Doctor Aphra and the Enormous Profit

Kieron Gillen course corrects everything I complained about in volume one and delivers a solid, satisfying and very fun Doctor Aphra story. A few events have clearly happened between volumes one and two (issues 7-8 were crossovers with other events and aren’t included in this arc), but most importantly, the evil gang’s back together and Aphra has her hands on a sentient crystal, housing an immortal Jedi, who can also control technology. (I know it sounds weird, but it works.) What she does next, of course, would make Han proud – get all the galaxy’s baddies in a room and sell it to the highest bidder!

This is a great Aphra story because it effortlessly leans into the gray area between hero and villain that Aphra occupies, while showcasing her smarts, improvisational skills, and humor, especially when things escalate beyond her control. We also get some real funny robot dialogue with Triple Zero (aka evil Threepio), who is tremendously bored from not killing anyone in a while and throws a few wrenches into Aphra’s plans. Apparently, droids can have excellent character development too. Kev Walker, Marc Deering and Antonio Fabela’s art continues to meet expectations, capturing the kinetic Star Wars feel and color palette, even though we don’t see much planet landscape or space scenes. I also appreciated that while Aphra gets herself all dressed up for an issue or two, she isn’t sexualized.

Aphra, a wild card who lives in the gray area, is necessary to the Star Wars universe – a queer woman of color who isn’t defined by her minority statuses, especially – and so is a purely fun Star Wars story, which is exactly what I want in a Star Wars comic. Stories with Leia, Han and Luke often get boring or repetitive, because we know they can’t die or have character growth after a certain point. But Aphra, Triple Zero and Krrsantan? New, compelling characters and their endings are total fair game. And sometimes, stories where “the fate of the galaxy” is at stake gets tiring. But an immortal Jedi possessing a droid and shooting up a bunch of villains? Sign me up.

My only complaint about the book is that the only (female coded) woman other than Aphra in the entire arc dies. I’m not going to complain about the entirely male creative team every volume, but….no wait, I think I will. (Looking forward to finally getting to Alyssa Wong and Marika Cresta’s run on the character which started this year.) Excited for volume three.