna Tolvan, Korin Aphra, Detta Yao, Eustacia Okka, Just Lucky, and Ariole as well, where they interrogate Kho Phon Farrus after picking them up last issue. While Kho essentially catches up readers on the events of the Hidden Empire miniseries, while sort of revealing some new details about it, the dialogue by Wong ensures it never feels like exposition, as there’s a very Kho-like spin to the events, sort of leaving out the most dangerous aspects of it until prompted. Kho left the series to help Qi’ra and the Archivist with the Fermata Cage, an ancient device built by Lord Momin that essentially acts, in what I’d say has been the best description of it so far thanks to this issue, “…temporal amber,” and they believe it can be used on the Spark since their last efforts were thwarted rather brutally and easily. The Spark is heading to Qi’ra and the Cage at the Amaxine Station, but so too are Darth Vader and Palpatine, since Qi’ra’s made them believe there’s a Sith already trapped inside when it’s all a ruse just to trap them inside. It’s become clearer this might be the case, there’s not actually a Sith or anyone else inside for that matter, but despite Kho’s info I’d say don’t count out the main Hidden Empire story to maybe throw a twist in there with the Cage. I’ll be curious to see how much of the Aphra/Spark Eternal focused portion of this story will play out in the pages of HE, if any of it does, though we’ll see all of it play out in the miniseries before the next issue of Aphra, as Aphra #30 (Vol. 2) drops towards the end of April while HE #4 is out a week from this issue and HE #5 early April. Despite this plan of co-opting Qi’ra’s big plan for the Sith to solve their Spark Eternal woes, there’s still the tiny problem of how much their collective asses got whooped when they tried to incapacitate the Spark the last time. Thankfully, Magna Tolvan has the answer, resolving a lingering thread I’ve been eager to see confirmed: she tells the group Aphra imparted everything she knew about the Spark to Magna through their tattoos after Magna used them to try and get to Aphra inside the Spark (long story, but it resulted in quite the memorable kiss!). Aphra’s a good enough slicer Magna should be able to do whatever Aphra told her to do, so she’s ready to play her part to rescue her ex. It’s going to be a mess, but it’s the best plan they have, coming not a moment too soon as everything’s coming to a head.
Having already joined the series recently, it was a welcome sight to have Natacha Bustos back for art! As I mentioned, her work with the hologram flashbacks, overlaying it on the present, was enjoyably done, as I quite liked how it sort of felt like Aphra watching theater play out before her, especially when Ilith takes a lightsaber to the gut and is splayed on the Ascendant altar in a dramatic, Shakespearian-fashion, Miril’s soft, sad face adding to the drama. And while it might be all holograms to some extent, it’s still a powerful image and memory, as Aphra’s nearly blinded when Miril destroys Ilith’s Spark, Rosenberg’s colors used to the explosive, ethereal nature of the Spark’s power with bright reds and huge chunks of white within to show much power is coming from it, while Caramagna’s SFX crackle outwards as well. Bustos also retains main artist Minkyu Jung’s rather spooky look overtaking Aphra’s face when the Spark has total control, bringing out a scary version when the two Spark pieces merge and give it total control again, Rosenberg darkening the area under her eyes, the swirling spokes of power consuming the page like the Spark’s consuming Aphra. I really liked how the issue show Ilith’s fall to a Darkseeker’s lightsaber, as a small close-up panel bisects the panels above and below it, the top one showing a peaceful, almost happy Ilith, the little insert showing a shocked one, with Caramagna’s underlying SFX telling us everything we need to know, though the panel below pulls back and shows us the final blow. There were two facial reactions I enjoyed the most, the first being Aphra keeping one eye closed after the Spark shocks her forehead and the way Kho is when they’re telling the group “Oh. Well,” and diving into the big Sith-named threats also going after Qi’ra and the Fermata Cage. Kho’s brought extra energy to their attempts to downplay the big threats while Aphra’s feels relatable to anyone who’s been unable to look away no matter how many times they tell themselves no. And lastly, nothing is more satisfying than an excessive display of destruction from the murderbots, so Bee Tee using tons of missiles, big swirling trails behind them, bright, explosive colors, and giant SFX lands the humorously over-the-top way to open an ancient door.
Here are a few other things:
- As seen above, Sana Starros graces the Black History Month variant cover!! This has been such an excellent series of variants. And then next month will find Domina Tagge stunning on the Women’s History Month variant. So good, folks!
- Sana’s own comic miniseries kicked off since the last Aphra issue and… DO NOT MISS IT!! It’s very good and feels like a fresh, new series anyone can enjoy.
- Also since the last Aphra issue…our Star Wars Comics 2022 Year-in-Review! There’s a lot of love for the Aphra series, understandable so, including the art team and writer making top creative spots for the year plus Aphra starring in one of the Top 5 Moments, while there’s plenty of deep discussion on many other aspects of the comics overall, like representation and all this connected era stuff. Check it out!
Doctor Aphra #29 (Vol. 2) raises the stakes even further by complicating the fight for Aphra’s freedom from the Spark Eternal once again, pointing everyone towards a collision point with the big story of Qi’ra trying to take out the Sith!
+ Joint Custody
+ Trip down memory lane / Incoming mess to deal with on all sides
+ Memory visions lead to some neat art
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 | #23 | #24 | #25 — Ascendant: #26 | #27 | #28