The tables are turned as Aphra’s new boss is her former droid. And Magna Tolvan is back!
Cover by Ashley WitterWritten by Kieron Gillen and Si Spurrier
Illustrated by Emilio Laiso
Colored by Rachelle Rosenberg
Lettered by VC’s Joe CaramangaCollects Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #14-19.
Rogue archaeologist Doctor Aphra jumps to lightspeed and accelerates into the next chapter of her life! The not-so-good Doc is being blackmailed by evil droid mastermind Triple-Zero to run missions for his underground crime syndicate — but that doesn’t mean she can’t cause trouble and have fun along the way! Her latest assignment? Infiltrating a secret Rebellion training center run by General Hera Syndulla. Aphra is used to being in way over her head, but this time she’s not alone! Who else is caught up in her latest misadventure? Let’s hope they’re friendly — otherwise Aphra may have finally bitten off more than she can chew! Hunted by both Hera of the Rebellion and Tolvan of the Empire, Aphra’s got a lot on her mind — but she’s always got a few tricks up her electro-sleeve!
I’ve consumed enough culture critically at this point in my life to know that if a character or concept is introduced and a significant amount of time is spent on it, that character or concept will eventually return. Such is the case with Captain (and now Lieutenant Inspector) Magna Tolvan, who returns after her first appearance in issue #3. This time, we find out her first name (Magna), a bit more of her human side when she mourns the loss of her mentor and wants his guidance, and a heaping load of anxiety and doubt about her new position. But as Magna appears to want to tiptoe away from her Imperial life, Aphra’s back in the thick of it, though that doesn’t appear to be by choice. She’s now working for her former droid Triple-Zero, who’s swimming in his darkness so much that if he had human fingers, they would be very pruny. The heist she’s now on is a very personal one: Triple-Zero is on the hunt for his memories, but they are locked away in a maximum security archive that would take levels upon levels of clearance to enter legally. But Aphra’s got to do what it takes to survive, so it’s time for her most insane mission yet.
This new arc brings changes to our writing and art teams. On the scripting side, Si Spurrier joins Kieron Gillen for this arc, perhaps as training wheels of sorts (in looking ahead, he becomes sole writer on the series with issue #20). While I will miss the sexy wit Gillen brings, no doubt due to his “The Wicked + The Divine” work, Spurrier does a fine job with injecting humor at odd moments to break tension, like a few meet-cute moments for Aphra and Tolvan in the middle of battle, along with the lamest fake name ever. (How Tolvan with her intelligence did not see through that, I have no idea.) The romance, or at least the attraction these two share, is the secondary story here, and it’s a nice slow burn.
But there’s a larger goal at play here in character development. Both these women are in their situations where they do not have the upper hand, but they are not of these situations. They challenge their status quo as a way to grow: Aphra as she challenges Triple-Zero on his actions, Tolvan as she realizes her new promotion comes with a new and menacing boss. While they both accept the cards they currently play, they also slowly realize they can use this to their advantage and work from within to break out. They realize what Tina Fey said years ago and U.S. House of Representatives member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reminded us of this week: bitches get stuff done. So does this mean Tolvan jumps to the Rebellion in the name of love? Possibly. (I admit in scanning a character dossier on Wookiepedia I saw a headline that said just that, but I didn’t read further.)
Often you see Aphra described as “morally ambiguous,” which you can read one way as being the type of woman doing whatever it takes to survive or get the job done. Another way I interpret that is with respect to her loyalties. Triple-Zero is her boss now, but she has no loyalty to him, challenging his decisions even when she knows she’s going to have to do them anyway. Surprisingly, Triple-Zero does not fight her fire with fire. With his ruthlessness, he could very easily use nefarious tactics to get her to comply, but he doesn’t. On the surface, he knows he needs her, so it would be foolish to murder for disobedience. But my Pollyanna nature has some hope that somewhere in those circuit boards and wires, there’s a little bit of affection towards Aphra.
Continued belowThere’s also a comment from Triple-Zero at the start of issue #15 about being shuttled from body to body. Was he perhaps human at one point? There’s a facet I would like to explore, perhaps as a source of his ruthlessness – – a humanity stripped away and sold for parts.
A new arc also brings a new artist, which can be a double edged sword. A new creative take is refreshing, but – – as we discovered in our look at the first Annual of the series and the ‘Screaming Citadel’ crossover event – – straying too far from the familiar is frustrating for the regular series reader. Fortunately, Emilio Laiso gets things back on track by staying close to the style of the previous issues. Aphra no longer looks like a supermodel, and that’s a very good thing – especially since there’s a lot of close up facial moments throughout these three issues.
Another issue resolved from the Annual’s artistic missteps is better rendering of action scenes. In the Annual you’ll recall they were very static, as if we were viewing film stills. With the help of perspective that draws the eye to the center of the page and careful short brush strokes (and in the case of the second example, embracing of asymmetry in panel composition and balance) the action moments have their dynamism back.
That second example shows as well the importance of perspective in color. White hot heat radiating out from the center, bleeding to yellow and eventually orange add to the intensity of the explosion.
Now that we’re nearing the halfway point of this series, I do have to commend on pacing in both script and art. The stories have enough room to organically rise and fall, building to the right climax at the end of each issue, as well as not rushing the overall story. There’s enough room for stories to develop with the information you need to know, and elements so far haven’t been introduced and not seen through to conclusion. Artwork, after taking some time to find its groove, also finds the right balance between the action scenes and the character moments. Our artists know how to compose a panel and what shapes and sizes work for the moment. It should be no surprise by now that each issue ends on large splash pages; an effective final image that dominates your eye sets that tension and gets you coming back for more. The only misstep I would find in overall story structure really does have to do with last week’s Annual: a case of too many story elements in a short page count, and publication placement that ended up making ‘The Enormous Profit’ finale have less emotional resonance.
I do hope we find out in the back half of this volume some of what led Aphra to Triple-Zero’s employ. It did look like she had things under control at the end of ‘The Enormous Profit.’ so things must have turned very desperate in some way for Chelli. I have faith though, she’ll find her way out of this jam, with a bonus prize of a new love interest.
Next week we conclude ‘Remastered,’ with a look at issues #17-19.
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.
