Doctor Aphra #11: The Return of Durge

The “War of the Bounty Hunters” continues as Ebann Drake and his entourage head toward Crimson Dawn’s invitation to bid on the infamous smuggler, Han Solo. Hot on his heals is Aphra and Starros. However this issue quickly takes a sharp turn as the pair find the ship empty, save for bodies everywhere. Then soon discover that the bounty Hunter Durge is also on board, tasked with finding the missing Ebann Drake. It becomes a fight for survival as the aliens that took out the inhabitants of the ship come for the three of them.

This issue, although certainly still a part of the larger “War of the Bounty Hunters” series, is almost like a self-contained story. It serves to tell a nice quick story, while managing to get the main players closer to the larger events of the series as well. It seems almost like more of an “Aliens” comic than a “Star Wars” one to its benefit. The Doctor Aphra series as a whole lends a very unique, but ultimately on brand experience for “Star Wars” readers. This chapter is a perfect example of that. No Jedi, Sith Lords, droids, Wookies, rebels, or stormtroopers appear on any page. However it does manage to have a derelict ship, alien invaders, and more scoundrels than an astromech can count. More importantly, it gets the main characters headed directly to the larger story, and has a lot of fun along the way. The only part of the issue that doesn’t pop is the sections with Just Lucky in it. Despite this series effort over eleven issues, Lucky is just not that interesting a character. Hopefully he will eventually hold a bigger role and become much more important, but his backstory and motivations are all over the place. If his addition to the current story arc doesn’t pan out, it will have been a big waste of time and page.

Of course the very best part of this one is the New Canon introduction of Durge. Durge was a bounty Hunter that originally appeared in the old Dark Horse “Republic” comics as well as the Genndy Tartakovsky “Clone Wars” animated series. He was one of the major villains in those series and stood alongside Asajj Ventress, General Grievous, and Count Dooku as a huge thorns in the Republic’s side. Unfortunately he simply never made it into New Canon with the rest of them. “The Clone Wars” was the CGI series that really bumped up the popularity of those characters, but it was pretty packed with bounty hunters already. It is possible that Durge just never made the cut, being replaced with fan-favorite Cad Bane instead. Whatever the reason, he is a delightful addition to the “War of the Bounty Hunters” series. He is large, imposing, armed to the teeth, and dressed head to tow in an amazing armor. This issue finds the New Canon version very much in the spirit of the original one. Although this issue seems to end with him in an extremely precarious position, he is sure to rise again in this larger multi-series event.