Now this is a motley crew.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kieron Gillen
Art: Kev Walker, Salvador Larroca
Colors: Antonio Fabela, Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
Because you demanded it! Following the blockbuster finale of the critically acclaimed Darth Vader series, the fan-favorite character begins an all-new journey! Following her time in the clutches of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Doctor Aphra has barely escaped with her life. If Vader ever learns of her survival, he’ll hunt her to the ends of the galaxy. But for now, it’s time to return to what she does best. With the droids 0-0-0 and BT-1 in tow, she’s off in search of rare artifacts from the galactic center to the Outer Rim and everywhere in between.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the Darth Vader series has been my favorite of all the relaunched Star Wars books of the last few years, the introduction of Doctor Aphra was probably the highlight for me. The character was like a breath of fresh air when it came to someone new being introduced and Kieron Gillen nailed it with the time she spent in that book, right through the end where I had worried that they were going to kill her off so that she could have had a complete tale told. Yet, here we are with her getting her own ongoing series and it’s an utter delight. This opening expanded installment works to flesh out her background and what’s going on in the present with Gillen continuing the tale while Kev Walker takes on the art chores to great effect, almost giving it something of an “indie” comic feeling as opposed to a Marvel series.
With Aphra pretty much in hiding after faking her death for Vader, she’s gone back to some of the things that she actually likes in finding ancient artifacts that don’t revolve around massive killing weapons and projects. Though that brought her fame it’s not what she started out wanting to do. Of course, this is a rough and tumble universe and this issue serves to show us that side of it as she doublecrosses a doublecross with a partner on a find and then has to do her best to get out of a deal with one of the locals that’s been funding her on this world. Through this we get a good handle on her personality, which feels a touch less crazy this time around compared to the Vader ongoing series, and an almost slightly more whimsical side to her when it comes to how Walker illustrates her movements and facial expressions. It’s the same character but her personality has been tweaked due to the changes in her life.
What also works is that with Aphra on her own mission, one that fails in amusing ways here in the long run, is that she has a pretty good team to work with now that also feels a bit different. Black Krrsantan is still pretty much the violent Wookie that we know and he gets some fun action here, but it’s the droids that have me the most curious. Yes, Beetee is still his usual self in how he wants to things, such as burning a body, but Triple-Zero is intriguing as we see him cleaning up a problem for Aphra without her knowledge and talking about how he’s actually enjoying being alongside her at this point in time. It’s not something that I expected out of him, especially since she’s not searching for hugely powerful ancient weapons, but it shows a kind of bond that’s forming that I want to see explored more.
In Summary:
With a lot going on here to introduce who Aphra is to the new reader while providing for some great fun for existing fans of the character, Gillen and Walker hit the ground running and delight with the dialogue, the locales, and just the otherworldly nature of it all that feels Star Wars but slightly to the side. I also love that we get a look at a young Aphra in this installment that explains a big part of her past that’s the focus of the main story here and that they brought in Salvador Larroca to illustrate it as I really love his style. This is looking to be a very fun book with a lot of potential to explore more of this fascinating universe that’s open to just about anything. Gillen delivered with Vader for me and I’m here for the long run.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: December 7th, 2016
MSRP: $4.99
