Doctor Aphra (2020) #40
NIGHT AS DAY
In an effort to stop the evil scourge from overtaking droids in the Tagge organization, Doctor Aphra made a daring sacrifice by driving the Tagge ship the ”Acquisitor” straight into the side of a planet, destroying the scourged droids and seemingly herself….
Writer: Alyssa Wong
Artists: Minkyu Jung
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Betsy Cola
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: January 31, 2024
Just a few weeks after the 42nd and final issue of Bounty Hunters hit the stands, so we arrive at the final issue of Doctor Aphra. We’ve been here before; this is the second volume of Aphra, one that itself sprang from the pages of the first volume of Darth Vader, and 9 years after she first appeared from the pen of Kieron Gillen she’s bobbed and weaved her way through the galaxy to the care and craft of Alyssa Wong and through this second volume they took Chelli on a series of engrossing adventures that have all conspired to bring us to this, the 40th and final issue.
At the end of issue 39 it appeared that Aphra had made the most noble of sacrifices, steering Tagge’s ship the Acquisitor into a planet in order to destroy the scourge, but the opening wordless pages reveal that Chelli was quick enough to leap into an escape pod and against all odds survive a rocky descent to the surface, where she exited the crashed pod and we hear her thoughts of how she’s always yearned for freedom as she ditches her communicator. Above, Sana can’t believe it, but Domina tells her it’s too late, how a lightspeed jump into a planet is unsurvivable. Magna Tolvan is still incapacitated and heeds her help, and we jump again to Epikonia and a fierce battle involving Luke Skywalker and the scourge droids as we once again hear Chelli ponder life; how everything decays and ends, and how exciting that truly is.
Aphra is inside what appears to be a huge temple, as as we flit to Sana and Magna mourning but believing she must have made it somehow. Magna tells Sana to go, leave her with Tagge and find ‘our girl’, and we see Chelli inside the temple and quickly learn what kind of temple it is as she identifies the book before her – an ancient Jedi text. She lifts it and leaves, knowing she could have it all, sell the book to make enough credits for a hundred lifetimes, but instead she calls Sana on the comm and Starros lands, running down the ramp into an embrace and a kiss. Aphra invites both her and Magna to join her in a ‘lifetime of crime’, and we leave the trio as we turn to the ISD Peerless and ISB Agent Votto engaging bounty hunter Raslkin Grace to track down Aphra, and jump to Canto Bight as Ariole and Just Lucky wait for Aphra, Sana and Magna to arrive, which they soon do.
We end this second volume of Doctor Aphra with Chelli on the run, a group of aliens angrily wanting vengeance for their destroyed ship and we close on Aphra leaping away and with that another era of Star Wars ends. What Alyssa Wong has done with this title is nothing short of remarkable, taking a character who has never been anything less than interesting but who could easily slide into the realms of predictability and layering in emotional depth that has seen her grow into one of the deeper characters in current Star Wars literature. When she’ll be back we dont know, and with Wongs star in the ascendancy it may well not be them who’s at the helm. Whoever inherits the roving Doctor has huge shoes to fill after Gillen and Wong, but until then the schedules will certainly be less colourful. A grand finish to a stellar run, and hats off to all involved.
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Wong, Alyssa (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 209 Pages - 04/24/2024 (Publication Date) - Marvel (Publisher)
