Doctor Aphra #37: Brutal and Brutalized

This issue begins a new story arc for Aphra and the creative team behind her. Same great writer, new artists. We find Aphra forced to work not only with the Empire, but also along side the person she fears to most, Darth Vader. This arc starts out very strong for the character, she is finally in her element of archaeological explorations, but gripped in constant horror. She is battling nightmares of how Vader will inevitably kill her. This drives her to avoid the cybernetic terror, but when she is forced to approach him, she begs him for forgiveness, something he simply does not give out. When she is working, she is typically dumbfounded by the people she is surrounded with. Aphra is the type to believe everyone is naive but her. To her credit, she usually is correct in predicting the failure of those around her, and using it to her advantage. This typically plays out in a “I told you so” situation. This issue is no different in that.

What is new is that here she does not have the upper hand like she typically does. The Empire doesn’t tolerate insubordination, so anytime she questions the leadership, she is given a shock. This comes across in a humorous exchange many times through out the story. The series has been a little bleak lately, so it is refreshing to see a little bit more humor thrown in that is less sarcastic, and more just slapsticky fun. It is important to note that the man behind the taser is none other than General Maximilian Veers, who will eventually lead Imperial Forces at the battle of Hoth. It would seem he was not only responsible for the attack itself, but also the effort in finding the base.

Doctor Aphra is not a hero. Despite being the title character in a comic where she is frequently sticking it to the Empire, she is most assuredly not doing it for any other reason that to save her own electro-tattooed skin. Throughout the series, she has displayed a ruthless desire to accomplish her own needs by any means necessary, including throwing allies, lovers, and family under the bus. This issue really showcases her negative qualities. At one point, she sets up another scientist to trigger a trap that brutally kills him. At another point, she abandons her sidekick Vulaada without a second thought. She is desperate to get away from Vader by trying to prove herself worthy of keeping around. That meant culling the competition. Despite all her efforts, she end of the issue presents her with her toughest sacrifice she may need to make, when the person she probably cares about most is uncovered fighting the Empire.

This series is constantly impressive, changing locations almost every issue and supplying challenge after challenge for our titular anti-hero.  Much of that is due to writer Simon Spurrier doing the series for a long string of issues. Unlike many new story arcs, this one starts right on the heels of the last one. This gives the series a wonderful linear quality as a whole. It seems the audience is just whisked away along with Aphra on all her continuing misadventures, rarely stopping for a rest. The series has done well in running a parallel timeline to the regular Star Wars comic. In that series, the rebels are looking to establish a secret base. In this issue, the timeline is slightly after that. The rebellion has found their base, and Aphra is there to help the Empire find it. It makes sense there is a small break in timelines here, as Vader is also in the regular Star Wars comics currently, and he certainly couldn’t be in two places at once. The art team is not the same as the previous issue, but was great at handling this one. The slapstick jokes were well done, as well as in conveying the terror Aphra feels in the presence of Lord Vader. It would be nice to see this art team stick around more consistently. The last couple art teams did well, but it didn’t have the classic Aphra feel this one did.