– Spoiler Review –
A hare-brained scheme dreamt up by the most hare-brained of them all, Chelli Aphra must help Han Solo, on behalf of the New Republic, with a cultural exchange she’s sure will go wrong. But nothing ever goes as it seems in a convoluted and fun Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #3!
Chelli Aphra’s not out of hot water yet with the New Republic and she’s teamed up with Han Solo as her next guardian on a mission, though it’s more about the newly minted General trying to make right for past wrongs than anything she did, this time around. Overseeing the return of a cultural artifact to its rightful owners, how anti-Indiana Jones of Solo, things quickly get complex as they are dealing with an extremely dangerous criminal boss and other individual motivations of those involved. Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #3 might end up feeling a little packed with this mission since double and triple crosses pile up, but Cherish Chen’s script, filled with humor throughout, is snappy and contains just enough information about these new characters it works out well. I’d have maybe liked some additional details, but it’s fun enough where it wouldn’t have mattered much, though after three issues of little mini-missions, I’m hoping some bigger threads will start materializing in Chaos Agent, which the solicitations for issues #4* and #5† seem to promise are on the way and I couldn’t be more excited. Chen has proven she can tap into Aphra’s particular brand of chaos, adjusted for a new era and new struggles, with enjoyable missions searching or dealing with special artifacts, so I’m eager to see how else she plans on building up Aphra’s story in this timeframe, like digging into the mystery of who helped lock out the electro-tattoos.
Whereas Luke Skywalker and Aphra have spent more time together, especially as of late, Han Solo and Aphra have a rockier history, mainly regulated in crossovers like Vader Down, which he references by bringing up the wasp-worms she dropped on him (which he also dropped on her!), and The Screaming Citadel. And the big reason why they didn’t meet more was because of Solo’s days as the Hansicle aka in carbonite, which Aphra makes a wicked fun joke about and Han replies testily about in one of the issue’s many jokes. Putting them together now, where Han is turning a new leaf/already sort of has and Aphra is struggling to adjust to the new normal of peace in the galaxy, was a great combination I wasn’t expecting to work as well as it does. It gives Han a chance to show off his smuggler side despite the shiny new NR title and being a father, while for Aphra it gives her a chance to see how someone in a similar line of work can adjust their stripes to the new normal and still be themselves. Given all their negative interactions in the past, which Chen plays into just the right amount, it was refreshing to see them have a largely positive one here which considers their maturity and changes since they last met. I also liked the idea of Han and Aphra doing something archaeological related together, given Aphra’s inspiration coming from Indiana Jones, and the little nods and winks to Ford’s role gave the whole interaction an extra taste of flavor, from the satchel, the totem switching, and even (as I mentioned before) how Solo is returning something he took, unlike what Indiana does. The layers are delightful in this one!
The mission itself was entertaining, from the new eel-like species with a penchant for spontaneous murder, the flirtatiousness of the one of Campi helping disarm both us and Aphra from their real mission, and the sneaky way Han and Aphra (and Chen in how she structures the script) switch around totems offers a lot of surprise and uniqueness throughout. The ending took me a moment to get, but got to enjoy using the Falcon’s penchant for problems to tie into the idea our luck is what we make it, not from some ancient totem. It was a welcomed situation to have Aphra flirting around with the female Campi representative, Lady Xiering, as it’s the first big show of Aphra’s queer identity in the new series, and it was well-written throughout, though her calling Xiering the love of her life (I’m sensing some sarcasm, but still) without us still having any clue what happened between her and Sana Starros & Magna Tolvan increases the need for more information, and soon! Overall, having Chaos Agent introduce new species, put less used ones front and center, and focus on unique artifacts has been a fun way to start Aphra’s latest run.
As for art, issue #3 is Gabriel Guzman’s final issue as far as we know at this point, while Michael Atiyeh joins again on coloring and Joe Caramagna for lettering. Maybe it’s Harrison Ford or maybe Guzman works better with the smirks, but between his take on Luke and Han, Solo turned out better in my mind overall, as it felt a bit more natural to see such a close take on Ford’s face in the comics and really added to his charm. The standout for me was Sabi Sabo Acidy and his crew of eel-like aliens, as they were both slightly comical, as was the tone of the issue, but also frightening. I particularly enjoyed how their head fins swooped or fell like it was hair, mohawk style, while their large heads and small eyes make them feel as enormous as they look compared to little humans, yet the eyes give them a sharp focus. Sabi’s green robes and red armor really made him stand out even more, both from his lackeys but also the surroundings, showing he’s the biggest of the eel-like species and not afraid to flaunt it, daring others to attack him. Purple has long been my favorite color so the Campi, who don’t look campy besides for their silly small third arm, really stood out for me. Atiyeh’s range of the purple hue, from their face to their vest and outfits, shows the complexity of the color and lets the characters still stand out, while Guzman’s way of drawing the third arm make it look like a mini-version, almost as if it was an error in printing or something, yet how deadly it seems once Xiering takes advantage of all three on her double-cross, it’s just another thing not to underestimate about the Campi. Also, speaking of Indiana Jones references, while the little totem everyone’s so eager to have doesn’t look like the Sankara Stones from Temple of Doom, and there’s only three in this issue instead of five like the movie, it does sort of glow like them in the second to last page, which felt like a subtle nod given them also being stashed in a satchel. Speaking of the end, Caramagna’s sound FX for Aphra flipping the coin over who gets the real totem or not leads us up to her dialogue and the coin, hanging in the air, so we’re drawn up to the first panel on the next page, which is the Falcon flying through hyperspace, the question of who got the real totem left hanging in space. The hyperspace blue makes it feel like the issue is winding down, nothing too big will happen in the final page or so, yet when Caramagna returns with SFX “krblaow” by the Falcon‘s engines, it’s clear something seems off if they really got the actual totem. Wrenched out of hyperspace, little blue sparks and some smoke coming from the engines, Aphra’s final lines threw me off at first, but now I get what it means regarding who got which totem in the end.
Here are a few other things:
- *For issue #4, out September 24, Kieran McKeown takes over on art for one issue. He teased his work a few months back, revealing it’s not just Chewbacca who makes an appearance, but Krrsantan as well!! The two Wookiees have beef and Krsantan has a history with Aphra, so a good Wookiee brawl and seeing if Aphra can talk her way out of any remaining debts should be a blast! Plus, Krrsantan back in the comics, alongside Aphra, after he made the leap to live-action in The Book of Boba Fett?! Just so damn neat me how it’s all full-circle.
- †For issue #5, out October 29, Steven Cummings takes over on art! His work for Qi’ra’s big comic return over the last few years was spectacular and I’m curious if he’s one and done like Kieran or he’s sticking around. Either way, issue #5 sounds like it’s going to be quite the moment when we get the supposedly shocking reveal of who helped mess with Aphra’s tats!
- And after such a reveal, it’s a shame it looks like we’ll have to wait to see the fallout (or more like I’m going to struggle being patient!), as there’s no Chaos Agent scheduled for November, but hopefully it’ll be back in December. We should have those solicitations prior to issue #4’s release, so I’ll have the update then!
Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #3 takes full advantage of a unique time for Han Solo and Chelli Aphra, all set to fun mission, and its strengths will leave readers wanting to see Cherish Chen build out the story further!
+ Fresh off some good Luke and Aphra, Han Solo and the Chelli works out rather well!
+ Fun mission and little anti-Indiana Jones layers
+ Playing into the eel-ness and underestimation of the Campi by the art team
– Great missions so far… but leaves one wanting to see where else Chen can take this!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky and Instagram @mynockmanor.