Doctor Aphra (2020) #32
RIPPLE EFFECT
After Doctor Aphra’s harrowing experience with the Spark Eternal, she finally got a chance to talk to the team of allies, frenemies, and exes responsible for helping her evict the Spark from her mind.
Now Aphra is starting on her next quest, and it involves— Luke Skywalker?!
Writer: Alyssa Wong
Artist: Minkyu Jung
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Junggeun Yoon
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: May 31, 2023
Chelli Aphra is known for having a flair for the dramatic, but are there many more eye-opening first pages than issue 32 of the second volume of Doctor Aphra as Chelli opens a box to find a tied up and gagged Luke Skywalker inside? Understandably not thrilled at the situation or Artoo being powered down with a restraining bolt, he’s surprised to learn that Aphra is claiming to do him a favour. She plays him a decades-old Jedi holo, of Shaak Ti messaging Aayla Secura and telling her of a dangerous weapon called Kythoo’s Bell and a place called Sason Temple somewhere on the Outer Rim, where it can be safely contained. Luke hasn’t heard of it but Aphra has, and she knows how to take him there, and while he may doubt her motivations she makes a great point; how useful would that artifact be in his battles against the power of Vader and Palpatine? He takes the restraining bolt off Artoo, sits in the co-pilots seat and asks how far Sason is.
Dropping out of hyperspace in the Ark Angel IV they immediately lose most systems, a magnetic storm disrupting the ship. Needing to fly intuitively, Luke begins to work, and as Aphra aims for the egde of the storm Luke insists they fly in, as something is calling to him, like a musical note. Less than thrilled Aphra agrees, and they spin down to find what looks like a tuning fork surrounded by candy floss. Landing, she tells Luke all she knows, that the temple only opens for those who are pure of heart and stroing in the Force. Centering himself, Luke tries but nothing. As it has recently, the Force has abandoned him, and he describes the ripple in the Force from the recent Hidden Empire mini series. Aphra pauses, remembering Vader’s recent and very similar issues as he too lost control of his powers, and they both ponder on their situation as suddenly worm-like guardians form from shards to protect the tomb. Luke grabs his yellow-bladed sentinel lightsaber from Artoo and ignites, battling the creatures as Aphra tried to find how they were activated.
Aphra finds the emitter for the guardians, but it’s broken, and as she pulls her blaster to destroy the emitter, Luke reaches into the Force and the guardians explode. His place in the Force has returned, and as Aphra destroyed the emitter, they have no way of reforming. As Luke catches his breath the ground opens up and they fall down into water, surfacing to find Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti standing there, their blades ignited…
Well, that was a ride! Coming off the back of the Spark Eternal storyline, the title needed a fresh start focusing on Aphra, and that’s absolutely what we’re getting. None of her allies, no sign of the murder droids, just Aphra, her ship and the focus squarely on her as she embarks on the next stage of her life and career as Luke approaches one of the defining moments of his. The focus on Luke’s lack of Jedi knowledge in recent titles has been fascinating, explaining how he graduated from the defeated youth on Bespin at the end of The Empire Strikes Back to the far more secure and confident almost-Jedi of Episode VI. It adds heft to his character; Luke sought out the answers for himself, while Yoda and Kenobi continued to focus on the singular goal of Luke putting right what they couldn’t decades before. Aphra’s place in that is peripheral, but logical – she has her own game to play, but knowing what she knows about Darth Vader, Luke’s success is not without its benefits to her. Attractive to read, easy on the eye and a good change of pace from the prior arc, Doctor Aphra continues to be one of the highlights of the current publishing program.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Wong, Alyssa (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 23 Pages - 06/28/2023 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
