It’s the eve of Father’s Day weekend here in the U.S., so it’s rather appropriate that this week’s look at the back half of “Doctor Aphra” focuses intensely on that father-daughter relationship, along with the pain of a dream shattered.
Please note that this will contain spoilers.
Doctor Aphra Vol. 1Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Kev Walker, Marc Deering and Salvador Larocca
Colored by Antonio Fabela and Edgar Delgado
Lettered by VC’s Joe CaramangaCollects Doctor Aphra #1-6.
Following her time in the clutches of Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra has barely escaped with her life. If the Dark Lord of the Sith ever learns of her survival, he’ll hunt her to the ends of the galaxy. But for now, it’s time for a return to what she does best. With droids Triple-Zero and BeeTee-One in tow, she’s off in search of rare artifacts from the galactic center to the Outer Rim — and everywhere in between. Aphra’s got debts to pay, after all. Just as long as she can stay one step ahead of the Empire, some bounty hunters…and just about everyone else in the galaxy!
The boyfriend and I have been watching (in his case, re-watching) Syfy’s The Magicians. If you’re a fan of the show and its source novels, you know that main character Quentin has a bit of an obsession with a C.S. Lewis-esque set of books titled Fillory and Further. One of this week’s episodes dealt with Quentin and company traveling to England to find answers at the author’s estate, and discovering some very dark truths about the series’s author. It’s in that moment of revelation that you can see Quentin’s heartbreak, be it ever so fleeting, with this information – – the realization that this man who created these worlds that brought him such joy throughout his entire life was not who Quentin thought he was.
I thought about that moment as I read through this back half of our first “Doctor Aphra” arc. After Korin, Chelli, and their team escape the clutches of the Empire and find their way to the Citadel of Rur, the home of the Ordu Aspectu. It’s to Korin’s surprise and horror that he lands to find these peace loving Jedi who sought the promise of eternal life, very much dead. Just like Quentin, he doesn’t verbalize his heartbreak, but you can see it on his face. The lines from Kev Walker are quick and light, emphasizing not in this moment his advanced age, but the sorrow and horror of discovering darkness in a world you believed filled with light.
As we’re still in the infancy of this series (which will eventually become 40 issues) Kieron Gillen is still working on building his characters’ personalities, and he does great care to let us know more about Doctor Aphra. While last week the side of her we saw was that of angry adult daughter confronting a parent over bad parenting (and that does come into play again), this week she embraces her less questionable morals.
You’re simultaneously applauding her think-on-her-feet skills while saying in the back of your head “not a good time Chelli, not a good time!” That’s the sign of a good multifaceted character. Gillen does not, thus far, emphasize one over the other. He lets Aphra be angry at her father and call him out for his mistakes and foolishness on his quest, while simultaneously being foolish herself, in the name of survival. Korin also has that same duality – – a man with compassion for the dead that he never knew, but neglectful in that compassion to the people closest to him. In a 1972 interview, screenwriter Irna Phillips, creator of some of America’s most classic soap operas such as Guiding Light and As the World Turns, talked about this rich characterization as the building block of compelling entertainment:
Continued belowAs far as I am concerned, as a writer, there’s isn’t a black or a white or a square or a Bad Joe. People are people. They’re motivated. We’re all greys. None of us are either white or black or bad or good. And I think, either they’re writers or they’ve lost perspective, I don’t know. But as far as I am concerned, that’s the way I construct a show.
I continue to remain impressed at some of the rich detail I see in wide angle shots, such as the team’s approach to the Citadel. You see from a low approach the character of this city, from its buildings to the texture of the surface, just like you do as your plane (remember traveling on those? Seems so long ago.) prepares that final descent. That city and that planet seem ever so alive, a stark contrast to what everyone will find a few pages later.
If this seemingly endless characterization drags things down, never fear – – there’s plenty of action moments and blasting things with lightsabers. Here is where layout and colors have the most fun. We all know the genius of the nine-panel grid to show beat by beat action. (If you want to see this done well and taken to the next level, go read “Sex Criminals.”) But how about a seven page rectangular grid to introduce an invasion that’s just a bit out of Triple-Zero’s control? Beat by beat by beat, you see the Imperials rush in to the city, and an overwhelmed Triple-Zero furiously figuring out what to do next.
And of course, there’s the colors. Last week I sang the praises of the Technicolor that showed up in issues #2 and #3, and when we get to the climactic battle of the arc in issue #6, they’re also on full display. Warm reds of Imperial lightsabers contrasting with the (somewhat cool greens) of the Eternal Rur. It’s these panels and colors together that take that epic cinematic space opera that we know Star Wars to be and bring it beautifully to the page.
There’s one final moment worthy of mention, particularly in this month of June that celebrates Pride worldwide, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this week protecting LGBTQ+ workers: when the audience (though not Korin Aphra) realizes Doctor Aphra is queer.
Now just before this, Aphra told Magna Tolvan (that’s the Meryl Streep lookalike Imperial general from last week) that she was too cute to kill. The seed is planted, and the father-daughter conversation leads it to bloom. There’s no attention to it from either father or daughter. He offers romantic advice that doesn’t call attention to her sexuality, and they are comfortable enough with each other for her to offer a joke back. Acceptance and love. No big rainbows in this moment that scream HEY APHRA IS GAY. It’s integrated with her life, part of her life, part of herself. As just how it should be.
(An interesting piece of LGBTQ+ trivia for your Zoom pride celebrations: the week before this comic dropped in 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rules that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, just what the U.S. Supreme Court, our highest court in the land, ruled this week.)
What’s next for Aphra? Well, they made it out of the Citadel alive, and with a tenuous peace with the Empire (and maybe a date or two for Aphra and one of the generals). The crystal core of the Rur is safe in a secure vault in a faraway world.
Or is it?
Next week, it’s crossover time with the story of “The Screaming Citadel.” This one covers (in reading order) the one-shot of the same name, “Star Wars” #31, “Star Wars: Doctor Aphra” #7, “Star Wars” #32, and “Star Wars: Doctor Aphra” #8. For ease of reading, I’ll be picking up the trade that collects all these issues, which is available on comiXology Unlimited. (It’s an event that Marvel Unlimited does not collect, one of the missteps of the service.)
If you want to read along with me this summer, you can pick up the single issues or trades of “Star Wars: Doctor Aphra” at your local comic shop (be sure to social distance, wash your hands, and wear a mask, or even better, order your comics online for curbside pickup or delivery!), or digitally via Comixology Unlimited or Marvel Unlimited. As of this writing, all 40 issues of the series are available on Marvel Unlimited, and issues #1-25, and #28 (along with volumes 1 – 4) are available via Comixology Unlimited.
