Doctor Aphra #14 ("Remastered" Part 1)
The wisecracking archaeologist Dr. Aphra continues her galaxy-trotting scams and smart-mouthed schemes in "Remastered" the third story arc of the series "Doctor Aphra". Aphra is one of the current Marvel series that has a slightly more comic edge. She was a brand-new character, originally created for the first volume of "Darth Vader" by Kieron Gillen. Over time, she proved so popular that after that series concluded its 25 issue run, Aphra got her own spin-off which is now as critically acclaimed as the first Vader series was.
Aphra is a conflicted, three-dimensional character as written in Vader and also here in her own series. She leaves a wake of carnage wherever she goes in the pursuit of money, but she also has moments of regret. The first arc of this series also illustrated her complicated family life. Aphra is a well developed character, and part of the reason I like this series is because she's a character created from nothing, just for the comics. In the other Star Wars series, we've already seen the movies so we know that no matter how much death defying danger that Luke, Leia, or Han get into, they will make it safe to the end - so where's the suspense? With Aphra, we have no idea what will happen to her next. Will she live or will she die in the end?
In "Remastered", we are reintroduced to another intriguing character - Lieutenant (formerly Captain) Tolvan, a female Imperial officer with a cool design - some kind of cybernetically-enhanced black suit over her body (yet another Imperial officer with cyber features, like Star Wars #38). We haven't yet learned the reason she has this body prosthesis. After her humiliating defeat in the first arc of Doctor Aphra, Tolvan was reduced in rank and sent in disgrace to a boring Outer Rim posting on the planet Someilk. There is a good connection to the Darth Vader series where we learn that Tolvan was at one time mentored by none other than the brilliant Inspector Thanoth. In "Vader", Thanoth was assigned as an adjutant to Darth Vader and investigated the missing credits and eventually deduced Vader's true identity before he died at the saber of Vader himself. That plus the fact that Tolvan is another interesting and flawed character, adds a lot to the overall quality of this series.
Aphra's tense collision with Tolvan on planet Someilk eventually leads to an explosive conclusion, with Aphra on the run in a stolen gunship. We then end the issue which reveals the return of Triple Zero (0-0-0), the murderous protocol droid that Aphra thought she'd never see again. He's a long running character from the Vader series and another fan favorite, though I thought they'd wait a little longer to bring him back in. The last time we saw Triple Zero was ONE issue ago. So it makes the issue end on a "who gives a shit?" note. Its not an effective reveal.
Other than that, this arc literally starts with a bang and begins this arc very well. When Kieron Gillen (along with co-writer Si Spurrier) is at the helm, I have confidence that its going to be a fun ride.
The artwork of this issue, by Emilio Laiso, is tremendous. This series to me as always had very well done artwork by all artists and that doesn't stop here. It has a very slight cartoonish style that matches perfectly with the story since this series has so many darkly comedic elements. Doctor Aphra is a high quality series from Marvel so pick this one up, it gets a thumbs up from me, Rog.
Aphra is a conflicted, three-dimensional character as written in Vader and also here in her own series. She leaves a wake of carnage wherever she goes in the pursuit of money, but she also has moments of regret. The first arc of this series also illustrated her complicated family life. Aphra is a well developed character, and part of the reason I like this series is because she's a character created from nothing, just for the comics. In the other Star Wars series, we've already seen the movies so we know that no matter how much death defying danger that Luke, Leia, or Han get into, they will make it safe to the end - so where's the suspense? With Aphra, we have no idea what will happen to her next. Will she live or will she die in the end?
In "Remastered", we are reintroduced to another intriguing character - Lieutenant (formerly Captain) Tolvan, a female Imperial officer with a cool design - some kind of cybernetically-enhanced black suit over her body (yet another Imperial officer with cyber features, like Star Wars #38). We haven't yet learned the reason she has this body prosthesis. After her humiliating defeat in the first arc of Doctor Aphra, Tolvan was reduced in rank and sent in disgrace to a boring Outer Rim posting on the planet Someilk. There is a good connection to the Darth Vader series where we learn that Tolvan was at one time mentored by none other than the brilliant Inspector Thanoth. In "Vader", Thanoth was assigned as an adjutant to Darth Vader and investigated the missing credits and eventually deduced Vader's true identity before he died at the saber of Vader himself. That plus the fact that Tolvan is another interesting and flawed character, adds a lot to the overall quality of this series.
Aphra's tense collision with Tolvan on planet Someilk eventually leads to an explosive conclusion, with Aphra on the run in a stolen gunship. We then end the issue which reveals the return of Triple Zero (0-0-0), the murderous protocol droid that Aphra thought she'd never see again. He's a long running character from the Vader series and another fan favorite, though I thought they'd wait a little longer to bring him back in. The last time we saw Triple Zero was ONE issue ago. So it makes the issue end on a "who gives a shit?" note. Its not an effective reveal.
Other than that, this arc literally starts with a bang and begins this arc very well. When Kieron Gillen (along with co-writer Si Spurrier) is at the helm, I have confidence that its going to be a fun ride.
The artwork of this issue, by Emilio Laiso, is tremendous. This series to me as always had very well done artwork by all artists and that doesn't stop here. It has a very slight cartoonish style that matches perfectly with the story since this series has so many darkly comedic elements. Doctor Aphra is a high quality series from Marvel so pick this one up, it gets a thumbs up from me, Rog.
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