The conclusion of the main “Star Wars: Doctor Aphra” series circles back in several ways to how the story began.
Cover by Ashley WitterWritten by Si Spurrier
Illustrated by Casper Wijngaard
Colored by Lee Loughridge
Lettered by VC’s Joe CaramagnaCollects Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016) #37-40, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Annual (2016) #3 and material from Star Wars: Empire Ascendant (2019) #1.Right back where she started! After all she’s been through, professional disaster zone Doctor Aphra has found herself once again working for Darth Vader. What insidious use has the dark lord found for Aphra to make him spare the life of his most annoying foe? And how much time does she have to slither out of harm’s way before he decides to finish what he started all those years ago? Plus: Aphra is about to face reunions with her father and her former flame, Captain Magna Tolvan! And a trip to that wretched hive of scum and villainy, Mos Eisley, awaits! But all good things must end — and when Vader stalks Aphra through the shadows of an ancient temple, only one of them will be leaving in one piece.
Editorial Note: The solicit text you see above comes from Volume 7 of the series, which collected the final four issues, the Annual, and portions of “Star Wars: Empire Ascendant” #1. As I am reading these titles in single issue form on Marvel Unlimited, this review will solely focus on issues #37-40. You can check out our look at Annual #3 from last week here. And although this was to be the original end of our retrospective of the series, we will be back next week with a look at “Star Wars: Empire Ascendant” #1 to properly conclude the story.
Over 40 issues we’ve learned one thing about Aphra: she always has a plan. She may sell out tomorrow to get through today, but there’s a reason she does it. It’s not always clear, which makes her difficult to work with or love, but she always has a plan.
Getting back in favor with Lord Vader? Part of the plan. Leaving Vuulada alone on Ash Moon 1 after an archaeological dig? Part of the plan. Even when her father and Magna Tolvan show up unexpectedly, she figures out a way to make them part of the plan.
But what is the goal of that plan? And who stands to benefit from it? Well, no one else but Aphra. It’s a truth she reveals in a voiceover over the entire final issue as she faces down and eventually defeats Lord Vader on Hoth, where she has tricked his fleet to travel to, thinking there was a rebel base there as part of Project Swarm. So if you were expecting Aphra to be changed forever or even changed for good (to paraphrase from the musical Wicked), my dear reader, you’re just a bit sorely mistaken.
I say “a bit sorely mistaken” because if you were expecting grand reunions and happily ever afters with a family with Magna Tolvan and Vuulada, and even some closure with her father – – don’t hold your breath. But Aphra is changed in a way: a better understanding of herself and the life that she willingly chooses to lead – – and the risks that entails to those around her.
Here in the U.S., the insurance company Geico had a series of commercials a few years ago poking fun at film tropes. One of them was of the final scene of a Western where the cowboy leaves his lady love with the words, “I’m a loner. And a loner’s gotta be alone.” And I thought of that when I reached the final page of the 40th and final issue, with Aphra back where she started from, reunited with Bee-Tee and Triple-Zero, canvassing the galaxy, alone. She’s alone, but alone with the satisfaction that people she does love are together and safe. Perhaps someday they’ll all be together again, but right now that’s not in the cards.
That’s a sacrifice. That’s love. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, as the biblical verse goes. Korin may have put his life on the line to save his daughter, but his little Boop sacrifices something even greater: comfort and happiness for herself. The woman who everyone said was only in service to herself ends up making a very selfless act.
Continued belowFor this final arc of the main story, Casper Wijngaard returns to art duties. You may remember him from the second Doctor Aphra Annual, and just as he was there, his art is serviceable, sticking to the house style and not doing anything bold or revolutionary. (Let’s see if that holds true next week when we look at “Empire Ascendant.”) There’s a few visual moments that pop, but the art takes a backseat to the script, just as it did in that Annual. And like there, it makes perfect sense. There’s a lot for Spurrier’s narrative to wrap up, and the art needs to work in concert with that script. This isn’t the time to go rogue and be creative.
But when the art gets its chance to stand out, it makes the moment count. A perfect example of that comes in issue #39, with the long awaited reunion of Aphra and Tolvan.
It’s a wordless, breathless moment of the lovers’ first reunion kiss. It’s just the two of them on the page, locked in passionate embrace, the rest of the world blacked out of existence. You know from previous pages they just shouted things out in a trash compactor, Tolvan angry for all her sacrifices for a spoiled Aphra who doubts her lover’s trust in the Resistance.
But in that moment they are together. And Aphra still loves her, which she telepathically shares with Tolvan. The world melts away and all they see, all they need, is each other. If you’ve been that madly, passionately, in love with someone, you know those moments where all you see in the world is them and nothing else. Cue the violins and Aerosmith singing “Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.” Embrace the perfect cliched romantic moment, and for that moment, just be happy that they are together.
The lesson of ‘A Rogue’s End’ is how knowing yourself is the key to ultimate wisdom. If you are to believe that about Aphra, you may just think that this is less of an ending and more of a new beginning.
Although we reach the end of the main series, the story does continue and (presumably) conclude in “Star Wars: Empire Ascendant” #1. We’ll check in with that next week to properly conclude this retrospective.
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, the three Annuals, and “Star Wars Empire Ascendant” #1 are on Marvel Unlimited. Issues #1-25, and #28 (along with volumes 1 – 4) are available via Comixology Unlimited.
