Yesterday saw the release of issue #36 of Volume II of Marvel Comics’ ongoing Lucasfilm-licensed title Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, and below are my brief recaps and thoughts on this installment.
Doctor Aphra #36 doesn’t begin with the title character at all, but instead at a rebel base in an undisclosed location with General Leia Organa puzzling over a missing supply ship. Then writer Alyssa Wong cuts to Havel Prime, which is where we last left Dr. Chelli Lona Aphra and her associate, the assassin Just Lucky, after they had gained entry to a Tagge Corporation warehouse. Surrounded by unusual-looking battle droids (who are, unbeknownst to our antiheroes, possessed by the Scourge virus), the pair must find a way to escape the facility or likely die trying. Just Lucky, of course, takes the easy way out, using a grappling hook to elevate himself above the skirmish, and then Aphra finds a bit of luck herself when the lover who stole her access codes last issue pops up out of nowhere to help. Back at the Rebel Alliance, we find Leia enlisting Captain Magna Tolvan (another of Chelli’s ex-lovers) in a mission to track down the lost ship, one that she readily accepts. Then we see Aphra quite callously– even by her standards– use Teviy as bait for the out-of-control droids, who apparently murder the woman without hesitation. But these droids don’t just want to kill– they make it very clear that they want to take control of Lucky and Chelli, absorbing their knowledge in the process. Unfortunately for them, Aphra is the only one of the two humans with cybernetic tattoo implants.
On Tolvan’s ship the Hawk’s End, Magna fantasizes about her time dating Aphra, in relation to the current situation, in which her crew has actually managed to track down the ship known as the Silver Arrow. But in trying to communicate with the freighter’s crew, Tolvan gets no response and prepares to board, not knowing what might be awaiting her team. And back on Havel Prime, Lucky does actually pitch in a little bit by sniping some of the droids as they pursue Aphra, but they both struggle to find a way out when the exit door’s mechanism gets jammed. Suddenly the Scourge-possessed droids all drop to the ground lifelessly, and the humans deduce that their backup batteries had run out. They return to Lady Domina Tagge with this information, still unaware of the “Dark Droid” menace that was the actual root cause of the issue. This is another good tie-in issue from Wong and her artist Minkyu Jung & Jethro Morales, whose work alongside colorist Rachelle Rosenberg really help deliver the appropriate tone for this story. It’s great that the creative team have found a way to give Magna Tolvan something to do that isn’t directly related to Aphra– just yet– and it’s fun to cut away to other Dark Droid-related happenings around the galaxy while we watch Chelli deal with the chaos as well. I am curious to see how all these crossover narratives will begin to come to a head as the event continues into its third month.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #36 is available now wherever comic books are sold.