Comic Review: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #10 (2020)

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Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #10 (2020)

War of the Bounty Hunters PRELUDE THE INVITATION

Rogue archeologist Doctor Aphra is working for Domina Tagge. The job: steal experimental hyperdrive tech from Domina’s rival, Beol De’Rruyet.

To get it done, Aphra has recruited smuggler Sana Starros. But the ruthless General Vukorah and her Unbroken Clan syndicate are also after the hyperdrive.

The trail has led Aphra and Sana to De’Rruyet Center, where Beol plans to demonstrate his prototype.

Bad news: it’s a dangerous fake. Even worse, Vukorah’s arrived and she’s taking hostages….

Writer: Alyssa Wong
Penciller: Ray-Anthony Height
Inker: Victor Olazaba
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Joshua “Sway” Swaby, Guru-eFX
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: May 26, 2021
Pages: 25

Before Chelli Aphra can get swept-up (along with the rest of us) into War of the Bounty Hunters she has to finish up her current job which if you remember is to nab a High Republic era Nihil path engine from her employer’s main corporate rival. The engine that De’Rruyet Industries has designed is far more dangerous than finished, and with their CEO fixated on demoing the hyperdrive technology in front of a not only a packed audience, but Aphra and Sana as well the stakes were high enough to begin with let alone before the venomous General Vukorah and her Unbroken Clan have stormed the building to claim the Nihil engine for themselves.

We left the previous issue with Vukorah in control of a hostage situation where she’s executing hostages one by one in the hope, she can motivate De’Rruyet’s struggling technicians to get the drive up and running all the while as Aphra and Sana try and figure out how they’re going to wriggle out of this one. The tenth instalment begins with a holonet reporter outside which is nice neat way to offer a bit of a recap to the end of issue 9 for regular readers but also the easiest and cleanest way to get those who may not be a regular reader of Doctor Aprhra caught up now Aphra is getting embroiled in Marvel’s massive crossover event.

I’ve felt that since Alyssa Wong took over writing duties she’s balanced all of Aphra’s personality traits pretty well and with is arc in particular found a way to balance the dynamic between Aphra and Sana without them constantly being at each other’s throats, which whilst entertaining sometimes can become a bit one-note. In this issue Aphra’s self-preservation kicks in whereas Sana, who is always the more altruistic wants to do the right thing and save any many people as possible. Whilst Sana’s intentions are good, she’s out of her depth here and so it’s up to Aphra to come-up with a plan.

So as Aphra plays for time trying to pretend to fix the Pathdrive, Sana leads some of the hostages out to safety and gives the waiting imperial security an opportunity to get the jump on Vukorah. Chaos quickly erupts with both the Unbroken Clan and Imperial Stormtroopers opening fire and of course should one of these stray blaster bolts happen to hit the unstable drive it’s going to spell the end of Aphra in an almight explosion.

Running out of time Aphra pockets a green power orb that is used to power the engine but she realises that green orb or not the engine is still going to blow but thankfully the blast won’t be as severe. Aphra makes it to cover as the ship blows and finds herself reunited with Sana who came back for her and as they high tail it through the exit Vukorah is in hot pursuit until Sana turns and snaps of a cracking blaster shot right into Vukorah’s eye. Whilst they’ve gotten away from the Unbroken Clan again you can put money on the General showing back up with a score to settle with Sana somewhere down the line.

Mission accomplished? No not quite.

Back onboard The Aquistor in Tagge Space, Aphra explains everything to Domina Tagge; how the drive blueprints were useless and that with De’Rruyt Industries is finished. Domina however is far from happy. As punishment she tries to imprison both Aphra and Sana in a energy field, but Aphra is just a little bit too quick and avoids it. Sana doesn’t and as the energy field deprives Aphra’s ex-flame of oxygen Aphra is forced to present the power orb to Domina.

Semi-satisfied Domina releases Sana and grants Aphra one final chance to redeem herself. She’s giving the job of finding Domina’s distant cousin Ebann Drake who runs the more shaddy and less official side of Tagge Corporation. No sooner than Ebann contacts Domina to offer her an incredible business opportunity he vanishes so Aphras last chance at saving hers and Sana’s skin is to track Ebann down. Aphra points out to Sana that the high profile Yacht that Ebann was last seen on will make it a nice tempting target and others will be on the look out so you can bet that finding Ebann Drake will not be plain sailing for the pair.

Meanwhile back on Canto Bight Just Lucky and his ex Ariole are continuing to work together and make a formidable team. They’re reconnecting in their own fashion which doesn’t quite compare to the tension that we see from Aphra and Sana but after their simple debt collection job gets ambushed the pair find a datapad with their both their names on. They were going to be bumped off as a way sending a message to their employer Wen Delphin of the Sixth Kin criminal organisation. Meeting back up with the crime boss Ariole and Lucky are told that a Sixth Kin traitor sold them out who is now on his way to meet his handler an exclusive event.

Could this event be taking place aboard a luxury space yacht? Heres hoping it would be a fantastic way to bring Lucky and Aphra face to face again and as the numbers will be even could this be the setting for a some fireworks? and lead or a reconciliation or a confrontation?

But that’s not all. Also making his way on the hunt for Ebann, and making his first canon appearance is Durge from Tartakovskys popular Clone Wars micro series. Durge was a formidable opponent to the Jedi back during the Clone Wars so will no doubt cause some trouble for both duos.

Like with the end of the previous arc this issue as action packed and rather than a conclusion Aphra is given a reprieve and is on to her next adventure. I don’t have an issue with this as this it seems Alyssa Wong is happy with “the continuing adventures of Doctor Aphra” rather than tying up all of the loose ends and for ninety percent of this issue wants to focus on ending this arc rather than setting too much up for War of the Bounty Hunters. But giving Aphra no real down time is a great way to keep the pressure on and keep the issues flowing naturally.

This was an enjoyable but slightly forgettable read all said and I felt like this was just a way to keep Aphra busy for the start of War of the Bounty Hunters. But that said I really enjoy how Wong writes Aphra and so I’m looking forward to seeing what misadventures await her in the coming months.

 

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #11 (Pride Variant) @ ForbiddenPlanet.com

 

SourceMarvel
Mark Mulcaster
Mark Mulcaster
Mark has been a fan of the saga since the early 1990s after rediscovering the original trilogy on VHS and dived right into the first Grand Admiral Thrawn Trilogy, he has been an avid Star Wars reader ever since. He’s been a member of the Star Wars costuming community since 2007 when he joined the Rebel Legion’s Elstree Base, the Base he now runs as Base Commanding Officer as well as also being a member of both the 501st UK Garrison and the Mandalorian Mercs Vok Chi clan here in the UK.
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Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #10 (2020)

War of the Bounty Hunters PRELUDE THE INVITATION

Rogue archeologist Doctor Aphra is working for Domina Tagge. The job: steal experimental hyperdrive tech from Domina’s rival, Beol De’Rruyet.

To get it done, Aphra has recruited smuggler Sana Starros. But the ruthless General Vukorah and her Unbroken Clan syndicate are also after the hyperdrive.

The trail has led Aphra and Sana to De’Rruyet Center, where Beol plans to demonstrate his prototype.

Bad news: it’s a dangerous fake. Even worse, Vukorah’s arrived and she’s taking hostages….

Writer: Alyssa Wong
Penciller: Ray-Anthony Height
Inker: Victor Olazaba
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Joshua “Sway” Swaby, Guru-eFX
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: May 26, 2021
Pages: 25

Before Chelli Aphra can get swept-up (along with the rest of us) into War of the Bounty Hunters she has to finish up her current job which if you remember is to nab a High Republic era Nihil path engine from her employer’s main corporate rival. The engine that De’Rruyet Industries has designed is far more dangerous than finished, and with their CEO fixated on demoing the hyperdrive technology in front of a not only a packed audience, but Aphra and Sana as well the stakes were high enough to begin with let alone before the venomous General Vukorah and her Unbroken Clan have stormed the building to claim the Nihil engine for themselves.

We left the previous issue with Vukorah in control of a hostage situation where she’s executing hostages one by one in the hope, she can motivate De’Rruyet’s struggling technicians to get the drive up and running all the while as Aphra and Sana try and figure out how they’re going to wriggle out of this one. The tenth instalment begins with a holonet reporter outside which is nice neat way to offer a bit of a recap to the end of issue 9 for regular readers but also the easiest and cleanest way to get those who may not be a regular reader of Doctor Aprhra caught up now Aphra is getting embroiled in Marvel’s massive crossover event.

I’ve felt that since Alyssa Wong took over writing duties she’s balanced all of Aphra’s personality traits pretty well and with is arc in particular found a way to balance the dynamic between Aphra and Sana without them constantly being at each other’s throats, which whilst entertaining sometimes can become a bit one-note. In this issue Aphra’s self-preservation kicks in whereas Sana, who is always the more altruistic wants to do the right thing and save any many people as possible. Whilst Sana’s intentions are good, she’s out of her depth here and so it’s up to Aphra to come-up with a plan.

So as Aphra plays for time trying to pretend to fix the Pathdrive, Sana leads some of the hostages out to safety and gives the waiting imperial security an opportunity to get the jump on Vukorah. Chaos quickly erupts with both the Unbroken Clan and Imperial Stormtroopers opening fire and of course should one of these stray blaster bolts happen to hit the unstable drive it’s going to spell the end of Aphra in an almight explosion.

Running out of time Aphra pockets a green power orb that is used to power the engine but she realises that green orb or not the engine is still going to blow but thankfully the blast won’t be as severe. Aphra makes it to cover as the ship blows and finds herself reunited with Sana who came back for her and as they high tail it through the exit Vukorah is in hot pursuit until Sana turns and snaps of a cracking blaster shot right into Vukorah’s eye. Whilst they’ve gotten away from the Unbroken Clan again you can put money on the General showing back up with a score to settle with Sana somewhere down the line.

Mission accomplished? No not quite.

Back onboard The Aquistor in Tagge Space, Aphra explains everything to Domina Tagge; how the drive blueprints were useless and that with De’Rruyt Industries is finished. Domina however is far from happy. As punishment she tries to imprison both Aphra and Sana in a energy field, but Aphra is just a little bit too quick and avoids it. Sana doesn’t and as the energy field deprives Aphra’s ex-flame of oxygen Aphra is forced to present the power orb to Domina.

Semi-satisfied Domina releases Sana and grants Aphra one final chance to redeem herself. She’s giving the job of finding Domina’s distant cousin Ebann Drake who runs the more shaddy and less official side of Tagge Corporation. No sooner than Ebann contacts Domina to offer her an incredible business opportunity he vanishes so Aphras last chance at saving hers and Sana’s skin is to track Ebann down. Aphra points out to Sana that the high profile Yacht that Ebann was last seen on will make it a nice tempting target and others will be on the look out so you can bet that finding Ebann Drake will not be plain sailing for the pair.

Meanwhile back on Canto Bight Just Lucky and his ex Ariole are continuing to work together and make a formidable team. They’re reconnecting in their own fashion which doesn’t quite compare to the tension that we see from Aphra and Sana but after their simple debt collection job gets ambushed the pair find a datapad with their both their names on. They were going to be bumped off as a way sending a message to their employer Wen Delphin of the Sixth Kin criminal organisation. Meeting back up with the crime boss Ariole and Lucky are told that a Sixth Kin traitor sold them out who is now on his way to meet his handler an exclusive event.

Could this event be taking place aboard a luxury space yacht? Heres hoping it would be a fantastic way to bring Lucky and Aphra face to face again and as the numbers will be even could this be the setting for a some fireworks? and lead or a reconciliation or a confrontation?

But that’s not all. Also making his way on the hunt for Ebann, and making his first canon appearance is Durge from Tartakovskys popular Clone Wars micro series. Durge was a formidable opponent to the Jedi back during the Clone Wars so will no doubt cause some trouble for both duos.

Like with the end of the previous arc this issue as action packed and rather than a conclusion Aphra is given a reprieve and is on to her next adventure. I don’t have an issue with this as this it seems Alyssa Wong is happy with “the continuing adventures of Doctor Aphra” rather than tying up all of the loose ends and for ninety percent of this issue wants to focus on ending this arc rather than setting too much up for War of the Bounty Hunters. But giving Aphra no real down time is a great way to keep the pressure on and keep the issues flowing naturally.

This was an enjoyable but slightly forgettable read all said and I felt like this was just a way to keep Aphra busy for the start of War of the Bounty Hunters. But that said I really enjoy how Wong writes Aphra and so I’m looking forward to seeing what misadventures await her in the coming months.

 

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #11 (Pride Variant) @ ForbiddenPlanet.com

 

SourceMarvel
Mark Mulcaster
Mark Mulcaster
Mark has been a fan of the saga since the early 1990s after rediscovering the original trilogy on VHS and dived right into the first Grand Admiral Thrawn Trilogy, he has been an avid Star Wars reader ever since. He’s been a member of the Star Wars costuming community since 2007 when he joined the Rebel Legion’s Elstree Base, the Base he now runs as Base Commanding Officer as well as also being a member of both the 501st UK Garrison and the Mandalorian Mercs Vok Chi clan here in the UK.
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