“Prelude to the War of the Bounty Hunters: The Wreckage”
Creative Staff:
Story: Alyssa Wong
Art: Minkyu Jung, Victor Olazaba
Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
MYSTERIES ABOUND ABOARD A DURGE-ANGED SHIP! DOCTOR APHRA and SANA STARROS discover an eerie abandoned ship while on a new mission from DOMINA TAGGE. But on board they will come face-to-face with a nightmarish horror not seen in the galaxy for untold eons. And then there’s….THE FEARSOME BOUNTY HUNTER DURGE!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Doctor Aphra began to insert itself into the War of the Bounty Hunters storyline with the previous issue by having… well, one page if you’re generous about it, or one panel if you want to be real about it, at the very end. Alyssa Wong was able wrap up the storylines she’s been working on, which wasn’t a long or deep one to begin with, and it allowed for an easy shift. This issue brings back Minkyu Jung on the art side with Victor Olazaba inking for them and it again looks quite good. Jung’s approach has worked since the start and with the stories that Wong is telling so there’s a good flow to events here and Rachelle Rosenberg’s color design helps to give it a bit more weight and continuity with the bulk of the rest of the Star Wars books.
The initial point of entry here is that Domina Tagge has sent Aphra and Sana off to find her cousin Ebann, an arms dealer that has been doing quite well as of late. But he’s gone off the radar and she wants to know what’s up since he is part of the larger corporate Tagge structure. Aphra and Sana’s approach is pretty straightforward as they finally find the large cruise ship where he was last seen but the whole thing is like a ghost town. It’s fully lit and operational but at first there’s nobody to be found. Then they start finding the bodies, which are in a bad way, and discover some strange critters around as well that are kind of dormant, which intrigues Aphra. The most curious thing she finds, however, is an invitation for Ebann to the upcoming auction of Han Solo, something that both women definitely react to.
What changes the dynamic is that a bounty hunter named Durge has arrived to capture Ebann for some client. Durge is an oversized knight-style type of bounty hunter with some comical weapons and an amusing approach to dialogue, but he’s not a bad guy when you get down to it. He doesn’t try and blame Aphra and Sana once he gets a feel for what’s going on and then when the thing that killed everyone shows up for them, they all work together to survive with some good shorthand that shows they’re all professionals when you get down to it. It’s a lot of fun to watch the trio work together and deal with the crazy little creatures that are attacking them, but you also wait for Aphra’s eventual betrayal because she’s looking out just for herself, though she’ll keep a cutie like Sana close at hand just in case.
In Summary:
This issue worked surprisingly well for me. Wong’s been decent with Aphra since the start but I’m still in a place where it feels like Marvel hasn’t figured out the best way to write Aphra stories yet and leaning into the ongoing events and other characters isn’t the right path. But this one works with how it ties into the event for once and I think the material with Domina offers something different to explore, even at a distance. Jung’s artwork works well and I’m amused by their design for Durge as it’s just comically done right for the character and personality. I’m definitely excited to see how Aphra handles being in the midst of so many competing groups, and interacting with Crimson Dawn in general, so there’s a lot to look forward to here.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 9+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology and Kindle
Release Date: June 30th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
