Comics Doctor Aphra (Vol. 2) April 2020

Wow, that is awful.

 

I liked this IDW Mace face. It reminded me a little bit of Picasso's faces for some reason? Not sure why, since it's not drawn in a cubist style. Maybe something with the mouth? Anyway, I liked seeing some stronger/bolder stylizations, and it feels like anthology-style series are a great place to play around with designs, since you're not obligated to make the stylizations or characters look internally consistent for very long.



To say something about the most recent issues of Aphra -- I'm having trouble caring much about the relationship, past or present, between Just Lucky and Ariole Yu. Like, it's cool it's there, and I don't want that facet of the story to go away, but I can't summon much of an opinion of Ariole himself, so it's hard to personally care whether they get back together or hate each other's guts forevermore or get into a "you're so bad for me" on-again off-again cycle or anything else that it might develop toward.

But I *do* feel emotionally invested in the sibling relationship between Just Lucky and Pak. I guess I'm ready to get my emotions wrecked if something bad should happen to Pak... But for real, I think I would really enjoy further exploration of the brotherly love and protectiveness Just Lucky has for Pak. It's endearing.

 

the art in aphra is trying to go a bit mangalite

 

So far enjoying this volume (Aphra being more empathetic is one of the reasons why), but hope her lucky streak (starting with being on good terms with Sana and having an interesting job and benevolent (in comparison to previous ones) boss, ending with recently escaping her greatest fear) will soon end and story will turn darker (preferable with the return of two particular murderbots).

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/marvel-december-2021-star-wars-comics-preview

Spoiler: Issue #17 solicit

STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #17

ALYSSA WONG (W) • MINKYU JUNG (A) • COVER BY SARA PICHELLI

LUCASFILM ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE
VARIANT COVER BY W. SCOTT FORBES

EVOCATIONS!

• DOCTOR APHRA and SANA STARROS stumble upon a STRANGE RITUAL…
• …And STRANGER ENEMY!
• Will they fall victim to a practitioner of an ANCIENT CULT?

 

Spoiler

This issue was decent, but not spectacular. For the entire storyline as part of the event wasn't that good. I'm pretty sure Wong could have done something more exciting on her own, if she didn't have to link to the event. That being said, I did love the artifact Aphra used in this issue and having it fry her electric tatoos makes her actually pay a pretty hefty price for her escape. Will be intresting whether/how this impacts her going forward. It will also be intresting to see whether the artifact and the lore behind it will be touched again, because as far as I can see, this was definetely new. Aphra leaving Just Lucky and Ariole behind on the Executor was really quite petty, but also fair considering what Lucky did to her in the past [\spoiler]

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/marvel-january-2022-star-wars-comics-exclusive

Spoiler: Issue #18 solicit

STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #18

ALYSSA WONG (W) • MINKYU JUNG (A) • COVER BY SARA PICHELLI

LUCASFILM 50TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE
VARIANT COVER BY BABS TARR

“CONJURATIONS”

• With STRANGE RITUAL MURDERS on the rise, DOCTOR APHRA and SANA STARROS’ hunt for ASCENDANT ARTIFACTS is growing dire!
• Their leads keep turning up dead, and they’re running out of time!
• They’ll have to delve deep into the secrets of an ANCIENT TECH CULT if they plan to catch the killer!

 

Wow Aphra found an artifact so nasty even the Sith didn't want to mess with it, that's pretty hardcore.

 

Thinking about the solicits for issues #16 and #17:

Spoiler

#16 solicit: Domina and Aphra "strike one last bargain"

#17 solicit: Aphra is shown holding a thought dowser like the one from issue #15

Boushh one-shot and other issues: Domina learns of Crimson Dawn's reemergence and their moles within TaggeCo

#15, Aphra speaking on the thought dowser: "In theory, anyone could use them. Like a lightsaber. But if the user was Force-sensitive... the effect would be crushing."

I am wondering (hoping?) if Domina is Force-sensitive like she was in Legends and wants to get her hands on one of these thought dowsers for... reasons , so Aphra is sent on a go-fetch mission for her.

We also see in the Boushh one-shot that Domina is more than capable in combat... combined with the objective of rooting out Crimson Dawn, will all of the above escalate into a Domina vs. Qi'ra duel someday? I'm scared to think of such a thing, because I can't imagine it ending in the favor of Domina My poor Tagges, they don't have the most winningest record when it comes to duels!

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/marvel-star-wars-doctor-aphra-16-exclusive-preview

Spoiler

 

Very much so!

Spoiler: Doctor Aphra #16

Ronen is so much less crispy than the last time we saw him! That bacta is truly something. I was imagining him covering up or replacing his burned skin with head-to-toe gleaming chrome cybernetics or gold leaf or something else ridiculously over-the-top and ostentatious to be a shiny deadly RoboTagge, but the cool jagged scars work too.

And he's still got a ring on! Hoping it's the sapphire-gem Ring of Vaale that he had all along. ("grants the wearer eternal life but drives them to madness") When we saw him laying in the rubble at the end of issue #5, he still had it on (same finger, even), and Just Lucky pocketed the crimson-gem Ring.

So, will he be even further along the path to madness than the average Tagge already is? Will he find out that "Auntie Domina" was seemingly fine with him being toasted and used the situation with Aphra to pursue her own goals? ("Blowing up my nephew isn't a motivation for revenge. It was a job interview, and you passed with flying colors.") Is he gonna attempt to take revenge on Domina? Does she still have any tender feelings for him, considering she used to "spoil" him? Are we gonna have some more wacky Tagge-on-Tagge drama?

Speaking of Tagge-on-Tagge drama... that damnable "SHUNK" stabbing sound effect from the Boushh one-shot came back this issue to haunt me!

Spoiler: Boushh one-shot

If Ronen can be revived, can we get my favorite Tagge a cybernetic replacement heart? Plz? Hell, Silas doesn't even need a heart, he made no use of his original one anyway!

Appreciated seeing this thread picked up again, too:

For me, it added some more tension around Just Lucky and his relationships with others that I personally hadn't felt as strongly in his interactions with Ariole and Crae.

 

Spoiler

After the War of the Bounty Hunters arc which I really didn't enjoy that much, this issue definetely saw the comic return to prior form. For me maybe the best one out of the current line up. Really intrugued about who the light saber wieldee is that Aphra and Sana meet on Coruscant. Maybe Aphras dad? Definetely not Vader, the appearance didn't seem to be his style at all. Ronens return is also cool. Crae still being alive is definetely intresting. Will be curious to see what kind of deal Ariole and Lucky made with Crimson Dawn.

 

Spoiler

I absolutely love Aphra/Domina dynamic, especially the former's reaction to the latter's praise.

Spoiler

My guess - either Magna Tolvan or (I hope) old pal Trip.

 

Spoiler

The Aphra bits in the WOTBH arc were fine by me -- a fair bit of running in place while the Tagge drama unfolded elsewhere, but if you roll with the repetition and redundancy of the plot points and stuff, some good character development was bubbling underneath. The books have never really had an "off" moment, they just have peaks where they're really humming and it looks like we're headed back into one of those phases now.

It's my favorite facet of the new "during the OT" lore, which has by and large been pretty good and intriguing stuff, just somewhat marred by unplanned pacing between the titles, to the point where the overall story kind of runs in place and spends too much time on certain arcs and then rushes to the next thing. I think the Aphra material shines partly because it's doing its own thing and doesn't have to hit expected story beats, and doesn't suffer when it does side quests, because it's a side quest of its own, and in pursuit of its own vibe.

 

Spoiler

I do agree that the Aphra parts of War of the Bounty Hunters weren't that bad, but I still think that this was a lot better. But the character development in War of the Bounty Hunters was nice too. I just hought that this issue felt a lot longer than it was, in a good way. While the WotBH stuff often felt like nothing happened. And I still think there was some new character developments in this issue despite many things happening. But I also really like this author she seems to have a knack for making the most out of a comics pages, something which I often sorely miss on the High Republic line, which has a similar frantic pace to the last issue of Aphra

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/marvels-march-2022-star-wars-comics-exclusive-preview

Spoiler: Issue #19 solicit

STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #19

Written by ALYSSA WONG
Art by MINKYU JUNG
Cover by W. SCOTT FORBES

ETERNALLY YOURS!

• The trap has been set! DOCTOR APHRA and SANA STARROS are ready to steal the ASCENDANT’S GREATEST TREASURE!
• But their search for the SPARK ETERNAL will lead them somewhere they never expected…
• …back to the place where Aphra’s archaeological adventures began!

 

That cover screams animated Aphra show pleaaaase!

 

Particularly a slice of life college comedy - I'ld watch it.

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/marvel-star-wars-doctor-aphra-17-exclusive-preview

Spoiler

 

Interesting combination of endearingly dork and terrifyingly evil with the new villain there. Might she out-Aphra Aphra herself?

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/marvel-star-wars-doctor-aphra-18-exclusive-preview

Spoiler

 

https://www.starwars.com/news/marvel-april-2022-star-wars-comics-exclusive

Spoiler: Issue #20 solicit

STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #20

ALYSSA WONG (W) • MINKYU JUNG (A)
Cover by W. SCOTT FORBES
VARIANT COVER BY STEVEN CUMMINGS
TRAITOR OF DAWN VARIANT COVER BY PAUL RENAUD

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY!

• DOCTOR APHRA and SANA STARROS confront KHO PHON FARRUS at the heart of an ARCHAEOLOGICAL RUIN!
• But they’re all about to learn the horrifying truth behind the SPARK ETERNAL…
• …and ONLY ONE will escape unscathed!

 

Spoiler

Ok was Kho Phon Farrus a classmate who had a crush on Aphra? If so which issue be would her regular self have been in (I assume it wasn't the current run)