– Spoiler Review –
As Chelli Aphra’s forced employment with the DAGGERS drags on, a mission alongside Chewbacca turns more pivotal than imagined and her choices lead to a surprise reveal fans will be talking about until the next issue! Head below for my review of Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #4 now!
After three issues of team-up DAGGER missions, I was hoping Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent would start revealing what it has it store for the character’s larger story in this era, and at first issue #4 seemed like it would be more of the same. Cherish Chen whips up another fun mission for the issue, with some neat twists, delightful banter, and hints of Chelli’s growth from her previous series, leaving me thoroughly satisfied with the issue, but its last page surprise, and all the questions that come with it, was exactly what the doctor ordered for this series! There are concerns about Chaos Agent’s future (see below), but this surprising moment feels like the start of something far bigger.
Issue #4 sees Chelli on another mission for the DAGGERS, this time babysitting a prince and his crown jewels after a bounty’s been placed on them, one where the formidable Wookiee bounty hunter Krrsantan has reportedly taken the job. This is where Chewbacca comes in, joining Chelli after she’s been lounging on the planet, waiting for anything to happen, as he can assist with dealing with the other Wookiee if he does show up. While it seems like another cut and dry mission to start, the hovering aides, the very young age of the Prince, and Chelli’s feeling of being in a rut reveal there’s more going on than it seems, to the point paying attention to even the quips in Chen’s script will help reveal the deeper layers and surprises. Chelli’s interactions with Chewie are a blast, as it reminded me of the Darth Vader (2015) series, where the other half doesn’t talk as much and she ends up rambling in her oh so classic way a lot, yet Chewie’s a sympathetic ear who also isn’t afraid to tell her he told her so, and I’d rate their time together just above Han Solo, with her and Luke still the best of the legacy characters. Krrsantan coming back to the comics after his jump to live-action in The Book of Boba Fett, alongside Aphra where it all started, was also handled very well, with Chen capturing the sense of history each character has with one another, while providing funny and engaging moments between all three. The all-out Wookiee brawl, and how Aphra breaks it up, was a real treat, especially with Kieran McKeown’s art!
What I felt this issue did best was explore Chelli Aphra, as it touches on some of her previous growth while also sounding like a conversation with the readers. As I said before, while I’ve enjoyed Chaos Agent and its various team-up missions, I’ve been hoping to see the series break out of the format soon and get into whatever larger plans Cherish Chen has, and in a way, Aphra being stuck on this mission, wanting a way out, felt like the character expressing a similar opinion while also being a way for Chen to acknowledge what she knows fans might be feeling as well. Aphra wants her freedom back, and her electro-tattoos, but is still game to play in the system at the same time, she just wants to do it on her terms, no longer forced to do this job against her will. These feelings appear a lot throughout this issue, as while her exasperation is linked to the orders of a little price or all the doting aides, she’s restless, taking it out a bit on Chewie and his relaxed nature about the situation. As she pieces together the truth, she confronts the young Prince about how he set up the whole scenario in the first place, and his reason why hits home with her much harder than she expects. The Aphra before the end of her 2020 series would’ve still been selfish enough to have stopped the Prince’s plans and not let him go free with Krrsantan, as it would’ve kept her out of the trouble with the New Republic and the DAGGERS, but Aphra’s growth by the series’ end shows up here, as she does the selfless thing instead, letting the Prince go even if it means trouble for her. When she returns to DAGGER headquarters and discusses events with Meteora, the latter mad as hell regarding the decision, Aphra does what the Prince did and takes her chance, telling the general she’s proud of herself for not blowing up the place, but also asserts she’s had enough of the blackmail to keep her here and wants her freedom back. She then requests information, and her freedom back, sounding like she’s still willing to work with Meteora and the DAGGERS at the moment. As for what info she wants? She wants to know what technology the NR has to lock her out of the tattoos, which she’s been unable to get back despite her best efforts. But Meteora reveals it’s not some technology, but rather a person, someone Aphra won’t be happy to hear about…
Dellen…Dellen Aphra, Chelli’s…..SISTER?!?! Wait…WHAT?! Chelli has a karking sister?! The mystery of who helped lock out Chelli’s electro-tattoos has been teased since before the series began, and as it became clear much of the cast from the previous Aphra series wasn’t returning at this point, fans, including myself, began to wonder if the identity of the person locking out her tattoos was where we’d see Sana Starros and/or Magna Tolvan return to the fold. What I didn’t imagine, especially for a character whose childhood was partially explored in the Doctor Aphra (2016) series and never mentioned a sibling, was for it be an unbeknownst to us sister! The big immediate question is where has she been all this time? Was she from Lona and Korin? Adopted, before or after Lona’s death? Younger? Older? Regardless of those answers, I don’t think Chen would’ve brought in a sister we’ve never ever heard about if she didn’t have confidence she could pull off the introduction, so while my head is spinning over how it’ll be explained, I’m honestly excited to see what Chen has in store. Plus, I think the introduction of Dellen might be the gateway into characters like Sana and Magna, or even Kho Phon Farrus, Just Lucky, Ariole, and more anyways, as if Aphra really messed things up with her polycule and friends, it’s not a far stretch to see Sana and Magna commiserating, or better yet shit-talking, with Aphra’s sister if she somehow came back into the picture (or has been, without us knowing at this point) since we last saw them all. In the end, this surprise landed for me, and while I’m curious about how it’ll all work, I’m excited for what it’ll bring to the rest of Chaos Agent! Let us know what you think about Dellen’s reveal in the comments below or on Bluesky!
For one issue only, so far, Kieran McKeown takes over on artist duties, while colorist Mike Atiyeh and letterer Joe Caramagna return. There’s a lot to love about McKeown’s style and while I was a fan pretty much right away, what really sold me was the page where Aphra and Chewie leave the royal throne room. As the little prince shouts at Aphra and Chewie to leave and patrol on the outreaches of the city, Aphra stifles her initial rebuttal and puts on the fakest smile this side of the universe, with big eyes and a friendly wave, only for the next panel, with her and Chewie outside, depicting her with an angry face and her arms up in the air, so fed up with everything. The stark difference between the two emotions brings forth all the humor Chen’s put in the script, the two truly complimenting one another, as the dialogue alone would make one imagine those reactions, but McKeown’s take on those reactions could also tell us all we need to know without any words. Of course the issue’s big standout is the multi-page Wookiee brawl, a wonderful collision of McKeown, Atiyeh, and Caramagna’s work with Chen’s script. Even before Krrsantan shows his face or the two Wookiees get to grappling, Aphra’s overconfidence in her understanding of the bounty hunter gets some good laughs thanks to the art team, with what looks like an explosion in the distance behind Aphra, Caramagna with a small but bold sound FX for it, and then the next panel he goes FAR bigger, with a funnier looking word like “kablammoo,” as the rocket connects with their perch, Atiyeh adding some heat to the words and explosion, while Chewie and Aphra’s shouts bring our eyes down to the imposing presence of Krrsantan on the next panel, where he looks as fearsome as ever! Talk about making his return to comics big! There’s a panel two pages later where there might’ve been a coloring mistake, as it both looks like Chewie might be holding his head because of the way Krrsantan is holding him, or else it was meant to be Krrsantan having Chewie in a headlock and the other arms being Chewie’s, but it’s the only moment of confusion in the entire issue. The final page of the fight, where Aphra brings it to an end, was another favorite of mine in the issue. The first panel has Aphra, crouched, looking up in shock as Chewie sails over her, parts of his body throwing shade over her, while in the next panel, Caramagna’s growls for Chewie, combined with the impact lines, really sell how rough his landing was from the throw. The next panel, there’s just something about the intimidating Krrsantan leaping through the air, determined to continue the brawl after Chewie brought his mother into things, that is just a neat as hell image to me, as it really plays into the Wookiee’s tree-bound lifestyle, taking such a big jump with confidence, eagerness really given the way McKeown draws him. While it’s not as cool, Aphra does get her own action star moment, as she slides down to catch up with the Wookiees, Atiyeh providing more shade than color to them, as to show how distracted they are, which is why the image of the water bucket, a big SFX “SPLASH!” following the liquid as it reaches out to the Wookiees, comes as a surprise to us too. The look on Krrsantan and Chewie’s faces, wet and dripping with water, are priceless, the bounty hunter cooled and Chewie surprised, while Aphra’s poor attempt at Shyriiwook getting a wavy bubble design and way less pronounced letters, showing she’s got a lot of work to do. And the way the team tees up her big shout about Dellen being her sister, Aphra scrunching her forehead, the edges of the panel a mad red, and the final one so close to her face it’s like she’s yelling at us? It gives it all the feel of a surprise not just to us, but her too!
Here are a few other things:
- Alright, once is a fun reference, twice starts feeling like something more…in issue #2, the Bothan species is name-dropped, while in this issue it’s revealed Krrsantan has a hideout on Bothawui, a planet in Bothan Space. So is Chen just a fan of Bothans and the endearing mystery of their lack of canon appearances or…are we building to something, like their first canon appearance?! We shall see!!
- Also with Dellen, I looked into their codename, Aeturna, and my searches lead me to either a giant lion mount in the Final Fantasy XIV game, known as a armored warbeast and an imposing feline or Aeterna Noctis, a game about a pair of monarchs who fight each other for eternity, so maybe it’s what Chen was going for as a reference about Chelli and Dellen’s relationship? We’ll see in October!
- As I said on Bluesky and then explained more in the December 2025 solicitations, we’re now at two months without any solicits for issues in Chaos Agent after issue #5. I’m still not over the edge, but I’m teetering on worried, and I’m hoping NYCC’s Lucasfilm Publishing Panel will elucidate the series’ future. For what it’s worth, I’ve seen rumors they were switching colorists, so that held them up, but also, Chen had the joy of bringing a new child into this world, so maybe she requested a break, or heck, they were trying to maintain the surprise of Dellen and what’s next and purposefully did the break. We should know soon enough!
- Also in December’s solicitations, Alyssa Wong, who wrote Aphra (2020), is back for more Star Wars comics with the fourth and final issue of Boba Fett: Black, White & Red! They are bringing in Raslin Grace, introduced in their previous series as a bounty hunter after Chelli, so it’s one way they get to follow-up on some of their lingering threads.
Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent #4 almost ends up being more of the same, but as it explores Aphra’s discontent and allows her to take action, its big reveal pushes the series forward in a memorable way!
+ A KARKING SISTER?! Really opens up the series in a big way
+ Exploring Aphra more
+ Kieran McKeown and team deliver on one helluva Wookiee brawl!!
– Though does start off as more of the same
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky and Instagram @mynockmanor.