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Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016)
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 7: A Rogue's End
After all she's been through, professional disaster zone DOCTOR APHRA is right back where she started: working for DARTH VADER. What villainous use has the dark lord found for her to make him spare the life of his most annoying foe...? And how long does she have to try to slither out of harm's way before he decides to finish what he started three years ago...?
COLLECTING: STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA 37-40, STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA ANNUAL 3
COLLECTING: STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA 37-40, STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA ANNUAL 3
144 pages, Paperback
First published February 11, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
September 5, 2020
Dr. Aphra comes full circle as she's back working for Vader. Spurrier does a nice job of bringing back a lot of the reoccurring characters. I for one am glad this current series is ending though. Spurrier has been spinning his wheels for awhile on this title telling the same story over and over. Casper Wjingaard's art is OK. Elsa Charretier's art from the annual is just plain awful. It's cartoonish and unfinished looking. Frankly it looks like she drew thumbnails on a cocktail napkin and then they blew the art up into full pages from that.
December 11, 2022
This is it. The final collection for this series. It comes full circle as Aphra is once again under Vader's thumb. How will she survive and escape this predicament this time?
This collection was a tough one to rate. It definitely had its ups and downs. I will say that I believe that this run has gone on a little too long so I am happy that it is over. I mean how many times can I read about Aphra getting into trouble and narrowly escaping by the skin of her teeth. This series has become wash, rinse, and repeat. We open with Aphra terrified that she is reunited with Vader. The problem with this is that the author played this scenario for laughs and I did not enjoy it. It played out like a comedy on television and when there was a funny line you could hear the laugh track being forced into the audio. Finally when we get back to what made Aphra an interesting addition to this galaxy is when I started enjoying this collection. Like I said parts I enjoyed and parts I did not. I can say this about the finale and how she wins the battle. Some of it was heartfelt which I feel stayed true to the character. I am not sure if I buy into how it was accomplished though.
As you can tell I feel like this collection is a mixed bag. That is why I went with the three stars. It does come full circle with the return of all the important characters that we have seen during this run. And that part did not feel forced. It was a satisfying conclusion but it will not wow you. I know this character comes back in a different run in a different time setting and I look forward to reading that.
This collection was a tough one to rate. It definitely had its ups and downs. I will say that I believe that this run has gone on a little too long so I am happy that it is over. I mean how many times can I read about Aphra getting into trouble and narrowly escaping by the skin of her teeth. This series has become wash, rinse, and repeat. We open with Aphra terrified that she is reunited with Vader. The problem with this is that the author played this scenario for laughs and I did not enjoy it. It played out like a comedy on television and when there was a funny line you could hear the laugh track being forced into the audio. Finally when we get back to what made Aphra an interesting addition to this galaxy is when I started enjoying this collection. Like I said parts I enjoyed and parts I did not. I can say this about the finale and how she wins the battle. Some of it was heartfelt which I feel stayed true to the character. I am not sure if I buy into how it was accomplished though.
As you can tell I feel like this collection is a mixed bag. That is why I went with the three stars. It does come full circle with the return of all the important characters that we have seen during this run. And that part did not feel forced. It was a satisfying conclusion but it will not wow you. I know this character comes back in a different run in a different time setting and I look forward to reading that.
March 23, 2021
Aphra schemes and scrambles her way to safety one more time, with some familiar faces making a curtain call along the way.
October 25, 2020
So that's that. A series that started very strong under Gillen, and then got more and more watered down the further it got. I don't feel Spurrier ever really understood the character of Aphra, his writing for her has always felt off, writing her with a dumb, obvious 'wit'.
April 30, 2020
So I just got through with watching the latest episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and it’s put me in a Star Wars mood (well, more of a Star Wars mood than usual), so I thought I would get a review together for the seventh and final volume of the excellent 2016 Doctor Aphra series, A Rogue’s End.
After saving the Emperor’s life from an assassination plot, archaeologist, scam artist and all-around disaster zone Doctor Chelli Aphra thought that she would finally be safe. Instead she finds herself trapped in the one place she has been running from for years, in the clutches of the most dangerous person in the galaxy, Darth Vader. Vader desperately wants Aphra dead, as she knows his darkest secret, his obsession with Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker, and it is only a matter of time before he finds an excuse to kill her.
Trapped aboard Vader’s Star Destroyer with her young companion, Vulaada, Aphra’s only chance to survive is prove her usefulness and help Vader find the location of the new Rebel base. However, Aphra is nothing if not resourceful, constantly looking for a way to game the system and extend her life. An encounter with a mysterious figure in an ancient temple seems to offer her the best chance of survival, until she finds out that it is her Jedi-obsessed father, Korin Aphra, once again causing trouble.
With the fate of everyone she loves in the balance, Aphra begins to devise another elaborate plan. With the help and hindrance of her ex-girlfriend, Captain Magna Tolvan, and the murderous droids BT-1 and Triple Zero, Aphra sets out not only to fool the entire Empire but to finally bring her affiliation with Darth Vader to an end. Can Aphra pull off the greatest con of her career, or will all her lies and deceit finally bring her the grisly end she has been running from for years?
To see the full review, click on the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2020/04/30/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
After saving the Emperor’s life from an assassination plot, archaeologist, scam artist and all-around disaster zone Doctor Chelli Aphra thought that she would finally be safe. Instead she finds herself trapped in the one place she has been running from for years, in the clutches of the most dangerous person in the galaxy, Darth Vader. Vader desperately wants Aphra dead, as she knows his darkest secret, his obsession with Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker, and it is only a matter of time before he finds an excuse to kill her.
Trapped aboard Vader’s Star Destroyer with her young companion, Vulaada, Aphra’s only chance to survive is prove her usefulness and help Vader find the location of the new Rebel base. However, Aphra is nothing if not resourceful, constantly looking for a way to game the system and extend her life. An encounter with a mysterious figure in an ancient temple seems to offer her the best chance of survival, until she finds out that it is her Jedi-obsessed father, Korin Aphra, once again causing trouble.
With the fate of everyone she loves in the balance, Aphra begins to devise another elaborate plan. With the help and hindrance of her ex-girlfriend, Captain Magna Tolvan, and the murderous droids BT-1 and Triple Zero, Aphra sets out not only to fool the entire Empire but to finally bring her affiliation with Darth Vader to an end. Can Aphra pull off the greatest con of her career, or will all her lies and deceit finally bring her the grisly end she has been running from for years?
To see the full review, click on the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2020/04/30/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
January 28, 2021
*4.75
Full RTC
Full RTC
January 31, 2021
The adorable, acerbic, annoying, anti-heroine archaeologist (and those are just the “a”s) Doctor Cheli Aphra has been a fun and enjoyable series within the Star Wars universe, but, as they say, all good things must come to an end.
So, with Volume 7, “A Rogue’s End” (kinda gives it away in the title, huh?) the Doctor Aphra series comes to its satisfying conclusion.
Has she met some friends along the way? Yes. Do most of them end up hating her guts? Probably. Has she done more harm than good? Debatable. More importantly, has she learned anything about herself? It’s a toss-up.
She does manage to do a few selfless things in this one, actually helping the few handful of people she can call loved ones. She also manages to outwit and escape the clutches of Darth Vader, which isn’t easy to do for someone who is not only weak in the Force but purposely thumbs her nose at and gives a raspberry to the Force on a constant basis.
So, all in all, it was a good series. Is it really over? The writer, Simon Spurrier, certainly left it open pretty wide in the end, so I’m gonna say nahh. Something tells me this isn’t the last we see of Doctor Aphra.
So, with Volume 7, “A Rogue’s End” (kinda gives it away in the title, huh?) the Doctor Aphra series comes to its satisfying conclusion.
Has she met some friends along the way? Yes. Do most of them end up hating her guts? Probably. Has she done more harm than good? Debatable. More importantly, has she learned anything about herself? It’s a toss-up.
She does manage to do a few selfless things in this one, actually helping the few handful of people she can call loved ones. She also manages to outwit and escape the clutches of Darth Vader, which isn’t easy to do for someone who is not only weak in the Force but purposely thumbs her nose at and gives a raspberry to the Force on a constant basis.
So, all in all, it was a good series. Is it really over? The writer, Simon Spurrier, certainly left it open pretty wide in the end, so I’m gonna say nahh. Something tells me this isn’t the last we see of Doctor Aphra.
March 5, 2020
Doctor Aphra's adventures come to an end in this final volume (at least for now), as she finds herself under Darth Vader's boot once more. But with the consequences of her actions finally catching up to her, it's time to revisit all her supporting characters as Aphra stitches together one final plot to save herself and, more importantly, the people she cares about.
Aphra backed into a corner is often one of two things - painful, because she breaks down, and painful, because it makes her betray herself and everyone she knows. Wait, that's the same thing. Oh.
So this final volume feels like a return to form, and an end to the cycle. We first met Doctor Aphra as a Darth Vader supporting character, and now she finds herself working for the Dark Lord once again. But this time, their final confrontation feels far more cathartic after everything Aphra has learned both about him and herself. Even when it looks like she's breaking every self-imposed rule she has, it all ends quite nicely, and leaves the character(s) in good places for a new series springboard as well as being an almost happy ending.
We actually get two final issue type stories, with the final issue of the series and the back-up story from Star Wars: Empire Ascendant revisiting Aphra's final words from different perspectives. Oh, and there's a convoluted little annual that works really well and brings back Winloss and Nokk, if you like them.
The art in this volume is far more consistent, with Spurrier's Angelic collaborator Caspar Wijngaard (yes I googled it) drawing all of the main issues and the back-up all to himself, while Unstoppable Wasp's Elsa Charretier (googled that one too) handles the annual in a style very reminiscent of the IDW Star Wars comics, actually.
Aphra ends, as she always does, somewhere in between the light and the dark. But while she may be off hiding for now, you just know it won't be long before the next big score tempts her back into the spotlight - and I for one cannot wait. You want to find the greatest addition the Star Wars universe since Disney took over? Look no further.
Aphra backed into a corner is often one of two things - painful, because she breaks down, and painful, because it makes her betray herself and everyone she knows. Wait, that's the same thing. Oh.
So this final volume feels like a return to form, and an end to the cycle. We first met Doctor Aphra as a Darth Vader supporting character, and now she finds herself working for the Dark Lord once again. But this time, their final confrontation feels far more cathartic after everything Aphra has learned both about him and herself. Even when it looks like she's breaking every self-imposed rule she has, it all ends quite nicely, and leaves the character(s) in good places for a new series springboard as well as being an almost happy ending.
We actually get two final issue type stories, with the final issue of the series and the back-up story from Star Wars: Empire Ascendant revisiting Aphra's final words from different perspectives. Oh, and there's a convoluted little annual that works really well and brings back Winloss and Nokk, if you like them.
The art in this volume is far more consistent, with Spurrier's Angelic collaborator Caspar Wijngaard (yes I googled it) drawing all of the main issues and the back-up all to himself, while Unstoppable Wasp's Elsa Charretier (googled that one too) handles the annual in a style very reminiscent of the IDW Star Wars comics, actually.
Aphra ends, as she always does, somewhere in between the light and the dark. But while she may be off hiding for now, you just know it won't be long before the next big score tempts her back into the spotlight - and I for one cannot wait. You want to find the greatest addition the Star Wars universe since Disney took over? Look no further.
July 20, 2020
Not a very exciting conclusion, but I did enjoy seeing Doctor Aphra run amok through the Star Wars universe, as usual. The final issues, however, were too repetitive, which led to her final monologue becoming tedious rather than inspirational.
The drawing style for Aphra really does fluctuate and I definitely prefer the more detailed styles from the issue covers to the minimal, blank-eyes of the main illustrations. Ah well.
Hopefully the 2020 Doctor Aphra run will be fun!
The drawing style for Aphra really does fluctuate and I definitely prefer the more detailed styles from the issue covers to the minimal, blank-eyes of the main illustrations. Ah well.
Hopefully the 2020 Doctor Aphra run will be fun!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2021
A satisfying and fitting end (for now) for the not-so-good doctor. Loved seeing more of and Aphra's monologue made me tear up.
October 18, 2020
This review was originally posted over at my blog, The Grimoire Reliquary. Check it out!
Previous | Next?
Here it is, the last chapter in Simon Spurrier’s Doctor Aphra run. It’s a love letter to the character he spent three years writing, through some excellent ups and a few mediocre downs. A Rogue’s End concludes on a high note, however, and one that convinces me that following this character has been worthwhile.
It ends where it began, but much worse.
Doctor Aphra is once more working under the Dark Lord of the Sith DARTH VADER* but this time is on the shortest of leashes, the only reason she’s still breathing due to her saving the life of Emperor PALPATINE**. The cover of the volume captures her precarious position with Vader perfectly:
Gorgeous cover art by Ashley Witter, as always.
How long can the fury of the angriest Sith in the galaxy be contained? The answer is in the question, and with that ticking clock at the back of every reader’s mind, there’s an undercurrent of tension which serves Mr. Spurrier very well indeed. Vader is his threatening self. I’m sure some might be unhappy with the resolution at display, but I quite liked the place he and Aphra ended up at. I’m sure that won’t come back to bite her in the face.
This volume sees the return of all the important people in Chelli Aphra’s life, from everyone’s favourite pair of homicidal droids, Trip and BT-1 to her old man, to the brutal wookie Krrsantan and in the third Aphra annual. Most important for many will be Magna Tolvan’s return; the contentious relationship between the two lover-nemeses (a term all too rare in Star Wars) comes to a head in typical fashion, where Aphra and ‘Sir’ are concerned — blood, betrayal, and banging. Look, I had to go all the way with the alliteration.
[image error]
Seeing Aphra on board the Executioner offers several funny moments, from her interactions with Vulaada Klam (now working as Imperial cleaning staff and bunking with Chelli) to the spite her fellow archaeologists hold for her, to the off-hand comedic tasing she suffers from at the hands of an Imperial general whenever she lets her mouth get away from her.
But what Doctor Aphra is good at is interposing humour with questions of morality, loyalty, and the perennial selfishness of our title character. Her inability to do the decent thing has been well recorded, but the question whether she is capable of change, one way or the other, might just be answered.
The last issue proper in the run (though the third to last piece in the trade paperback) has some words of Aphra’s I particularly enjoyed:
As for the art, I’m not an enormous fan of Caspar Wijngaard’s art, but it is at the very least consistent. What I dislike most is the way he draws eyes — other than that, the line art is good enough; but Aphra’s eyes are so lifeless. And not just her — but then again, maybe it’s the fault of color artist Lee Loughridge for using simple, monochrome colours. I’ve been trying to figure out for a while what I find wrong with the art and it’s this — shame, that.
A Rogue’s End is a lot of fun — the whole of Spurrier’s Doctor Aphra run has been a blast for me, despite the dip in quality in the middle. I give you my hearty recommendation to check it out, and will be giving this a 4.5/5 score on Goodreads.
What’s next for the good Doctor? I’ll find out in January 2021, when the trade paperback of Alyssa Wong’s first volume comes out!
Until then, join me next week for another dose of Star Wars goodness!
*I wanted to sound a little like the opening crawl of a Star Wars movie, for a minute there.
**Read above. Also, this refers to the events of the previous volume.
Previous | Next?
Here it is, the last chapter in Simon Spurrier’s Doctor Aphra run. It’s a love letter to the character he spent three years writing, through some excellent ups and a few mediocre downs. A Rogue’s End concludes on a high note, however, and one that convinces me that following this character has been worthwhile.
It ends where it began, but much worse.
Doctor Aphra is once more working under the Dark Lord of the Sith DARTH VADER* but this time is on the shortest of leashes, the only reason she’s still breathing due to her saving the life of Emperor PALPATINE**. The cover of the volume captures her precarious position with Vader perfectly:
Gorgeous cover art by Ashley Witter, as always.
How long can the fury of the angriest Sith in the galaxy be contained? The answer is in the question, and with that ticking clock at the back of every reader’s mind, there’s an undercurrent of tension which serves Mr. Spurrier very well indeed. Vader is his threatening self. I’m sure some might be unhappy with the resolution at display, but I quite liked the place he and Aphra ended up at. I’m sure that won’t come back to bite her in the face.
This volume sees the return of all the important people in Chelli Aphra’s life, from everyone’s favourite pair of homicidal droids, Trip and BT-1 to her old man, to the brutal wookie Krrsantan and in the third Aphra annual. Most important for many will be Magna Tolvan’s return; the contentious relationship between the two lover-nemeses (a term all too rare in Star Wars) comes to a head in typical fashion, where Aphra and ‘Sir’ are concerned — blood, betrayal, and banging. Look, I had to go all the way with the alliteration.
[image error]
Seeing Aphra on board the Executioner offers several funny moments, from her interactions with Vulaada Klam (now working as Imperial cleaning staff and bunking with Chelli) to the spite her fellow archaeologists hold for her, to the off-hand comedic tasing she suffers from at the hands of an Imperial general whenever she lets her mouth get away from her.
But what Doctor Aphra is good at is interposing humour with questions of morality, loyalty, and the perennial selfishness of our title character. Her inability to do the decent thing has been well recorded, but the question whether she is capable of change, one way or the other, might just be answered.
The last issue proper in the run (though the third to last piece in the trade paperback) has some words of Aphra’s I particularly enjoyed:
Y’know, I spent a lot of my adult life kinda hot for discipline. The idea of it, I mean. Oh, not ust the Girls-in-uniform thing–although, sure, that.
But mostly–a galaxy like this? The jackboot always felt safer than the jungle. I guess it’s about time I admit I always made a little exception for myself.
Like–the tyrannical forces of brutally imposed order sure are impressive…
Just as long as they’re pointed at someone else.
As for the art, I’m not an enormous fan of Caspar Wijngaard’s art, but it is at the very least consistent. What I dislike most is the way he draws eyes — other than that, the line art is good enough; but Aphra’s eyes are so lifeless. And not just her — but then again, maybe it’s the fault of color artist Lee Loughridge for using simple, monochrome colours. I’ve been trying to figure out for a while what I find wrong with the art and it’s this — shame, that.
A Rogue’s End is a lot of fun — the whole of Spurrier’s Doctor Aphra run has been a blast for me, despite the dip in quality in the middle. I give you my hearty recommendation to check it out, and will be giving this a 4.5/5 score on Goodreads.
What’s next for the good Doctor? I’ll find out in January 2021, when the trade paperback of Alyssa Wong’s first volume comes out!
Until then, join me next week for another dose of Star Wars goodness!
*I wanted to sound a little like the opening crawl of a Star Wars movie, for a minute there.
**Read above. Also, this refers to the events of the previous volume.
November 30, 2024
*sobs* dr Aphra deserves love!!!
October 30, 2020
Dr Alpra is my favorite new Star Wars Character as she has Vader, the Resistance and her exes all gunning for her. In this one, Dr. Alpra has to trick everyone, while at the same time getting everyone to some sort of safety .
January 13, 2024
Well, that was a fun series!
September 4, 2020
This is the final volume of Doctor Aphra's first series, and the last arc by writer Simon Spurrier. I wish I could say that Doctor Aphra's first series went out with a bang, but it was largely disappointing, and perhaps the unnecessary reboot is just what the book could use to inject some new life into it with a new creative team.
In this volume, Aprha is ostensibly back in the good graces of the Empire after very publicly thwarting a plot to assassinate Palpatine. So the Empire "rewards" her by recruiting her onto a team of archaeologists selected to determine likely locations for the Rebels' secret new base. Once again, in the hands of Spurrier's scripting, Aphra laments that she's a terrible person and just can't change her nature, right before she does several selfless things that belie her nature. But any semblance of character growth is discarded as she then goes back to her backstabbing ways. It's quite tedious at this point--I really enjoyed this character with Kieron Gillen at the helm, but I'm not enjoying Spurrier's take on her at all. She just keeps spinning in circles, and yes, I realize that some people do that, but it doesn't make for an enjoyable character journey.
The thing that probably bothered me more than anything else in this volume is how utterly out of character Vader acted during this arc. Throughout her series, Aphra has dreaded the boogeyman of Vader who had promised to kill her at the end of his self-titled series in which she was introduced. Then, despite her disrespecting Vader left and right, Vader repeatedly tolerates her behavior and does nothing about it. The story makes some weak attempts to explain her value to the archaeological dig or that she has too much of the Emperor's favor for Vader to kill, but neither of those things really seem believable within the story. The other thing that was extremely upsetting was that .
The art by Caspar Wijngaard is okay, but it doesn't have any of the charm that some of the book's previous artists poured into the book. The third Doctor Aphra Annual is also included in this collection, which is a largely forgettable tale of Aphra enacting a convoluted plot to get revenge on someone who double crossed her once in some way we never even learn. So it's really hard to care about anything happening in this story. Monster hunters Winloss and Nokk show back up in this one, and by this point the playful banter the two characters used to have just comes across as straight up abusive, and I mostly just feel sorry for Winloss being trapped in what is clearly an unpleasant relationship. Elsa Charretier's art in the Annual is just plain bad--very sloppy, with dull bland coloring to go along with it, and not at all suited to Doctor Aphra.
It's a shame that a book I used to love about a character I once enjoyed has just seemed to trend progressively worse with each volume. Probably best that things are ending here, and I'm VERY cautiously optimistic that he new creative team might make Aphra enjoyable again.
I'm giving this a generous two stars--I've read much worse, but most of my displeasure comes from the disappointment that stems from how much I used to enjoy this series compared to how it ended.
In this volume, Aprha is ostensibly back in the good graces of the Empire after very publicly thwarting a plot to assassinate Palpatine. So the Empire "rewards" her by recruiting her onto a team of archaeologists selected to determine likely locations for the Rebels' secret new base. Once again, in the hands of Spurrier's scripting, Aphra laments that she's a terrible person and just can't change her nature, right before she does several selfless things that belie her nature. But any semblance of character growth is discarded as she then goes back to her backstabbing ways. It's quite tedious at this point--I really enjoyed this character with Kieron Gillen at the helm, but I'm not enjoying Spurrier's take on her at all. She just keeps spinning in circles, and yes, I realize that some people do that, but it doesn't make for an enjoyable character journey.
The thing that probably bothered me more than anything else in this volume is how utterly out of character Vader acted during this arc. Throughout her series, Aphra has dreaded the boogeyman of Vader who had promised to kill her at the end of his self-titled series in which she was introduced. Then, despite her disrespecting Vader left and right, Vader repeatedly tolerates her behavior and does nothing about it. The story makes some weak attempts to explain her value to the archaeological dig or that she has too much of the Emperor's favor for Vader to kill, but neither of those things really seem believable within the story. The other thing that was extremely upsetting was that .
The art by Caspar Wijngaard is okay, but it doesn't have any of the charm that some of the book's previous artists poured into the book. The third Doctor Aphra Annual is also included in this collection, which is a largely forgettable tale of Aphra enacting a convoluted plot to get revenge on someone who double crossed her once in some way we never even learn. So it's really hard to care about anything happening in this story. Monster hunters Winloss and Nokk show back up in this one, and by this point the playful banter the two characters used to have just comes across as straight up abusive, and I mostly just feel sorry for Winloss being trapped in what is clearly an unpleasant relationship. Elsa Charretier's art in the Annual is just plain bad--very sloppy, with dull bland coloring to go along with it, and not at all suited to Doctor Aphra.
It's a shame that a book I used to love about a character I once enjoyed has just seemed to trend progressively worse with each volume. Probably best that things are ending here, and I'm VERY cautiously optimistic that he new creative team might make Aphra enjoyable again.
I'm giving this a generous two stars--I've read much worse, but most of my displeasure comes from the disappointment that stems from how much I used to enjoy this series compared to how it ended.
July 30, 2020
An overly emotional and sentimental end to a run that up till now had been marked by a refreshing selfishness and amorality.
December 30, 2019
Ugh. There's always hints of greatness in the Aphra series but author Spurrier can't help but make a parody of Star Wars.
That's fine when it's self contained - involving the stale cast of characters (murder droids, aphra dad, Tolvan), but when the silliness comes at the cost of Vader's character it's just eye rolling.
Can only hope for Gillen's return to salvage anything from Aphra's character.
That's fine when it's self contained - involving the stale cast of characters (murder droids, aphra dad, Tolvan), but when the silliness comes at the cost of Vader's character it's just eye rolling.
Can only hope for Gillen's return to salvage anything from Aphra's character.
June 16, 2020
And that wraps up this story-line and this series run. It was a good one! I enjoyed the books each month. It did a good job of getting her into unsolvable problems and having Aphra figure a way out. The supporting characters really fleshed out Aphra and added nice dramatic tension. And they managed to show character development while still keeping her shady. Looking forward to what's next for her as we head into Empire Strikes Back era.
March 6, 2023
This series was wrapped up pretty well, but this volume fell a little short for me. The journey Aphra has gone through is one that has me looking forward to seeing more of who she is and what she’s up to whenever I get around to the current series!
March 26, 2020
After 40 issues, this story has come to an end. BUT, Doctor Aphra's story will continue starting with a new issue #1 set after The Empire Strikes Back just like the other ongoing series. I am so glad this comic is one of the continuing ongoing series at Marvel. An original character for the comics that is also queer and Asian! On the first page of this volume, right across from the writing credits, there's two women kissing. There's a lot more Star Wars (and Disney too) could do for the LGBTQ+ community in terms of representation, but reading this comic gives me hope.
This volume opens up with Aphra in the Empire's service yet again. She's a part of an archaeological team using their expertise to help find the Rebel base. The murder droids are back, of course. The romance between Aphra and Tolvan's relationship is so interesting. And complicated. I really like how it keeps coming back. Although I am hoping for some more permanent changes in the new series.
The third annual is also included in this volume. It features my favorite monster hunter duo of Nokk the Trandoshan and her husband Winloss. Black Krrsantan appearing is also always a plus. Mos Eisley is also a big part of the annual.
And finally, the epilogue is from Empire Ascendant which seems to be the lead-in to the post-The Empire Strikes Back content.
I give this volume a 4/5. I really enjoy this series, but this volume kind of felt thrown together instead of a true finale.
This volume opens up with Aphra in the Empire's service yet again. She's a part of an archaeological team using their expertise to help find the Rebel base. The murder droids are back, of course. The romance between Aphra and Tolvan's relationship is so interesting. And complicated. I really like how it keeps coming back. Although I am hoping for some more permanent changes in the new series.
The third annual is also included in this volume. It features my favorite monster hunter duo of Nokk the Trandoshan and her husband Winloss. Black Krrsantan appearing is also always a plus. Mos Eisley is also a big part of the annual.
And finally, the epilogue is from Empire Ascendant which seems to be the lead-in to the post-The Empire Strikes Back content.
I give this volume a 4/5. I really enjoy this series, but this volume kind of felt thrown together instead of a true finale.
March 4, 2021
Doctor Aphra has been a breath of fresh air for me Star Wars comics-wise. Although her character does remind me of an eviler version of Han Solo and Indiana Jones, the fact that keeps me want to read more are all the bad choices you see her making, often resulting in hilarious situations.
She's consistent throughout the volumes, so it's not a 'lets do this for fun/shock value' kind of mindless writing. I makes sense for the character and the story.
I'm yet to read her part in 'Darth Vader', which was her debut and before these graphic novels I've just finished, but considering how people who supposedly don't like Doctor Aphra and come back to say they hate her comic repeatedly in the comments (if there was any doubt before, this is a sure sign of her popularity) as well as that she was much better before she got her own title, I can only assume that she must be even better in the Darth Vader graphic novels.
She's consistent throughout the volumes, so it's not a 'lets do this for fun/shock value' kind of mindless writing. I makes sense for the character and the story.
I'm yet to read her part in 'Darth Vader', which was her debut and before these graphic novels I've just finished, but considering how people who supposedly don't like Doctor Aphra and come back to say they hate her comic repeatedly in the comments (if there was any doubt before, this is a sure sign of her popularity) as well as that she was much better before she got her own title, I can only assume that she must be even better in the Darth Vader graphic novels.
July 10, 2022
Overall I like this series but feel more embarrassed about that than I do with other dumb star wars comic books for babies because it's such frivolous dork bait. Very joss whedony, which I have evolved enough as a person to now mean as derogatory. When it's good it's great, but it has a quippyness to the writing that is grating at times, and it eventually becomes fairly formulaic. It's an impossible mission, everything goes terribly wrong, and then in a surprise twist, it was actually exactly aphra's plan the whole time. They try to meta-fy that by making her habitual third act plot twists into a character flaw, centering how she's always betraying people to serve herself or whatever, and that does some heavy lifting to lampshade it, but it's never quite enough to escape the almost procedural feel.
All that said: still lots of fun to be had here for embarrassing dorks
All that said: still lots of fun to be had here for embarrassing dorks
April 26, 2021
3.5 stars
Not quite as good as the apex of vol 4-5, but still a satisfying, mostly feel-good wrap-up of the series’s threads that leaves Aphra in an open-ended spot for the future. Her reacquaintance with Vader is memorable, and Tolvan/BT/000 all get some nice moments too. I’m sad to see Spurrier finished with Aphra, but I’m not sure he really had more stories to tell with her and this feels like a natural end for the series overall.
Not quite as good as the apex of vol 4-5, but still a satisfying, mostly feel-good wrap-up of the series’s threads that leaves Aphra in an open-ended spot for the future. Her reacquaintance with Vader is memorable, and Tolvan/BT/000 all get some nice moments too. I’m sad to see Spurrier finished with Aphra, but I’m not sure he really had more stories to tell with her and this feels like a natural end for the series overall.
December 25, 2024
(4,4 of 5 for a decent ending of this quite excellent Aphra series)
Change of art, change of heart. The finish of this series went for completely different art but also went for the reconciliation finale. And it felt good. I like how it stayed good to her character, no mindfuck or turning the tide 180. This definitely left a nice touch and warm feeling after the whole series.
Change of art, change of heart. The finish of this series went for completely different art but also went for the reconciliation finale. And it felt good. I like how it stayed good to her character, no mindfuck or turning the tide 180. This definitely left a nice touch and warm feeling after the whole series.
August 12, 2021
Excelente colofón para la primera etapa del que es seguramente el mejor personaje creado en Star Wars en los últimos veinte años.
Esperando con ganas sus nuevas aventuras. ¡Larga vida a la doctora Chelli Lona Aphra!
Esperando con ganas sus nuevas aventuras. ¡Larga vida a la doctora Chelli Lona Aphra!
November 23, 2022
hmm. made for a little bit of a weaker entry into the series, but i did ultimately like how this arc was wrapped up! fun, just not really as fun as previous collections. also i gave up on the annual lol
January 19, 2021
A great series with a classic open-ended conclusion. She did some good and some evil. I did enjoy the solutions that she always came up with.
January 2, 2023
A very nice end to the run. I hope we get Aphra in another form than comics someday, she really deserves it. What a great character.
October 24, 2024
When this is good, it's good--but I can't help feel like the denouement dragged on just a little too long, and like the Epilogue in particular was unnecessary.
April 22, 2020
Hello there! I hope you all are staying safe and healthy in these dire times. Like so many of you, I am stuck in my house with almost nothing to do, all for the sake of quarantine. I may have lost track of the days long ago, but I still have all these unread Star Wars books and comics that I all of a sudden have an endless amount of time to check out. The Dr. Aphra comics seem to be a good place to start due to the fact that it recently concluded and the planned reboot by Alyssa Wong has had its release postponed due to COVID-19.
The Dr. Aphra series has always been up and down for me, but at the same time I've consistently been drawn toward the character of Dr. Aphra and the chance to explore ancient star wars lore through her discovery of strange and crazy artifacts. The series seemed to improve greatly when Simon Spurrier replaced Kieron Gillen for the second half of the series following Vol. 3: Remastered. While not on the level of Vol. 5: Worst Among Equals, "Rogue's End" was a flawed, but satisfying, conclusion to this run for Aphra.
THE STORY: Picking up shortly after the events of Vol. 6: Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon, Dr. Aphra and her sidekick Vulaada find themselves conscripted by the empire. As the imperials continue their hunt for the rebel alliance and their new base, an archaeological task force has been set up to scour every old ruin in the galaxy for traces of rebel activity, based on the previous rebel base being inside Massassi temples on Yavin 4. After finding a lead on Ash Moon 1, Aphra finds herself force to work directly alongside Vader and the Triple 0/BT-1 team again.
After the last issue of Dr. Aphra, we have Annual 3. This is another story about the husband-and-wife monster hunters Nok and Winloss, who were introduced in Annual 2 and played a roll in Worst among Equals. The story follows the pair in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine as they team up with Black Krrsantan to hunt down and old enemy of Nok's, using a tip they got from Dr. Aphra. I think it takes place between the events of Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon and Rogue's End, but even if it takes place after Rogue's end it doesn't affect the story.
The collection ends with an excerpt from the one-shot Empire Ascendant, titled "Epilogue". It follows Captain Tolvaan, Vulaada, and Aphra's father after the events of Rogue's End, showing their reactions to Aphra's recording to them at the end of the main run.
THE BAD: While I found this ending satisfying, there were some flaws on how the comic found its way to that ending.
The biggest problem I have here is the climax. The sequencing made Aphra's final showdown with Vader feel uncompelling. I get that Aphra utilized a force-sensitive jedi shrine to power him down, but the execution didn't 100% work for me. Most of the time I had no problem with it- we've seen force sensitives in both canon and legends, even the ones who were innately overpowered, face a challenge (and sometimes even lose) against those who don't have the force utilizing ingenuity and various technological tricks to combat force powers. The comic does a good job explaining why Aphra is able to use this thing against Vader, but the sequence of moments makes vader look underpowered. I don't have a problem with the final resolution of the confrontation because it was otherwise explained in a reasonable way, it's just that it should have been executed slightly differently.
Also, it seemed like Vader was holding back, and being too soft on Aphra in the beginning of the comic. Given Vader's cold and ruthless personality at the time of Empire Strikes Back (in which this comic takes place shortly before the events of that film), as well his history with Aphra throughout both this series and Kieron Gillen's Vader, I don't understand why Vader didn't kill her on the spot. I understand that she's useful to him for the task at hand, but he also is bitter- and given that she miraculously survived his previous attempt to execute her, I would have expected more spite from him. What we got feels like Vader's personality was toned down for plot purposes or Aphra happens to be wearing main-character-plot-armor.
Another problem I had was that Aphra's father got on my nerves frequently. I get that his obsession with history is supposed to be the flaw that makes the crux of his character, but Spurrier often went to far with it. Sometimes, Aphra's dad just came off so dense that it became irritating.
The last problem I have with Rogue's End itself is the design on one of Tolvaan's sidekicks. I forget the character's name and I know she's a recurring character from previous volumes, but she has a very similar outfit to Aphra's, and not drawn well enough to make a strong distinction between the two. I couldn't help but laugh unintentionally every time I saw this character on the pages, because it was basically like looking at Aphra alongside Tolvaan except that she had four arms and an expressionless alien face- despite Aphra and Tolvaan being at odds for the majority of this arc.
As for the annual, there was only one problem it had, but the problem was big enough to seriously bring it down. The artwork was terrible. I actually like what was going on from a story and character standpoint, but the art was so bad that it made numerous important scenes incoherent. The action scenes were very confusing to follow, and I often couldn't tell when an important character showed up until the comic spelled it out in words.
THE GOOD: This comic may have had trouble staying on course to stick the landing, but somehow, it made the landing smoother than expected. The good stuff here outweighs the bad by a surprisingly large amount.
While the art done for the Rogue's End story arc wasn't on par with Emilio Laiso's excellent work earlier in the series, it still was pretty good. While the colors made the images look flat, there was still enough details that made the backgrounds interesting and the characters expressive.
I thought Spurrier did an excellent job with Dr. Aphra herself, providing very strong and satisfying closure for her character. He manages to take various plot threads from the scattershot adventures in the earlier volumes from Kieron Gillen, then build upon the character progression he started giving Aphra in Worst Among Equals, then wraps everything up to offer Dr. Aphra a solid overarching narrative and an excellent character arc. He manages to do this while retaining the core of what makes Aphra an endlessly entertaining character to explore- she still maintains the unique rogueish persona that makes her stand out, but this last volume has successfully completed an arc that makes her character more layered at the same time. Spurrier has reaffirmed with resounding success why spinning off Aphra into her own comic series was one of the best decisions Lucasfilm has made with their current canon thus far.
I also liked how he wrapped up the other characters. Aphra's dad could be annoying at times, but he has just enough moments of heart that I was able to forgive it in the end. He proved to be integral to Aphra's arc, driving her to make the decisions that were needed for Spurrier to deliver the strong closure we were able to get. I've always enjoyed the dynamic between Aphra and Tolvaan, but Spurrier evolves it further here and brings it to a bittersweet, yet compelling, conclusion. Vulaada is much better here than she was in Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon, and serves her purpose well in contributing to the conclusion of Aphra's arc. It may be due to the fact that she appears in fewer panels than she did in Aphra's previous outing, but she came off much less as an annoying, gender-bent Shortround, and more like the endearing character from volume 5 that helped round out Aphra's personality. Finally, it was really satisfying to see how Triple 0 and BT-1 ended up. I've stated endlessly throughout my reviews for this series how tired I have gotten of these two with their rehashed jokes, but it was also starting to get old with them constantly finding new ways to keep Aphra under duress. Now, it appears that this dynamic has been flipped on its head, leaving things open for both fresh new kinds of stories and fresh new comedy routines.
I really enjoyed the epilogue from the Empire Ascendant one-shot following Rogue's End and the Annual. It has nice artwork that brings alot of emotion out of the characters, and flipping the point of view to Tolvaan/Vulaada/Aphra's Dad did a really good job solidifying the conclusion to Aphra's story and character journey that Spurrier wrote for her.
One last good thing from Rogue's End specifically, was more awesome worldbuilding as Aphra finds herself exploring old jedi ruins once again. This time we get to go to Tython, and that's just fantastic- as a huge fan of the Old Republic era from legends, it was great to see this important location utilized again. It feels just like Tython from those old stories, as a mystical location in the deep core that is important to the jedi. Better yet, I like how the temple itself offers a new take on the planet as a canon location, integrating catholicism-esque confessions as part of ancient jedi culture. It fits perfectly into the major theme of grappling with the lure of the dark side that is common throughout most jedi-centric stories in Star Wars.
Aside from the artwork, Annual 3 was quite solid. I found Winloss and Nokk to be entertaining characters in the Annual 2 and Star Wars: Worst Among Equals already, but the backstory they show for Nokk adds layers to her character and strengthens her dynamic with Winloss nicely. It was also fun to revisit the Mos Eisley Cantina, and see how it was affected by Luke/Han/Chewie/Obi-Wan passing through. I thought the story did a good job pacing out the mystery behind Skikkesk, and Aphra was a ton of fun here. The flashback stills we get as Aphra slowly reveals more of her plan were really fun. This also may be the best Black Krrsantan has been in a while, just getting to be fun, badass, and even funny once in a while. I was happy to see Spurrier sticking with the resolution of the thread between him and Aphra that looked to be finally, definitively wrapped up in volume 6, as well as offering what appeared to be a nice and sweet sense of closure both for him and for Nokk and Winloss.
THE CONCLUSION- Final rating is 4 stars. There's some major problems holding back both Rogue's End and Annual 3, but the stuff that needed to succeed the most succeeded in flying colors.
I definitely didn't like how Vader was handled in Rogue's End, and the artwork in Annual 3 was awful. But I loved how Spurrier ended Aphra's story, as well as the direction he went with for pretty much all of the recurring side characters that appeared throughout the series. I can't wait for Alyssa Wong's reboot to finally be released, because Spurrier left all these characters in the perfect places that will give her the freedom to explore a multitude of potential storylines with her take on Dr. Aphra. Wong could revisit the familiar characters established in this series, create completely new characters to pair up with Aphra, or both- and the ending here makes all of these options compelling. For me, my reaction to Rogue's End has many parallels to Knights of the Old Republic, Volume 9: Demon- the story arc itself had some flaws (and Rogue's End was far more flawed than Demon), but I'm largely able to overlook them because of how happy I was with the ending that it all lead too. Simon Spurrier ended this series on such a good note because now I can look forward to whatever Wong has in store for Aphra when she reboots the series.
Overall, the Dr. Aphra series when through some turbulent ups and downs. And for those that lost interest even before Simon Spurrier replaced Kieron Gillen, I don't blame them. Heck, I had my doubts with Rogue's End after reading a scathing review or two on this site- and while they caused me to like this much more than I thought I would, I understand where those reviewers came from. But for me, the positives for both Rogue's End and the Dr. Aphra series as a whole outweigh the negatives, as many as there were. Even if Alyssa Wong's reboot series ends up being a dumpster fire, I still found myself by-and-large satisfied by Kieron Gillen and Simon Spurrier's run. Allowing Dr. Aphra to star in her own comic independent of Vader has certainly paid off, and I hope it will continue to prove worthwhile in Wong's followup. I can't get enough of Dr. Aphra even if she's in an otherwise bad storyline. So you can be certain that I will be there when the Dr. Aphra series is rebooted- because I'm eager to see what happens next with the one and only Chelli Lona Aphra.
The Dr. Aphra series has always been up and down for me, but at the same time I've consistently been drawn toward the character of Dr. Aphra and the chance to explore ancient star wars lore through her discovery of strange and crazy artifacts. The series seemed to improve greatly when Simon Spurrier replaced Kieron Gillen for the second half of the series following Vol. 3: Remastered. While not on the level of Vol. 5: Worst Among Equals, "Rogue's End" was a flawed, but satisfying, conclusion to this run for Aphra.
THE STORY: Picking up shortly after the events of Vol. 6: Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon, Dr. Aphra and her sidekick Vulaada find themselves conscripted by the empire. As the imperials continue their hunt for the rebel alliance and their new base, an archaeological task force has been set up to scour every old ruin in the galaxy for traces of rebel activity, based on the previous rebel base being inside Massassi temples on Yavin 4. After finding a lead on Ash Moon 1, Aphra finds herself force to work directly alongside Vader and the Triple 0/BT-1 team again.
After the last issue of Dr. Aphra, we have Annual 3. This is another story about the husband-and-wife monster hunters Nok and Winloss, who were introduced in Annual 2 and played a roll in Worst among Equals. The story follows the pair in the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine as they team up with Black Krrsantan to hunt down and old enemy of Nok's, using a tip they got from Dr. Aphra. I think it takes place between the events of Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon and Rogue's End, but even if it takes place after Rogue's end it doesn't affect the story.
The collection ends with an excerpt from the one-shot Empire Ascendant, titled "Epilogue". It follows Captain Tolvaan, Vulaada, and Aphra's father after the events of Rogue's End, showing their reactions to Aphra's recording to them at the end of the main run.
THE BAD: While I found this ending satisfying, there were some flaws on how the comic found its way to that ending.
The biggest problem I have here is the climax. The sequencing made Aphra's final showdown with Vader feel uncompelling. I get that Aphra utilized a force-sensitive jedi shrine to power him down, but the execution didn't 100% work for me. Most of the time I had no problem with it- we've seen force sensitives in both canon and legends, even the ones who were innately overpowered, face a challenge (and sometimes even lose) against those who don't have the force utilizing ingenuity and various technological tricks to combat force powers. The comic does a good job explaining why Aphra is able to use this thing against Vader, but the sequence of moments makes vader look underpowered. I don't have a problem with the final resolution of the confrontation because it was otherwise explained in a reasonable way, it's just that it should have been executed slightly differently.
Also, it seemed like Vader was holding back, and being too soft on Aphra in the beginning of the comic. Given Vader's cold and ruthless personality at the time of Empire Strikes Back (in which this comic takes place shortly before the events of that film), as well his history with Aphra throughout both this series and Kieron Gillen's Vader, I don't understand why Vader didn't kill her on the spot. I understand that she's useful to him for the task at hand, but he also is bitter- and given that she miraculously survived his previous attempt to execute her, I would have expected more spite from him. What we got feels like Vader's personality was toned down for plot purposes or Aphra happens to be wearing main-character-plot-armor.
Another problem I had was that Aphra's father got on my nerves frequently. I get that his obsession with history is supposed to be the flaw that makes the crux of his character, but Spurrier often went to far with it. Sometimes, Aphra's dad just came off so dense that it became irritating.
The last problem I have with Rogue's End itself is the design on one of Tolvaan's sidekicks. I forget the character's name and I know she's a recurring character from previous volumes, but she has a very similar outfit to Aphra's, and not drawn well enough to make a strong distinction between the two. I couldn't help but laugh unintentionally every time I saw this character on the pages, because it was basically like looking at Aphra alongside Tolvaan except that she had four arms and an expressionless alien face- despite Aphra and Tolvaan being at odds for the majority of this arc.
As for the annual, there was only one problem it had, but the problem was big enough to seriously bring it down. The artwork was terrible. I actually like what was going on from a story and character standpoint, but the art was so bad that it made numerous important scenes incoherent. The action scenes were very confusing to follow, and I often couldn't tell when an important character showed up until the comic spelled it out in words.
THE GOOD: This comic may have had trouble staying on course to stick the landing, but somehow, it made the landing smoother than expected. The good stuff here outweighs the bad by a surprisingly large amount.
While the art done for the Rogue's End story arc wasn't on par with Emilio Laiso's excellent work earlier in the series, it still was pretty good. While the colors made the images look flat, there was still enough details that made the backgrounds interesting and the characters expressive.
I thought Spurrier did an excellent job with Dr. Aphra herself, providing very strong and satisfying closure for her character. He manages to take various plot threads from the scattershot adventures in the earlier volumes from Kieron Gillen, then build upon the character progression he started giving Aphra in Worst Among Equals, then wraps everything up to offer Dr. Aphra a solid overarching narrative and an excellent character arc. He manages to do this while retaining the core of what makes Aphra an endlessly entertaining character to explore- she still maintains the unique rogueish persona that makes her stand out, but this last volume has successfully completed an arc that makes her character more layered at the same time. Spurrier has reaffirmed with resounding success why spinning off Aphra into her own comic series was one of the best decisions Lucasfilm has made with their current canon thus far.
I also liked how he wrapped up the other characters. Aphra's dad could be annoying at times, but he has just enough moments of heart that I was able to forgive it in the end. He proved to be integral to Aphra's arc, driving her to make the decisions that were needed for Spurrier to deliver the strong closure we were able to get. I've always enjoyed the dynamic between Aphra and Tolvaan, but Spurrier evolves it further here and brings it to a bittersweet, yet compelling, conclusion. Vulaada is much better here than she was in Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon, and serves her purpose well in contributing to the conclusion of Aphra's arc. It may be due to the fact that she appears in fewer panels than she did in Aphra's previous outing, but she came off much less as an annoying, gender-bent Shortround, and more like the endearing character from volume 5 that helped round out Aphra's personality. Finally, it was really satisfying to see how Triple 0 and BT-1 ended up. I've stated endlessly throughout my reviews for this series how tired I have gotten of these two with their rehashed jokes, but it was also starting to get old with them constantly finding new ways to keep Aphra under duress. Now, it appears that this dynamic has been flipped on its head, leaving things open for both fresh new kinds of stories and fresh new comedy routines.
I really enjoyed the epilogue from the Empire Ascendant one-shot following Rogue's End and the Annual. It has nice artwork that brings alot of emotion out of the characters, and flipping the point of view to Tolvaan/Vulaada/Aphra's Dad did a really good job solidifying the conclusion to Aphra's story and character journey that Spurrier wrote for her.
One last good thing from Rogue's End specifically, was more awesome worldbuilding as Aphra finds herself exploring old jedi ruins once again. This time we get to go to Tython, and that's just fantastic- as a huge fan of the Old Republic era from legends, it was great to see this important location utilized again. It feels just like Tython from those old stories, as a mystical location in the deep core that is important to the jedi. Better yet, I like how the temple itself offers a new take on the planet as a canon location, integrating catholicism-esque confessions as part of ancient jedi culture. It fits perfectly into the major theme of grappling with the lure of the dark side that is common throughout most jedi-centric stories in Star Wars.
Aside from the artwork, Annual 3 was quite solid. I found Winloss and Nokk to be entertaining characters in the Annual 2 and Star Wars: Worst Among Equals already, but the backstory they show for Nokk adds layers to her character and strengthens her dynamic with Winloss nicely. It was also fun to revisit the Mos Eisley Cantina, and see how it was affected by Luke/Han/Chewie/Obi-Wan passing through. I thought the story did a good job pacing out the mystery behind Skikkesk, and Aphra was a ton of fun here. The flashback stills we get as Aphra slowly reveals more of her plan were really fun. This also may be the best Black Krrsantan has been in a while, just getting to be fun, badass, and even funny once in a while. I was happy to see Spurrier sticking with the resolution of the thread between him and Aphra that looked to be finally, definitively wrapped up in volume 6, as well as offering what appeared to be a nice and sweet sense of closure both for him and for Nokk and Winloss.
THE CONCLUSION- Final rating is 4 stars. There's some major problems holding back both Rogue's End and Annual 3, but the stuff that needed to succeed the most succeeded in flying colors.
I definitely didn't like how Vader was handled in Rogue's End, and the artwork in Annual 3 was awful. But I loved how Spurrier ended Aphra's story, as well as the direction he went with for pretty much all of the recurring side characters that appeared throughout the series. I can't wait for Alyssa Wong's reboot to finally be released, because Spurrier left all these characters in the perfect places that will give her the freedom to explore a multitude of potential storylines with her take on Dr. Aphra. Wong could revisit the familiar characters established in this series, create completely new characters to pair up with Aphra, or both- and the ending here makes all of these options compelling. For me, my reaction to Rogue's End has many parallels to Knights of the Old Republic, Volume 9: Demon- the story arc itself had some flaws (and Rogue's End was far more flawed than Demon), but I'm largely able to overlook them because of how happy I was with the ending that it all lead too. Simon Spurrier ended this series on such a good note because now I can look forward to whatever Wong has in store for Aphra when she reboots the series.
Overall, the Dr. Aphra series when through some turbulent ups and downs. And for those that lost interest even before Simon Spurrier replaced Kieron Gillen, I don't blame them. Heck, I had my doubts with Rogue's End after reading a scathing review or two on this site- and while they caused me to like this much more than I thought I would, I understand where those reviewers came from. But for me, the positives for both Rogue's End and the Dr. Aphra series as a whole outweigh the negatives, as many as there were. Even if Alyssa Wong's reboot series ends up being a dumpster fire, I still found myself by-and-large satisfied by Kieron Gillen and Simon Spurrier's run. Allowing Dr. Aphra to star in her own comic independent of Vader has certainly paid off, and I hope it will continue to prove worthwhile in Wong's followup. I can't get enough of Dr. Aphra even if she's in an otherwise bad storyline. So you can be certain that I will be there when the Dr. Aphra series is rebooted- because I'm eager to see what happens next with the one and only Chelli Lona Aphra.
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