– Spoiler Review –
Right when Chelli Aphra and Just Lucky think they are out of the Scourged woods, they find themselves back in the thick of it, but so too does Magna Tolvan’s band of rebels! Will they all make it out alive or is the overwhelming amount of droids too much for both groups? Find out in our review of Doctor Aphra #37 (Vol. 2)!
Chelli Aphra and Just Lucky arrived on the Tagge Corporation’s giant research station, the Casus Belli, at the end of last issue as it’s where Domina Tagge has moved her investigation into the reanimated droids, but before they can connect with her to explain what they uncovered, the droid Scourge begins its attack. Aphra’s prepared only because she finally deduces what was bothering her about the situation at the end of last issue, that it’s the droids overall, not just the prototypes, which are being taken over by some type of hostile entity, acting as one. Domina reaches much the same conclusion as the KX-series droids by her become Scourged and she fights back, testing out a prototype shield in the process of her self-defense. She works her way to Aphra, Lucky, and Lapin, using her awesome plasma sword again to help buy Aphra some time to hack into a door and get them locked away from the encroaching horde to figure out their next steps. The following scene, as Aphra and Domina discuss what’s going on, teases works so well about the two of them together compared to the last time we saw them and their differences were starkly on display. Domina woke up in the morning last time and essentially dismissed Aphra, any warmth between the sheets lost to her icy business demeanor, showing Aphra’s need for connection, while in issue #37 we see their analytical, and slightly diabolical, minds aligning about what to do next: crash the Casus Belli into the nearby moon, eradicating all the corrupted droids in the process! The way they gleefully smile at one another only seals the deal of some wicked similarities and makes me happy it’s not in all things because one can only imagine the destruction these two could come up with, or what they could end up controlling, if they put their heads together more often. Either way, we see the Belli crash into the moon with a fiery death, while Domina, Aphra, Lucky, and Lapin watch from the comfort of an escape pod, but Aphra’s not satisfied with the victory, holding a droid’s head and hoping to learn more about what’s going. In fact, she assumes it’s the Spark Eternal, but when the head awakes and the voice speaks, it reveals it certainly has the Spark with it, but it’s something more, something worse, and Aphra soon regrets speaking to it in the worst way…
When we last left Magna Tolvan and her team of Rebels, they were approaching a Rebellion vessel that had gone violently silent, according to the final transmissions General Leia Organa received. We saw a Scourged droid aboard before the issue closed and it doesn’t take long before Tolvan and her team are besieged by them here, but unlike Aphra and group’s efforts, their situation is getting worse by the moment, as they are overwhelmed and caught completely by surprise. As more of her team falls, the Scourged droids agree to keep Tolvan and Kelb, as they both have cybernetics and could be turned, as the entity hopes to do to avoid eradication. If you’ve not been reading the main Dark Droids miniseries, as they’ve done in the past, writer Alyssa Wong does a great job here of making it clear what the Scourge wants to do and why cyborgs are so important to it, so if you’re just reading this series, you don’t feel left out on what’s going on, while fans who’ve read the miniseries know what comes next and it definitely doesn’t soften the blow. Wong’s roots are horror and it’s clearly something they relish playing with in the series, but it really seems to come out here with Magna Tolvan’s section, not only in the way artist Jethro Morales piles on the growing terror as the droids swarm and begin experimentations per Wong’s script, but in the pacing as well, as we see Aphra and her group triumph and Tolvan and hers fail, but the reveal of what the Scourge is doing and is able to achieve arriving together for maximum impact. As Aphra learns the Scourge has Magna, we see the latter strapped to an operating table, losing Kelb as the experiments begin, screaming and fighting the whole time, only for her to succumb to their attempts and be reborn with the Scourge overtaking her mind, standing alongside other notable cyborgs like Beilert Valance, whom we just saw get taken by the Scourge in Bounty Hunters #39, and Lobot, also lost recently in Star Wars #39 (Vol. 2)! This echoes a shot from Dark Droids #3, which showed all three of these characters Scourged, lost to the entity’s machinations and leaving their ultimate (well, besides Lobot) fates left in question. What will happen to Magna Tolvan, seemingly missing from a glimpse at the series’ 40th issue in January?* Will she be safe? Will she be alright?!
Just when you think the sting of her loss couldn’t hit any harder, the issue ends with Aphra knocking at Sana Starros’ door, about to give the bad news about what happened. As the Scourge delights in being home, which it feels has happened now it’s made the jump to organics, Aphra returns home to Sana, but it’s anything but delightful. In a way this mirrors events from the Spark Eternal saga, where Sana came to Magna Tolvan for help to save Chelli Aphra, now Chelli’s coming to Sana to help save Magna. In issue #31, Magna revealed she was only part of the rescue operations to be there for Sana, during which the two took their connection further, so will Sana help Aphra with Magna for Magna’s sake or for Aphra’s? Or for both, because she’s just that awesome and already admitted her love to Aphra? And does Aphra coming to her, which I am assuming is about going to help Magna, enough to show Sana she might be a better person? I’ll hazard a guess it’ll be how she acts on the mission which will show Sana the truth of the matter, either way. All of that just means, we are in for some BIG emotional moments I am TOTALLY not ready for. Let’s go!
The double artists remain, with Jethro Morales covering Magna’s sections and Minkyu Jung on Aphra’s, with colorist Rachelle Rosenberg and Joe Caramagna on lettering as well. Last issue, Morales mainly got to show off a positive, happy, and worry-free situation for Tolvan and her crew, full of smiles and good memories, but it all changes here, as he packs as much horror into each panel as he can once the droids make themselves known. There’s two pages, when we first return to Tolvan’s section after the initial opening pages, where her and her team are surrounded by the now deadly droids and one looks semi-hopeful and the other is downright chilling as the situation looks dire. In the first of the two pages, Tolvan is determined and focused, but none of her team shares the same steely demeanor, scared for their lives as the horde of droids overtakes them. Rosenberg’s colors for this first page isn’t terribly dark at the moment, but it fills in the cloudy background with a claustrophobic feel, of worsening prospects, while Caramagna deftly sweeps us through the ensuing chaos. The second of these two pages, Tolvan’s face is still determined, but the fear and concern has swept in, especially as little insert panels show us her team being picked off, Kelb being pulled away. Gone on the sunsetting colors of the previous page, replaced more with darkness and the purple associated with the Scourge, while Caramagna’s big “NO!” from Kelb is a startling first sign that pulls you into the page and tells you it is not all going as Magna hoped. These pages are so unnerving for the density of the droids around the group, the colors and lettering wrapping it all up even tighter, to the point it leaves one shivering while reading. For Jung’s work, of all the panels to stand out, I really focused on the one where Lapin’s trying to get in a door but finding their access revoked. In it, Aphra’s sort of towards the background, kicking a little mouse droid, which both looks cathartic and probably not the most helpful in the scheme of things, while there’s a foggy haze around the approaching swarm of droids, mainly in shades of light purple, as if to denote there’s too many to count they all sort of blend in. With Lucky standing firm and shooting, while Lapin attempts to open the door by the FX making a very negative looking sound for his attempts, it gives it a lighter air than what’s transpiring for Magna and team, yet chaotic enough it’s clear their situation isn’t golden either. When Domina shows up with her blade, which I LOVE the dripping effect of the plasma, she’s slicing away at droid fools, and I particularly enjoyed how there’s a panel of her in the background, still going at it, while Aphra, Lucky, and Lapin chill casually around a holotable, as if they know she’s got it all in hand. The final page is still a showcase for Jung’s work, as Aphra looks so sad and uncomfortable about what she has to tell Sana, to admit, and to ask for, unable to meet the other’s eyes and holding her upper arm, while Sana looks about as you’d expect, with an attitude of almost “why are you here,” but I’m sure she’ll lose it quick when Aphra reveals what happened.
Here are a few other things:
- Also out this week from Marvel is Alyssa Wong, Jan Bazaldua, Bryan Valenza, and Ariana Maher’s first issue of their Captain Marvel run! If you’ve loved Wong’s work on Aphra so far, you know readers will be in for a treat with whatever they are cooking up for Captain Marvel. Congrats on the launch to the entire team!
- *We got a scary, worrying, and intriguing solicit for January’s 40th issue for this series, as it begins to feel like the beginning of the end for this era of comics. As much as I’ve been calling for it, besides Aphra of course as this could run for 1000 issues and I’d be happy, it seems daunting to actually face the potential end. We’ll know more in the coming months on where this is all headed, but for now, plenty of story left to enjoy!
- Also, I’ll be curious if Sana is still with that revolutionary gal, Lanitra, from the end of her miniseries, which we got confirmed takes place between Aphra #31 and this issue!
Doctor Aphra #37 (Vol. 2) makes the stakes personal in a horrifyingly good way, setting up some big, emotional, I-am-so-not-ready-for-this moments ahead!
+ Ratchets up the horror
+ And increases the amount of trauma likely on the way!
+ Both art teams show their strengths with what’s happening for their respective characters
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DOCTOR APHRA (Vol. 2) REVIEWS:
Fortune and Fate: #1-5 — The Engine Job: #6-10 — War of the Bounty Hunters: #11-15 — Crimson Reign: #16-21 —The Spark Eternal: #22 | #23 | #24 | #25 — Ascendant: #26 | #27 | #28 | #29 | #30 | #31 — Starweird: #32 | #33 | #34 — Dark Droids: #35 | #36