Comic Info
Comic Name: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (Volume 1)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Marc Laming/Will Sliney/Kev Walker
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2018
Doctor Aphra (1) Annual #1
Reprints Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (1) #9-13 and Annual #1 (September 2017-December 2017). Doctor Aphra has a potentially big payday ahead in the form of the “Immortal” Rur. Rur is the essence and memories of an ancient Jedi trapped in a crystal and a lot of buyers are interested. With the bidding on, Aphra could make a killing…if she doesn’t get killed first. Someone in Aphra’s inner circle is plotting against her and it could mean the return of the person she fears the most in the galaxy!
Written by Kieron Gillen, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Volume 2: Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit is a Marvel Comics Star Wars spin-off comic book collection. The collection follows Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Volume 1: Aphra and the events of the crossover storyline Star Wars: Screaming Citadel and features the art of Kev Walker, Marc Laming, and Will Sliney.
It is often difficult to get a comic created spin-off character of a popular live action series to get a fan backing. Characters like Jaxxon from the first Marvel series has tons of fans…but in an ironic sense for the most part. Fans seem to stick to the “core” characters, but Doctor Aphra is holding her own.
Part of Doctor Aphra’s fun is that they’ve built a great “supporting” cast for her. All of Aphra’s allies seem to hate her, and it is a tedious balance between working with them and always being threatened by them. Here, we get to see more of Black Krrsantan (a personal favorite) as his origin is explored, but we also get 000 and BT-1 acting at their worst (something which is always the best for the comic). Aphra might be the star, but there are a number of scene stealers.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (1) #12
What is nice about Aphra is that she presents a new type of Star Wars character. Han and Lando are always presented as “scoundrels”, and only motivated by money…but we only see them doing good things. Aphra is a true scoundrel. She loves money, she loves having a name, and she often knows the right decision but chooses the more profitable one…this collection goes a way to kind of show her thought process. She decides to save a bunch of artifacts in the end because she knows it will look good and potentially get her what she wants…it is a win-win in the mind of Aphra despite the fact she caused all the death and problems in the first place.
The main story “The Enormous Profit” also comes close to a big event. Aphra and Vader aren’t on good terms, and Vader believes Aphra to be dead…but this volume shows him others wise which could mean big events in Aphra’s future. I look forward to seeing where Star Wars: Doctor Aphra goes and since it isn’t tied to the movies directly, it feels like it has more freedom and liberty to explore the rich galaxy of Star Wars. Star Wars: Doctor Aphra 2: Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit is followed by Star Wars: Doctor Aphra 3: Remastered.
Related Links:
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra 1: Aphra
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra 3: Remastered
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra 4: The Catastrophe Con
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra 5: Worst Among Equals
