It’s time for another “Doctor Aphra” annual. Does it learn from the mistakes of the first?
Cover by Casper WijngaardWritten by Si Spurrier
Illustrated and Colored by Casper Wijngaard
Lettered by VC’s Joe CaramangaOne’s a cyborg with a bad attitude, the other’s a cold-blooded reptile. They’re happily married. They’ve been hired by a mysterious contact to bag an ultra-deadly monster from the heart of an ancient temple. N.B.: For “mysterious contact” read DOCTOR APHRA, who — and this will shock you — is definitely up to something. N.B.: For “happily married” read THIS IS GOING TO GET MESSY.
You’ll recall from earlier this summer that I wasn’t a fan of the first “Star Wars: Doctor Aphra” annual. A combination of strange publication decisions, a script that tried to do too much in too little of a page count, and inconsistent art left the first annual a rather disorganized mess. As such, I came in to this one with low expectations.
I’m happy to say that this Annual took the criticisms of its predecessor to heart and is a marked improvement over the first. It’s not anything grand, but it sets its goals from page 1 and accomplishes them by page 33. It’s the student aiming higher than a C grade on a assignment, but not really invested in doing the extra credit for an A.
By definition, a comic book annual has a larger page count than its monthly or biweekly brethren, which in turn allows room for multiple stories or longer stories that wouldn’t fit in the traditional page count. Whether or not they tie in to the ongoing series, and to what degree, is a creative decision left up to the writer. In the first “Doctor Aphra” annual, the story followed right alongside ‘The Enormous Profit’ which itself ended in an interesting place for the Wookie Black Krrsantan, positioning the Annual as the place to develop that backstory. And as we discussed, trying to do too much squandered the opportunity.
With this Annual, there isn’t any tie in to previous arcs. Instead, we get a standalone story with the husband and wife hunting crew of Winloss and Nokk on a mission for Doctor Aphra, retrieving a monster from a temple for the good archaeologist. It’s your standard stand-alone story, perfect for an annual. I think of it as the summer blockbuster movie of comic book stories: it isn’t too deep or cerebral, just a focus on all the things that make Star Wars excellent: good action, fun banter between characters. The focus remains on Winloss and Nokk, with Aphra in a supporting role. Spurrier does not force her to have a starring role, but organically fits her in the story, letting these two hunters take center stage. And that’s with good reason: my preliminary research shows that they will play a part in the next arc of the series, ‘Worst Among Equals.’
That’s where publication decisions once again come into play. Whereas the first Annual ended up in the middle of a story arc (and in an odd placement that wasn’t rectified until trade publication), this Annual bridges two story arcs. In a way, it preps us for these new characters that will come into the main storyline very soon, introducing us to them in a casual, lighthearted way, without having to waste time in the main story to establish who these new people are. The plot they find themselves in is typical “Star Wars” fare, but you enjoy the couples banter that shows their approach to their life and work. There’s a good balance between Winloss and Nokk the marrieds and Winloss and Nokk the hunters. Neither side of them overtakes the other. And in writing the marrieds’ back and forth, Spurrier shows that he can provide sexy wit much like his predecessor on the series.
Joining Spurrier on art detail for this annual is Casper Wijngaard, who knows the Star Wars house style from work on “Age of Republic,” “Age of Rebellion,” and “Empire Ascendant.” He knows how to make the world of Star Wars look as it should, and doesn’t bust those boundaries. (This includes keeping his look for Aphra consistent and not turning her into an object for the male gaze, a major fault of the first Annual.) All that said, some of the things I love about the artwork for “Doctor Aphra” weren’t really there. There wasn’t much vivid color or impressively detailed large scenescapes. There weren’t many of those visual moments that popped, like a prison ship crashing into a planet or tension building through multiple panels. The one large full page spread of Nokk taking down the monster foe does have that breathtaking epic action look, but not in the take your breath away way that similar moments in the series to this point have done.
Continued belowBut, I must remind myself: those kind of cinematic epic scenes aren’t the type that are necessary to the type of story Spurrier is telling here: smaller combat moments with a lot of character. In that, I appreciate the artist working in concert with writer to respect his vision, even with some of what I consider the best of Star Wars art missing.
I wish I had more to say about this Annual, but there really wasn’t that much else to write home about. But don’t take that as a bad thing. If the goal of this Annual was to hone closer to the traditional definition of a comic book annual, as well as introduce us to characters that will play a major part in the next arc without having to use valuable script time or space in that arc to do so, then we can consider this Annual a success.
Next week we start the ‘Worst Among Equals’ arc, with a look at issues #26-28.
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.
