ICYMI! Doctor Aphra #37: They’re Coming For You, Tolvan

This series has been all over the place as far as narrative goes. Aphra has gone from artifact collecting, to working for the Tagge family, to even getting possessed herself by the Spark Eternal. Here and there, her series has crossed over into the muti-series events “War of the Bounty Hunters,” “Crimson Empire,” and “Hidden Empire.” Now this story arc finds the series embroiled in the “Dark Droids” event. In other events, “Doctor Aphra” has had sometimes a less direct, and sometime very pivotal roles in many of its issues. “Dark Droids” is a much more cohesive event. Instead of different series branching off into separate stories for a time, this event has the different series running much more parallel to each other. The progression of each stage of the expanding droid epidemic has hit each series at the same time. Once collected in a graphic novel this will be extremely apparent, as opposed to the other events which can seem all over the place narratively. Clearly, this event borrows from the interconnectivity of “The High Republic.”

This particular issue runs its own parallel stories in one issue with Aphra and Tolvan experiencing similar events in different locations. A larger story point of this phase of “Dark Droids” is the fact they the collective droid persona has now started going after cyborgs, of which Tolvan is considered. The last story arc had a reconnection between the two ex-lovers, and it would seem that is being used to fuel this event. At one point, Aphra is made aware of this entity’s desires to take over Tolvan’s mind, springing her into action to save someone she has lost and found over and over. This is not a new formula for Aphra at all, and many of the main characters share a similar desire to reconnect with people of their pasts as well.

The art in general for all the “Dark Droids” issues has been very detailed, and this issue is no exception. Extreme detail on ships and droids extends to every page. The colors are similarly just as bright as all the issues in this event. This particular chapter shifts from the cold blues and greys of droids and ships with the flashes of gold and oranges associated with Domina Tagge. This high level of bright color and detail across all “Dark Droids” issues is yet another reason the eventual graphic novel collections will certainly feel cohesive. However, the cover art seems a little drab in comparison. The issue is an important one in the “Dark Droids” event for another reason. It connects to the previous “Doctor Aphra” story arcs in a direct way as Aphra deduces that this entity might be connected to the Spark Eternal that recently possessed her. The issue further connects again to the multi-series event by showing a small handful of the cyborgs from other series that have not been able to escape either.