As the New Republic brings a sort of peace to the galaxy after the Empire falls, what’s a rogue archaeologist to do when the normal chaos she thrives in goes away? In Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #1, the fan-favorite character returns for more misadventures, and while there’s a new and intriguing status quo for Chelli Aphra and the series, writer Cherish Chen and artist Gabriel Guzman whip up an opening issue which feels both classic Aphra and yet something new and exciting.
Chelli Lona Aphra is my favorite Star Wars character, full stop, so you know, especially all you other fans out there, how anticipated this new series was for me and yourselves. While her brief appearance in The Battle of Jakku maxiseries and double-story duty in Marvel’s 10th anniversary one-shot A New Legacy were welcomed returns for Aphra, it’s now been over a year and a half since her previous series ended, so the noticeable lack of a monthly dose of her special brand of chaos has only grown as Marvel started new stories and jumped into the post-Return of the Jedi/New Republic era. As you can imagine, issue #1 of Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent, the new series from writer Cherish Chen and artist Gabriel Guzman, had to deal with a lot of expectations, anticipation, and hype, but I can comfortably say, after hearty laughter throughout, it more than lived up to my hopes and dreams. On story alone, the new status quo of the galaxy and how it’s messed with Aphra’s business as usual plays heavily into her current situation, and I felt like it made the lack of Sana Starros and Magna Tolvan more of a mystery for the series to explore and less about trying to start from scratch and/or reset her character. Aphra’s one to self-sabotage if she gets the chance, and since we learn many former acquaintances attempted to collect on old scores in the time between the end of her last series and now, it would track she’d distance herself from those she cares about to protect them, especially since she just had begun sharing her life and plundering galaxy with them. Cherish’s script navigates the necessary exposition to cover these changes, Aphra even calling it out at one point, with lots of excitement between, sprinkling in a very interesting new artifact and new role for the character with the New Republic, all while bringing plenty of laughs, to the point my dogs and wife were wondering what I was chuckling so hard about. We at the Manor had the pleasure of interviewing Cherish ahead of the series’ premiere and everything she was saying about the character and what she wants to bring to the story bears fruit in the first issue alone, while the inability to say more about Sana, Manga, and even Just Lucky returning isn’t a no at least, plus we also got a tease of a villain’s appearance in an upcoming issue, so please go check that out as well!
Despite running with a crew, which consisted of her hard-earned polycule partners Magna and Sana, when we catch up with Chelli Aphra after the Battle of Jakku ended the galactic civil war with the Empire for good, she’s alone and caught up in the New Republic’s correctional system. Without the chaos of the galactic civil war and crime syndicate battles, Aphra found herself at odds with those she’s screwed over now trying to settle their scores with her, resulting in her trying to pull jobs that usually would escape notice but this ‘peace’ means individual rabble rousers like her catch more attention. After once again breaking her parole, with the help of her parole officer in a hilarious reveal which works even better than it did in the initial lettered previews, Aphra’s brought to the Department of Artifacts and Archival Goods Retrieval aka DAGGERS, with the opportunity to lessen some of her sentencing if she helps them procure a dangerous artifact. The DAGGERS want a win so they can stay afloat within the NR government, with the reveal there’s a mysterious high-level NR benefactor interested in its mission and trying to keep it from being cut (is it someone we know or someone new?), and Aphra’s chosen due to her track record of acquisitions, while an old friend, sort of, wants to help give her a second chance: Luke Skywalker. These two have had a fun history, from The Screaming Citadel crossover and an encounter with a Starweird, and Cherish does a great job matching the banter that’s come before, all while adding new bits to it as both characters have changed since we last saw them together. Their brief catch-up in the ship on their way to Daiyu is a delight, and though it doesn’t include them talking about Vader being gone unfortunately but maybe that happened already, Luke’s more Jedi-like than ever now, looking for the good in everyone hence why he’s more than happy to help her from near and far, while Aphra admits to him life hasn’t been easy since the Empire fell, letting Luke see some of the unintended consequences of their win.
As for the actual mission, if this is just a taste of what Cherish has up her sleeves with weird artifacts, Aphra’s trademark confidence, and planet hopping, we’re for sure in for a really good treat. A gauntlet is on the black market and it’s supposedly very powerful, and when Aphra and Barm Foy, aka Aphra’s hilarious name to hide Luke’s identity, meet the being trying to sell it, they learn why it’s so dangerous: he claims it can let the wearer use the Force! Aphra kicking Luke, I’m sorry, Barm Foy under the table when he gets too protective over the impossibility of such a claim is one of many highlights of this sequence, while I’m not surprised Aphra’s just as dubious about the gauntlet given how Kho Phon Farrus used magnetism against her to make it look like they had the Force. Luke gets too righteous too quick and attempts to take the artifact, which seems to come alive and latches onto his metal hand, causing an explosive burst of electricity; poor Luke, gets zapped by the Emperor and now he’s getting zapped again a little over a year later! I love the next sequence, Aphra looks around the room, figures out a plan to help Luke and get the artifact, while also asking him to keep control of its electric bursts, and the manages to wrap him up and rely on her electro-tattoos to hack his arm to have the gauntlet release him. Her decision to take the gauntlet and run but Luke talking her out of it both feel very typical them, as Aphra revealing going on the run will be more comfortable tells us a lot about how rough maybe things were and maybe how bad she left things with her partners, while Luke’s points about needing something so dangerous kept out of the galaxy match with his new Jedi Master-like look on life.
While Luke defending Aphra’s honor back at DAGGERS HQ wasn’t a surprise, his suggestion for Lt. Meteora Gray to offer Aphra a job was, and I enjoyed how the two, while antagonistic with one another, decide it’s not a bad idea after all. However, as they shake hands on it, Lt. Gray uses some type of device in her hand which REMOVES APHRA’S ELECTRO-TATTOOS!?! In the initial announcement of the series, it was teased Aphra’s tattoos wouldn’t work, but I didn’t think it meant they’d be completely removed! And I didn’t even know it was possible! I’m surprised Luke didn’t say anything, especially given how she used them to save him, but Aphra’s shock over what happens is the far more important thing to focus on and leaves us with a lot of questions on what it’ll mean for her going forward. Just imagine Magna, who got the same tattoos, sees her without hers…will that drive a bigger spike between them, making Magna think Aphra really tried to put her and Sana in the past? It’s kind of wild not only is Aphra without her signature aviator cap, she has it on during the first page but it’s off and she never gets it back afterwards, and now she’s also without her signature tattoos?! It’s a bold new era for the character and Cherish Chen has left me intrigued for what could come next.
Gabriel Guzman makes his canon debut with Chaos Agent, though he’s joined by canon veterans like colorist Mike Atiyeh, who’s provided such skills for Dark Horse’s The High Republic Adventures – Phase III, and letterer Joe Caramagna, who is no stranger to Star Wars comics or Aphra! Guzman is a new artist for me and his style took me a moment to adjust to, as it has an old school look we’ve not had much of in SW comics or for Aphra, though it grew on me and I found I liked it overall. The only thing which lingered on my mind was the realistic, Mark Hamill-like face of Luke Skywalker, as it seemed weird to have a version of Luke look so much like his film counterpart against Aphra, who, while also drawn with a more realistic face, clearly inspired by someone, has never been drawn next such a take on Luke; Atiyeh’s colors help a lot here though, from giving Aphra the right skin-tone to Luke’s always bright-with-the-light-side-of-the-Force face, as it gives the illustrations a more comic-like feel. I quite enjoyed the ton of little things which help a lot of Cherish’s humorous script land harder, from Aphra kicking Luke under the table, a nice impact star to highlight the action, Luke’s silly little wave as she introduces him as Barm Foy, to Caramagna’s placement of the word bubbles when the other beings before the courthouse are upset over her lack of sentencing, and I look forward to see how these artists and Cherish continue to team up to make the comedic beats hit. The sequence with the gauntlet is where the artwork really clicked for me, as the moment the gauntlet jumps from the ground, looking like Thing from the Addam’s Family, and latches onto Luke’s hand, the crackling spark of electricity is hair-raising, while Caramagna’s sound FXs and Atiyeh’s blues match the intensity of Guzman’s work with the arcs and swirls of energy. Aphra cases the room, as electricity strikes wildly near where she’s focusing, which gives her planning session and climbing around the room a sense of detachment, revealing her shrewd mind and devil-may-care attitude. Guzman puts together some great little expression throughout, though I found the sequence towards the end the best showcase, as Aphra’s first acting like she’s ignoring Luke’s righteous ideals, followed by her exasperation with a hand on her forehead, and then the fierce glares between Director Gray and Aphra as he tells them Aphra should join the DAGGERs make their acceptance of Luke’s idea all the more heated. We know this won’t be the only art team on this Aphra series, but Chaos Agent is off with a strong start thanks to this one.
Here are a few other things:
- With lots of unknowns for Aphra since her last series, could part of what drove her to push away those she cares about involve the bounty hunter Raslin Grace and the Imperial Melichor Votto who sent her after Aphra? What other former acquaintances came to collect? I’m sure we’ll get more details as the series progresses.
- How fitting is it that Aphra, the franchise’s most visible LGBTQIA+ character, launched her new series during Pride Month?! It also means the issue has a Pride Month variant, seen above, which stars Aphra herself and is from artist Pablo Collar!
- The next few issues place Aphra with legacy characters, as Luke continues to team with her in July’s issue #2, and then Han Solo joins her in August’s issue #3. We should have solicitations for September’s issue #4 this week!
- Once again, don’t forget to check out our interview with Cherish Chen, while keep your eyes on the Manor later this year, as it’s not the only Aphra-related interview we have up our sleeves!
Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #1 had a tough set of expectations to deal with, but Cherish Chen and Gabriel Guzman overcome them, pushing the character forward in new and interesting ways with plenty of humor to boot.
+ Aphra is back and as intriguing and funny as ever
+ What we haven’t seen holds lots of promise for the future of the series
+ Luke and Aphra are a winning team-up again
+ Guzman, Atiyeh, and Caramagna capture laughs and action…
– …though it took a moment to accept this visual take on Luke with Aphra
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky and Instagram @mynockmanor.
DOCTOR APHRA: CHAOS AGENT REVIEWS
Vol. 1: #2