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Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016)
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 3: Remastered
Simon Spurrier takes the reins as rogue archaeologist Doctor Aphra jumps to light speed and accelerates into the next chapter of her life! Aphra is used to being in way over her head - but this time she's not alone! Who else is caught up in her latest misadventure? Let's hope they're friendly...otherwise Aphra may have finally bitten off more than she can chew!
COLLECTING: STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA 14-19
COLLECTING: STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA 14-19
136 pages, Paperback
First published July 10, 2018
87 people are currently reading
593 people want to read
About the author
Kieron Gillen
1,474 books1,911 followersKieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews
April 7, 2020
A fun heist story with some romance thrown in. It's about time some LGBTQ+ characters made it into the Star Wars universe. Aphra and an Imperial Captain have a nice game of flirtatious cat and mouse while Aphra is forced to go after Triple Zero's memories. It's fun to see the tables turned on Aphra by Triple Zero and BeeTee as well. The art and coloring by Emilio Laiso and Rachelle Rosenberg were fantastic.
October 13, 2018
Doctor Aphra was an interesting idea for a character, and for a few issues of the Vader graphic novel series, she was a lot of fun. But she's now become one of the worst Star Wars characters. The concept of an archaeologist in Star Wars has fantastic potential, but Aphra is not an archaeologist; she's just a juvenile, snide, bland character, and in her own series she is surrounded by other juvenile, snide, bland characters.
June 5, 2025
Aphra and her exploding Tooka's!
December 30, 2020
Actual rating is 2.5 stars.
This is a collection that continues the story of Doctor Aphra. In this one, the tables have been turned as the murder droids are now in charge.
I am going exactly in the middle for my rating because that is how I felt about this collection. There were things that I really enjoyed and things that aggravated me. The inclusion of a beloved character from a television series. I am on board and I loved it. Assemble a team that reminded me of a Suicide Squad where I get very little background on. Did not enjoy it and these characters. The artwork and the coloring. One of the strengths of the collection. A relationship that was thrown into this collection that does not develop naturally. Not so much. Basically, I liked the ideas and concepts when this was in the planning stages. The problem was its execution and at times took me out of this collection.
Doctor Aphra has won me over as a character but this collection was a serious setback. It was like the writer had all these ideas and thought they were terrific. Then decided to use them without any development figuring the reader will love them anyways. Unfortunately, I did not. I will read the next collection to see if this series gets back on track.
This is a collection that continues the story of Doctor Aphra. In this one, the tables have been turned as the murder droids are now in charge.
I am going exactly in the middle for my rating because that is how I felt about this collection. There were things that I really enjoyed and things that aggravated me. The inclusion of a beloved character from a television series. I am on board and I loved it. Assemble a team that reminded me of a Suicide Squad where I get very little background on. Did not enjoy it and these characters. The artwork and the coloring. One of the strengths of the collection. A relationship that was thrown into this collection that does not develop naturally. Not so much. Basically, I liked the ideas and concepts when this was in the planning stages. The problem was its execution and at times took me out of this collection.
Doctor Aphra has won me over as a character but this collection was a serious setback. It was like the writer had all these ideas and thought they were terrific. Then decided to use them without any development figuring the reader will love them anyways. Unfortunately, I did not. I will read the next collection to see if this series gets back on track.
July 22, 2018
What in the ever living hell has happened to Star Wars?
Remastered is a total travesty. A complete failure, and puts a black mark on Star Wars from which it will never recover.
In all seriousness though, Remastered is flat out bad. I’m not talking like “so bad it’s good” bad or, “well, it’s definitely not the best” kind of bad. No, I’m talking bad as in awful. Bad as in bottom of the garbage can. Bad as in easily one the worst comics I have ever read and hands down the absolute worst of any Star Wars comic.
I honestly had no clue just what the hell was going on and totally flabbergasted at what a train wreck this storyline ended up being. I mean, I thought Enormous Profit was a swing and a miss, but sweet baby Jesus, Remastered makes that volume look like the best story ever written. Confusing Droid rebellion is an absolute joy compared to the shit that was trying to be told her. I seriously have zero clue what the point of this mess was, other than to throw Aphra amongst some smugglers and give her a lesbian relationship.
And yes, boys and girls, we come to the real shit show of this collection. Aphra and Tolvan. Look, you wanna have gay characters in a story? Cool. But do it for the right reasons. Do it in a way that doesn’t feel contrived and gimmicky as hell. Do it to strengthen your story, not please the LGBT community. And you know what? I actually feel sorry for that audience because this stupid side plot was god awful. There’s literally no backstory and no real reason for Aphra and Tolvan to be into each other other than to show readers that Disney and Marvel are hip and inclusive and tolerant. That and to show, what I think, is the first homosexual kiss in a Star Wars story? At least the first illustrated one at least. This is what? The 5th is 6th Star Wars story that just had to throw that in to be all PC? Aside from Dark Lords of the Sith where Kemp made his character’s sexual preference actually mean something and have influence on the story in a way that worked, Remastered is yet another failure in that category.
The Star Wars comics of the EU weren’t all grand slams. To fair, a lot of them were ridiculously sub par. In fact it’s because of them and their varied quality that Disney cast them off and decided to rewrite Star Wars history. Wise choice or not, that’s up for debate. What’s not, is the fact that, since then, Disney (and to a lesser extent, Marvel) have systemically turned George Lucas’s vision into a refuse pile. Poor uncle George must be up in Skywalker ranch, pulling his hair out as the “House of Mouse” rips everything he created into shreds. Hell, give me back Medichlorians and Jar Jar. That’s heads and gungan tails better than this crap!
Remastered is a total travesty. A complete failure, and puts a black mark on Star Wars from which it will never recover.
In all seriousness though, Remastered is flat out bad. I’m not talking like “so bad it’s good” bad or, “well, it’s definitely not the best” kind of bad. No, I’m talking bad as in awful. Bad as in bottom of the garbage can. Bad as in easily one the worst comics I have ever read and hands down the absolute worst of any Star Wars comic.
I honestly had no clue just what the hell was going on and totally flabbergasted at what a train wreck this storyline ended up being. I mean, I thought Enormous Profit was a swing and a miss, but sweet baby Jesus, Remastered makes that volume look like the best story ever written. Confusing Droid rebellion is an absolute joy compared to the shit that was trying to be told her. I seriously have zero clue what the point of this mess was, other than to throw Aphra amongst some smugglers and give her a lesbian relationship.
And yes, boys and girls, we come to the real shit show of this collection. Aphra and Tolvan. Look, you wanna have gay characters in a story? Cool. But do it for the right reasons. Do it in a way that doesn’t feel contrived and gimmicky as hell. Do it to strengthen your story, not please the LGBT community. And you know what? I actually feel sorry for that audience because this stupid side plot was god awful. There’s literally no backstory and no real reason for Aphra and Tolvan to be into each other other than to show readers that Disney and Marvel are hip and inclusive and tolerant. That and to show, what I think, is the first homosexual kiss in a Star Wars story? At least the first illustrated one at least. This is what? The 5th is 6th Star Wars story that just had to throw that in to be all PC? Aside from Dark Lords of the Sith where Kemp made his character’s sexual preference actually mean something and have influence on the story in a way that worked, Remastered is yet another failure in that category.
The Star Wars comics of the EU weren’t all grand slams. To fair, a lot of them were ridiculously sub par. In fact it’s because of them and their varied quality that Disney cast them off and decided to rewrite Star Wars history. Wise choice or not, that’s up for debate. What’s not, is the fact that, since then, Disney (and to a lesser extent, Marvel) have systemically turned George Lucas’s vision into a refuse pile. Poor uncle George must be up in Skywalker ranch, pulling his hair out as the “House of Mouse” rips everything he created into shreds. Hell, give me back Medichlorians and Jar Jar. That’s heads and gungan tails better than this crap!
October 30, 2018
The artwork here was great!
The story? Not so much!
The story? Not so much!
June 12, 2018
This was weird. It just didnt hit any of the same fun highs as Vol 1 and 2. Yes the writer was a duo for some of the issues and the final issue it was taken over but I felt the actual story was just really quite dull and convoluted. However the art was probably the best I've seen so far.
July 27, 2022
five stars for hera syndulla
January 6, 2021
*4.5
Oh... wow. Aphra is swiftly growing on me.
Also, my goodness, you can't casually use that character in a cameo and expect me not to be distracted for the rest of the book!
More on that in a bit.
This whole book is a very packed story. It has a large introduction of some new characters, and they were surprisingly fun. The storyline itself is pretty tangled and it can get a little confusing at times but, honestly, that's how the Aphra comics go, and this kind of slightly-comedic, rushed, fun storyline. It didn't work for me when I first started reading this series, but it's grown on me.
I also liked that this book added a dash of romance into Aphra's storyline. I've been wondering if we would get something like that ever since Rebel Jail. And I must say that I was very hooked.
Now... that cameo.
Honestly, if that cameo felt more realistic, I would be a lot more of a fan of this comic. As it was, though, it was insanely fun. 4.5/5 stars.
Oh... wow. Aphra is swiftly growing on me.
Also, my goodness, you can't casually use that character in a cameo and expect me not to be distracted for the rest of the book!
More on that in a bit.
This whole book is a very packed story. It has a large introduction of some new characters, and they were surprisingly fun. The storyline itself is pretty tangled and it can get a little confusing at times but, honestly, that's how the Aphra comics go, and this kind of slightly-comedic, rushed, fun storyline. It didn't work for me when I first started reading this series, but it's grown on me.
I also liked that this book added a dash of romance into Aphra's storyline. I've been wondering if we would get something like that ever since Rebel Jail. And I must say that I was very hooked.
Now... that cameo.
Honestly, if that cameo felt more realistic, I would be a lot more of a fan of this comic. As it was, though, it was insanely fun. 4.5/5 stars.
May 14, 2019
I really don't understand all the negative reviews here. This was the best Aphra story yet and could easily be made into a blockbuster movie. I love the character--bad, but not evil (at least trying not to be), out for herself (often at the expense of those around her), but with just enough good touches to fully humanize her. I like the ongoing flirtation with the Imperial captain Tolvan, which leads to something more this time around. And the primary heist of Imperial information is handled just about perfectly. Nothing quite goes as planned and everyone seems to be equally screwed. I love seeing these more "adult" stories set in the Star Wars universe--Disney is never going to allow a lesbian romance in a picture designed for all ages. Great artwork throughout and Gillen hands the reins over to one of my favorite (and very underrated) writers, Simon Spurrier. Excited to see where this goes nest.
July 31, 2018
"MEH"
August 13, 2018
Every Aphra comic has gotten steadily worse to the point she’s firmly the Deadpool of Star Wars.
I now wish she’d died in that Vader comic.
I now wish she’d died in that Vader comic.
August 13, 2018
Doctor Aphra is back for yet another round of mischief. I know I keep saying this, but I really do love her character. I hope she manages to continue popping up for a while yet, her stories have been some of the most fun ones yet.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
August 1, 2018
I still maintain that Doctor Aphra is one of the greatest additions to the Star Wars mythology in recent years, but this volume confirms my fear about the character--she cannot solely carry her own title.
This installment tries to spice things up a bit by making Doctor Aphra beholden to Triple-Zero, the murderous entity in the guise of a protocol droid. Triple-Zero sends Aphra on a series of missions in which she must lead a group of mercenaries. There are some interesting asides as Aphra develops a relationship with Magna Tolvan, the Imperial Officer. Hera Syndulla also makes a substantial appearance, which was super cool to see. But in the end, much of it felt forced to me.
The problem is that Doctor Aphra works best as a foil to, well, everyone else. I love it when she pops into a scene, plays havoc with everyone and everything, and then leaves. She has the luxury of being an agent of chaos. She is naughty, hilarious, greedy, and lovable. But in a title featuring her, she doesn't have that advantage. She has to carry every episode from month to month. The writers seem obligated to reveal every little detail about her, and this is diluting the character.
In my opinion, Doctor Aphra has lost her "hook." She had it when she appeared in Darth Vader. We knew just enough about her and what she was about and we (obviously) loved her. Unfortunately, we loved her so much that they kept giving us more in the form of her own book.
I don't know exactly how they can fix this issue, and I fully confess that this may be my issue alone. Perhaps everyone else is loving the direction of the book and character. I think I would like to see the book function as an ongoing gag on how Aphra swindles everyone she meets, but we never get the stories from her perspective. Each arc would be narrated by her victims. That would afford her the ability to maintain her mystique and "devil-may-care" persona. It would take a great deal of creativity to constantly come up with stories where Aphra outsmarts everyone while revealing virtually nothing about herself, but I think that would maximize her potential.
Doctor Aphra does have a great deal of potential, by the way. Clearly, she has connected with fandom. I'm concerned that she's being overexposed, though, and that we're learning too much about her too quickly. I adore this character and don't want her to fade out of everyone's interest.
This installment tries to spice things up a bit by making Doctor Aphra beholden to Triple-Zero, the murderous entity in the guise of a protocol droid. Triple-Zero sends Aphra on a series of missions in which she must lead a group of mercenaries. There are some interesting asides as Aphra develops a relationship with Magna Tolvan, the Imperial Officer. Hera Syndulla also makes a substantial appearance, which was super cool to see. But in the end, much of it felt forced to me.
The problem is that Doctor Aphra works best as a foil to, well, everyone else. I love it when she pops into a scene, plays havoc with everyone and everything, and then leaves. She has the luxury of being an agent of chaos. She is naughty, hilarious, greedy, and lovable. But in a title featuring her, she doesn't have that advantage. She has to carry every episode from month to month. The writers seem obligated to reveal every little detail about her, and this is diluting the character.
In my opinion, Doctor Aphra has lost her "hook." She had it when she appeared in Darth Vader. We knew just enough about her and what she was about and we (obviously) loved her. Unfortunately, we loved her so much that they kept giving us more in the form of her own book.
I don't know exactly how they can fix this issue, and I fully confess that this may be my issue alone. Perhaps everyone else is loving the direction of the book and character. I think I would like to see the book function as an ongoing gag on how Aphra swindles everyone she meets, but we never get the stories from her perspective. Each arc would be narrated by her victims. That would afford her the ability to maintain her mystique and "devil-may-care" persona. It would take a great deal of creativity to constantly come up with stories where Aphra outsmarts everyone while revealing virtually nothing about herself, but I think that would maximize her potential.
Doctor Aphra does have a great deal of potential, by the way. Clearly, she has connected with fandom. I'm concerned that she's being overexposed, though, and that we're learning too much about her too quickly. I adore this character and don't want her to fade out of everyone's interest.
January 16, 2020
Finally catching up on Doctor Aphra. This is one is *very* dark. Comedy evil droids turn into actually evil droids and things do not go that well for our heroine. Except she gets to flirt with a hot cyber woman Imperial. Which is BRILLIANT! It's so nice to see queer relationships in Star Wars. Even if they are technically bad people. They are also terribly interesting and complex and much more so than any of the characters in the films. So I love it! Going to start vol. 4 this evening.
August 4, 2018
An extra star for Hera
November 9, 2022
That was REALLY fun and… absolutely crazy
April 11, 2020
This was SO. MUCH. FUN. Apparently this story arc was quite divisive, but I absolutely LOVED it from start to finish. Kieron Gillen and Simon Spurrier cowrite this volume, and I don't know who wrote exactly what bits, but all of my concerns about the new writer changing the tone of the book or the departure of Triple Zero and Beetee were completely alleviated in this volume.
Triple Zero and Beetee still factor into the story of Doctor Aphra in a big way, but I don't want to spoil how they are involved in this story arc. Doctor Aphra ends up working with a team of mercenaries to pull a high-risk, daring job, and they are a pretty interesting assembly of motley characters. I also really enjoyed how one of them was a background character you see for two seconds in the film Rogue One. I prefer when they tie things together like that--this wasn't a character that had ANY bearing on the story of Rogue One--that would have been too much--but just the fact that a background character showed up and played a prominent role here makes everything feel more connected.
The imperial officer Magna Tolvan who we first met in volume one plays a major role in this volume as well. She is obsessed with chasing down Doctor Aphra, whom she blames for her demotion after the debacle on Yavin 4. And one begins to wonder whether her obsession is about catching a criminal or more about the shared attraction they feel. They flirt with each other during their cat and mouse game, and every bit of it is delightful. It's very nice to finally see the Star Wars universe have a prominent LGBTQ character in Doctor Aphra, and the way they flirt (Aphra always refers to her as "sir" when they encounter each other) is extremely endearing.
Readers who watched the Rebels TV series will be delighted by a surprise character who makes a prominent appearance in this volume as well. Seeing how Doctor Aphra overcomes the challenges of the job she's taken on is always surprising and entertaining, and incredibly fun to read.
The art by Emilio Laiso is absolutely phenomenal--he is definitely one of the best artists who has worked on any of the new Star Wars books, and I certainly hope to see more of his work in the future. The coloring by Rachelle Rosenberg is perfectly suited to the setting and characters, and I particularly love her color design for the mad repurposed droideka that Aphra created to round out her merc team.
I'm a bit conflicted about enjoying a character who is such a terrible person, but Aphra herself seems to be conflicted about the terrible decisions she makes and the way she uses people. I hope she becomes at least a BIT better of a person in the future or I'll feel guilty for enjoying her so much--but I guess time will tell. I at least appreciate the fact that the story has addressed this and forced her to realize that she's bad people. I'm very excited to see where Aphra's next adventure takes her!
Triple Zero and Beetee still factor into the story of Doctor Aphra in a big way, but I don't want to spoil how they are involved in this story arc. Doctor Aphra ends up working with a team of mercenaries to pull a high-risk, daring job, and they are a pretty interesting assembly of motley characters. I also really enjoyed how one of them was a background character you see for two seconds in the film Rogue One. I prefer when they tie things together like that--this wasn't a character that had ANY bearing on the story of Rogue One--that would have been too much--but just the fact that a background character showed up and played a prominent role here makes everything feel more connected.
The imperial officer Magna Tolvan who we first met in volume one plays a major role in this volume as well. She is obsessed with chasing down Doctor Aphra, whom she blames for her demotion after the debacle on Yavin 4. And one begins to wonder whether her obsession is about catching a criminal or more about the shared attraction they feel. They flirt with each other during their cat and mouse game, and every bit of it is delightful. It's very nice to finally see the Star Wars universe have a prominent LGBTQ character in Doctor Aphra, and the way they flirt (Aphra always refers to her as "sir" when they encounter each other) is extremely endearing.
Readers who watched the Rebels TV series will be delighted by a surprise character who makes a prominent appearance in this volume as well. Seeing how Doctor Aphra overcomes the challenges of the job she's taken on is always surprising and entertaining, and incredibly fun to read.
The art by Emilio Laiso is absolutely phenomenal--he is definitely one of the best artists who has worked on any of the new Star Wars books, and I certainly hope to see more of his work in the future. The coloring by Rachelle Rosenberg is perfectly suited to the setting and characters, and I particularly love her color design for the mad repurposed droideka that Aphra created to round out her merc team.
I'm a bit conflicted about enjoying a character who is such a terrible person, but Aphra herself seems to be conflicted about the terrible decisions she makes and the way she uses people. I hope she becomes at least a BIT better of a person in the future or I'll feel guilty for enjoying her so much--but I guess time will tell. I at least appreciate the fact that the story has addressed this and forced her to realize that she's bad people. I'm very excited to see where Aphra's next adventure takes her!
November 12, 2024
Aphra have its ups and downs, but it is still very fun series (and most fun from recent and ongoing ones). And it's somehow fresh - Aphra is opportunist, the story balances in moral greyness and has fun note (and lot of interesting characters).
Re-read:
(3,9 of 5 for a decent SW story)
I completely forgot I already read this one. I did enjoy the reading, because it's very adventure-like, there are many twists as jumping head on but thinking two corners ahead is kind of Aphra's thing and some of the other characters too. So it's a game of chess who best guessed other's moves and thought most further ahead. And that's fun as long as it's not overdone. The art is OK-ish, it works but it doesn't fit more dark notes and undertones which appear throughout the story.
Re-read:
(3,9 of 5 for a decent SW story)
I completely forgot I already read this one. I did enjoy the reading, because it's very adventure-like, there are many twists as jumping head on but thinking two corners ahead is kind of Aphra's thing and some of the other characters too. So it's a game of chess who best guessed other's moves and thought most further ahead. And that's fun as long as it's not overdone. The art is OK-ish, it works but it doesn't fit more dark notes and undertones which appear throughout the story.
October 29, 2024
tolvan and aphra literally have the most compelling and complex relationship like… you have to be a certain type of person to understand them and BY GOD i am one of those people. one of the BEST relationships in sw, argue with the fucking wall
January 10, 2024
APHRA! TOLVAN! HERA!!!
September 4, 2018
2.5 Stars.
Aphra continues her drifting through the galaxy, now as a servant of Triple-Zero, the sadistic Threepio-esque protocol droid of Vader's. She continues to cross paths, with Magna Tolvan (who is actually a much more interesting character to me) who she also begins a relationship of sorts with. Add in the ability to use a certain small creature as a bomb, activated with the code words "Snugglebum Oogiewoogie", an adventure helping Hera Syndulla, and creating all her usual double-crossing hijinks, and you have Volume 3 of Doctor Aphra.
I keep hoping I will like this title... but something about it just doesn't sit right with me. Not sure if I will continue reading it.
Aphra continues her drifting through the galaxy, now as a servant of Triple-Zero, the sadistic Threepio-esque protocol droid of Vader's. She continues to cross paths, with Magna Tolvan (who is actually a much more interesting character to me) who she also begins a relationship of sorts with. Add in the ability to use a certain small creature as a bomb, activated with the code words "Snugglebum Oogiewoogie", an adventure helping Hera Syndulla, and creating all her usual double-crossing hijinks, and you have Volume 3 of Doctor Aphra.
I keep hoping I will like this title... but something about it just doesn't sit right with me. Not sure if I will continue reading it.
January 2, 2023
This one was very fun! Triple Zero shines as the star in this volume as he has taken the master role to Aphra now. Trip may actually be my favorite part of this series, though I’ve come to really enjoy Aphra a lot. I enjoyed diving into Aphra as a character, though the forced relationship with the imperial officer, because it felt so forced, is what hinders this book from being a 5-star story.
August 7, 2018
If you have not reading this series I feel bad for you. Doctor Aphra is trying to survive in a universe that has it out for her. From her former partners, love interests and Rebel General Hera !!!!
June 18, 2019
Not a fan of this "remastered" Dr. Aphra.....this was terrible compared to previous volumes. Weak story with stupid characters.
September 3, 2018
I’ve loved Doctor Aphra every step of the way and I’m so glad that they’ve given us this series. It does a lot of great things, especially in terms of adding diversity to the Star Wars canon. Unfortunately this volume wasn’t as raving of a success as the previous two. The concept was kind of standard (form a crew and steal something from the Empire) which is fine but it wasn’t well executed. I think the main problem was that there were too many new characters introduced at one time and that made it a little confusing to follow at times. Even with these problems this volume still manages to find success through consistently good artwork and fun/new character designs. I’m still really excited for this series to continue and hope that the next volume will find its stride like the first two did. 3 out of 5.
July 10, 2018
Oh, how the tables have turned. As Doctor Aphra finds herself under the thumb of her previous lackeys, homocidal robots Triple Zero and Bee-Tee, Magna Tolvan draws ever closer to tracking down the troublemaking archaelogist who has ruined her career. But when Aphra’s latest scheme brings her into conflict with both the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, the stage is set for an explosive confrontation…and maybe some romance along the way?
You would think that since Kieron Gillen created Doctor Aphra he’d know her inside out and backwards. But along comes Simon Spurrier to co-write this arc, and somehow everything old is new again and Aphra’s an even bigger breath of fresh air than she’s ever been. Both writers are reknowned (at least to me) for their unique dialogue and witty retorts, as well as scathing sarcasm, so they’re a perfect fit for Aphra and her world.
This is another caper story, with Aphra and a new band of friends plunging into enemy territory to try and recover Triple Zero’s lost memory data, but it becomes a lot more than that, with twists and turns along the way that will keep you on your toes right up until the final issue. The cat-and-mouse relationship between Aphra and Tolvan is perfectly pitched, and although we all know it’ll never last, it’s fun to watch it unfold as they dance around each other. Plus it’s nice to get some LGBT+ representation in Star Wars, right?
The supporting cast are surprisingly interesting for throwaway merc characters. The married pair are integral plot points, and the crazy probability droid that’s been painted psychadelic colours is hilariously Spurrier. They’re well defined in the short time that we’re with them, and don’t detract from Aphra’s story, instead enhancing it and driving it forward as well as making her examine her own morals which culminates in a final conversation between Aphra and Triple Zero that puts the entire adventure into horrifying perspective.
Emilio Laiso steps in as the regular artist for these six issues, and strikes a brilliant visual line somewhere between David Baldeon and Marco Checchetto. It’s expressive and fun, and the colours by Rachelle Rosenberg are very appropriate for the visuals.
This isn’t a sentence I expected to type today, but Doctor Aphra is a bit like Deadpool; her stories work best when they walk the razor’s edge between sad and wacky, and this arc most definitely does that, but never forgetting that it’s also meant to be fun. A new co-writer and artist do nothing to throw off Kieron Gillen’s rhythm, only making this third volume just as much fun if not more so than what came before.
You would think that since Kieron Gillen created Doctor Aphra he’d know her inside out and backwards. But along comes Simon Spurrier to co-write this arc, and somehow everything old is new again and Aphra’s an even bigger breath of fresh air than she’s ever been. Both writers are reknowned (at least to me) for their unique dialogue and witty retorts, as well as scathing sarcasm, so they’re a perfect fit for Aphra and her world.
This is another caper story, with Aphra and a new band of friends plunging into enemy territory to try and recover Triple Zero’s lost memory data, but it becomes a lot more than that, with twists and turns along the way that will keep you on your toes right up until the final issue. The cat-and-mouse relationship between Aphra and Tolvan is perfectly pitched, and although we all know it’ll never last, it’s fun to watch it unfold as they dance around each other. Plus it’s nice to get some LGBT+ representation in Star Wars, right?
The supporting cast are surprisingly interesting for throwaway merc characters. The married pair are integral plot points, and the crazy probability droid that’s been painted psychadelic colours is hilariously Spurrier. They’re well defined in the short time that we’re with them, and don’t detract from Aphra’s story, instead enhancing it and driving it forward as well as making her examine her own morals which culminates in a final conversation between Aphra and Triple Zero that puts the entire adventure into horrifying perspective.
Emilio Laiso steps in as the regular artist for these six issues, and strikes a brilliant visual line somewhere between David Baldeon and Marco Checchetto. It’s expressive and fun, and the colours by Rachelle Rosenberg are very appropriate for the visuals.
This isn’t a sentence I expected to type today, but Doctor Aphra is a bit like Deadpool; her stories work best when they walk the razor’s edge between sad and wacky, and this arc most definitely does that, but never forgetting that it’s also meant to be fun. A new co-writer and artist do nothing to throw off Kieron Gillen’s rhythm, only making this third volume just as much fun if not more so than what came before.
March 2, 2020
Another fantastic volume of Doctor Aphra. While not as much Triple Zero and BT-1 that I would prefer, Aphra has a new group or equally interesting mercs at her disposal.
May 5, 2019
Kieron Gillen nails it here, taking the best of Gail Simone's Secret Six vibe and throwing it into Star Wars. Aphra is forced to lead a team of disposable ne'er-do-wells on a mission of the 'utmost importance' for her new boss (0-0-0, in a good role but one that leaves him and BeeTee out of the action for the most part). Aphra's luck and pluck lead her through several absurd scenarios involving a decommissioned droid ship, a museum of failed Imperial concepts, and an appearance by a fan favorite who is well utilized. Along with lots of action and a strong romance that reminded me quite a bit of 'Out of Sight,' this has some of the funniest moments I've ever read in a Star Wars story - I was laughing out loud on almost every page for some sections. I'm not always in sync with Gillen's writing (I like Wicked and the Divine, but don't love it), but he knocked it out of the park here. The only reason I'm rounding its 4.5 stars down to 4 is because there isn't much in the way of real emotional impact for Aphra (even with all the romance), and giving 0-0-0 great dialogue but not much action. This is one of the best Star Wars comics I've ever read.
August 29, 2018
I thought Aphra was an OK character. Not necessarily groundbreaking. Then she got her own series and I thought, "Good. Let's make her some awesome female, galactic Indiana Jones and show that archaeology can be interesting." Boy was I let down. She has an uninteresting story and now they've turned her into the "mandatory LGBTQ+ character". It would have been fine if she had seemed that way at all. It honestly came out of nowhere and was extremely rushed. She didn't develop any feelings. She kind of just lusted after a female Imperial whose life she ruined. Yep. Makes total sense to me. I was extremely disappointed with how they approached her character development in this story arc, and lack of anything interesting to read. I gave it 2 stars simply because I like the art style.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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