Time to make some money, as Aphra looks for a buyer for the Rur crystal. But as with all plans, what looks easy to execute on paper turns out to be the opposite in reality.
Cover by Airi KamiyamaWritten by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Kev Walker and Marc Deering
Colored by Antonio Fabela and Edgar Delgado
Lettered by VC’s Joe CaramangaCollects Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #9-13, Annual #1.
Aphra’s back with a brand-new plan that’s guaranteed to pay! There’s just one teensy problem… it involves surrounding herself with some of the galaxy’s biggest baddies. And they don’t like the not-so-good doctor’s tricks! Her mission to make quick credits by auctioning off an ancient Jedi artifact will start well… and end badly. And that’s just when a dark figure from Aphra’s past decides to make an appearance! Plus, a solo focus on Aphra’s Wookiee shadow, Black Krrsantan! Find out why this beastly bounty hunter is as frightening as they say… and then some!
One thing I am finding I love tremendously about this series is its flow from issue to issue. Events immediately pick up from where they left off, but there’s also enough exposition in what could be considered a cold open to the comic. It’s enough to bring a new reader on board if they are picking up at the right place in the story arc, but also keeps fans grounded and connected, and builds a universe. That’s episodic storytelling well executed.
‘The Enormous Profit’ takes place a few weeks after the events of “The Screaming Citadel,” a timeline made very clear in the opening pages. It’s stating the obvious, but that commitment to transparent storytelling is important to keep readers grounded in their surroundings. The Rur has its technopathy back, but that’s not enough to placate it. Doing what she knows how to do best (make a quick buck), Aphra organizes a debutante party of sorts for the Rur, bringing in the best of the worst of the galaxy to bid on this crystal. While each guest pleads their case for why they should own the crystal in the way they know how, Triple Zero is doing some dealings of his own on the side – – with Aphra’s old master Lord Vader. But that’s going to be a small drop in the bucket of life when Aphra and assembled company find out that a demonstration of Rur’s technopathy sets it free. She might just need help from her old boss to sort this out.
What this series is also showing me thus far is that this is Aphra’s world, and we’re all just floating through it. This is her stage, and we’re all just merely players, with our exits and entrances. This centralizing idea is a double edged sword: it gives the story roots by which to grow, but also stumps some of the more interesting supporting players. We still don’t know what Black Krrsantan’s backstory is, though the solicit above hints at his own story in due time. (My suspicion that is in the Annual part of this collected trade, which we look at this month.)
We do fare a bit better with Triple Zero. He’s keeping contact with Lord Vader, but to what end? His call to Vader isn’t out of panic, as it occurs at the end of issue #9, before the Rur gets free and wreaks havoc on the auction party. Did he know something about the Rur before Aphra did, or does his call to Vader have another, more sinister aim? (He is missing some of that good ol’ fashioned murdering . . . )
After all the action of the first arc and our crossover, it’s nice to take a breather and see another side of Chelli. She can dig up all the artifacts she wants, she can blast her way out of any situation, but in order for her to make that enormous profit, she’s going to have to rely on her wit. Not so much to sell the Rur; that crystal sells itself (and as we see later, too effectively), but to get the information she needs to make a decision on her buyer: asking the right questions, playing neutral third party, keeping the focus on the transaction even as one of her own associates ends up injured from a personal meeting.
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After all the action, these had the potential to be long, winded, boring conversations, especially with the large cast of characters at hand. But Gillen keeps things moving with sharp, smart dialogue, showing us vignettes of each of these buyers’ meetings that allow us the readers to fill in the blank as to their outcomes. The one that wins is the one that plays her battle of wits to its conclusion.
Once again, layouts are proving the star of this show, adding and enhancing the script, helping the reader to fill in those details. Each of these issues ends with a full splash page that cuts the tension of what came before while simultaneously setting up even more tension for what comes forward.
But tension also builds beautifully in multi-paneled pages, such as our reveal of who won the bid for the crystal. It’s all a matter of knowing the concept of resolution: when to use it, and when to not. For the multi-panel page, that storytelling has a beginning, a middle, and an end that has to conclude on the page, which the beat-by-beat progression across personal devices.
On the splash pages, we’re not left with that resolution — just more questions than answers.
Old friends meet new foes, and this is going to be one tricky deal to close.
Next week, it’s the back half of ‘The Enormous Profit’ with issues 12 and 13.
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.
