I must confess, I haven’t been a regular reader of Kieron Gillen’s Doctor Aphra series. That’s one of the things that makes the annual so impressive. With a passing knowledge and enthusiasm for Aphra and her friends, I had no trouble following this one-shot Star Wars adventure. Gillen, along with his art team, take us into the heart of darkness- the origin of Black Krrsantan, the Killer Wookie.
Cover by David NakayamaWritten by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Marc Laming with Will Sliney
Colored by Jordan Boyd
Lettered by VC’s Joe CaramangaDoctor Aphra has a troubled past full of parental drama and war. But what about her Wookiee shadow, Black Krrsantan? Find out just how this Wookiee warrior is as frightening as they say… …and then some! Rated T
The foundation of this annual is the story of Doctor Aphra’s murderous partner. That tale by itself is interesting, if a little predictable, but a good Star Wars comic (and a good Gillen comic) is never content to remain simple. While the plot goes to all the places you’d expect, the issue really shines in its structure and world building.
The story of Black Krrsantan is this: a bloodthirsty wookie volunteered to become a gladiatorial slave, and was given a metal plated skeleton like a gigantic and furrier Wolverine. That’s it, and the story is told well enough. That story is however, inserted into a framing narrative in which Doctor Aphra and her murderbot sidekicks need to combine stealth, deception, and computer slicing into an elaborate heist to find a fence for their ill-gotten goods.
The heist is almost needlessly complicated, but unnecessarily complicated heists are sort of the appeal of Doctor Aphra, and it gives the simple story some twists and turns and much needed depth. Even though the origin story is the main attraction, it’s really just the diversion within the larger heist. It also gives Gillen the chance to create two underground journalists of the Star Wars universe, and if you know anything about Kieron Gillen, he loves to write about underground journalists. The two characters are quickly fleshed out, and realized enough to support their part of the story, in an impressive feat of efficient characterization.
You pick up a Star Wars comic to spend some time in the universe, and this issue is full of goodies. For the first time I can recall in the new continuity, we see a squad of Trandoshan slavers (ahem, an “acquisition crew”) and they still suck. As a long-time fan of the Galaxy Far, Far Away, I always appreciate fresh takes on the old continuity, so reacquainting myself with the evil alien Trandoshans was a nostalgic delight. The issue also introduces the Undervine, the Empire-free alternative to the Holonet, where scum and villainy connect. How great is this idea? Don’t you want to see what the Star Wars version of the Silk Road black market looks like, or take a look at Bothan kids doing sweet ollies on their hoverboards? Post-internet culture Star Wars is full of possibilities!
The artwork is pretty good, but runs into a problem I’ve noticed plagues a lot of recent Star Wars comics: static motion. Panels look like freeze frames of a movie. They’re pretty to look at, but don’t effectively convey weight and motion, so everything looks a bit float-y. This was also the case with Salvador Larroca’s art on Darth Vader. Giuseppe Camuncoli on the other hand (who is currently penciling Darth Vader) has a much better handle on conveying speed and mass.
Gillen’s script shuts up every so often, to give Marc Laming a chance to show off. These still panels happen in a pretty brutal training montage, and again in a violent gladiator pit fight. They are full of droids, aliens and detail, but they look more like paintings than comics. Maybe that’s your thing. If so, you’ll dig the crowded panels, which are bursting with violence but for me, something feels missing.
That’s a minor quibble in an issue that gets to much right, including with the artwork. The design is top notch. Familiar alien species are fun to spot, and new ones look perfectly in line with the aesthetic of the universe. Ships are pretty yet functional. Most impressive is the fashion, which combines the capes-and-mustaches look of the early 80s films with some modern undercuts and style choices that no art director of the 80s would have thought of.
The most impressive aspect of the Doctor Aphra Annual is how many plates it effectively keeps spinning. It’s easy to jump into the issue and get a lot out of it, but it’s full of layers for fans keeping up with the universe. A character from the earlier Darth Vader series gets a mention, and Aphra’s story continues to zip along. If anything, the issue is a masterclass on how to balance an ongoing story, a one shot story, and a vast shared universe.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – A flashback, within a heist, within a vibrant and expansive universe.
