Wrapping things up with a bang.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kieron Gillen
Art: Kev Walker, Marc Deering
Colors: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
Aphra Jr. and Sr. have stumbled upon an ancient Jedi citadel…but it appears that some form of life has survived…and they are NOT happy to be disturbed.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The first arc for Doctor Aphra draws to a close and it succeeds in some areas and doesn’t work as well as it should in others. Kieron Gillen is clearly having fun with this and I like the strange and sweeping stories that he’s delving into to help expand the overall lore and history of this galaxy that’s far, far, away. And it definitely looks great as Kev Walker and Marc Deering deliver some great looking pages and character material, especially with Tolvan, while Antonio Fabela completely makes it come alive with some wonderfully vibrant colors through the digital presentation. That said, I wish the story connected with me more, which it did at the start of the arc.
With the revival of Rur in the citadel, things have gone in a pretty bad direction for the Aphra’s. Rur’s definitely wanting to know what’s going on since it’s been asleep so long but at least Aphra works to get some information out of it that basically paints a picture of how in ancient times it created machinery that allowed it to transfer its consciousness into the mechanical world but ended up allowing something sinister into its original body. What it wants after all this time, however, is revenge. And that’s hard to get considering everyone involved from the old days with the Jedi and Ordu are long dead, so the Aphra’s and the Imperials will have to do. That forces an uneasy alliance between the two sides to deal with Rur and that makes for some fun action bits as the art team really delivers in a great way here as it’s just so detailed, dynamic, and vibrant. And I like that we get a hint of potential between Aphra and Tolvan.
Yet… this arc did not work for me overall. After a fun start that also tied into Rogue One and A New Hope, what we ended up with was something that was more focused on the father/daughter dynamic that was brought into the series too soon and lingered too long. I like the potential of what can be explored between them but we really needed this book to launch with stories about Aphra and her team – which are largely absent from this concluding installment other than a brief nod to the Wookie at the end. With little in the way of the murder bots and Aphra being even more on the fringe than she was after tricking Vader, delving into family drama and really ancient Jedi material just couldn’t be sustained for six issues.
In Summary:
I really like Doctor Aphra. I thrilled to her role in the Darth Vader series and loved her role in the Rebel Jail arc in the main Star Wars series. And the first half of this arc teased some real potential before just kind of veering off in a direction that felt like it petered out. Perhaps it’ll read better in full than in singles form down the line. The talent here continues to be top notch but the story just couldn’t make it work. It’s definitely worth it for the time we do get with Aphra to understand her more as well as some striking artwork, but it has me hopeful that the next arc can right the ship a bit better.
Grade: C+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 12th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
