Comic Review: Doctor Aphra (2020) #39

Oh, how I have been dreading this issue. The end of Doctor Aphra in Dark Droids. The crossover event has been exceptional and has set a new bar for events like this. Yet the fallout of this event on the Aphra series… well, we’ll find out. Not only that, but we also know that this entire series is coming to an end in one more issue. Talk about needing some closure! However, what I will say, is that under the guidance of writer Alyssa Wong, this series has gone from strength to strength, really finding its footing in the last several arcs. It seems right that it should leave on such a high… well… I hope a high… by the end of this comic and review I might have changed my mind. I suppose all that is really left to do is dive in. Of course, as always, Wong is joined by artist Minkyu Jung, who (like Wong) has really shown some unbelievable panels in the last few arcs, showing us what he is truly capable of. So… first came destruction, then came the hunger, then we keep Tolvan and Tagge alive!?

This issue is a perfect way to end the Dark Droids crossover event for Doctor Aphra. I have adored the event, and it has led to Wong really been able to utilise Aphra in brilliant ways. But having one more issue, away from the event, for Aphra to stand on its own and the end works so well. The highlight for me this issue is (and is it really a surprise), seeing so much of Domina Tagge. Throughout this series, Wong has always teased little bits of this character: the way she thinks, the technologies she develops, even who she takes to bed with her. It has all come out slowly, Wong making fans work for the next snippet of information. And I am hooked on the character, Wong’s tactic has worked a treat. Tagge is one of the most interesting characters to emerge from this series, and in this comic, we see even more to her. One of the things I like with Tagge is that she gets involved. She’s not one of these rich women who let others do all the work; the lady can fight. Wong shows us here, that when the chips are really down the only thing, she really cares about is the Tagge legacy. It is what she has loved her whole life for and that is more important than her life. As soon as Lapin was ejected out of the ship, I was sure Tagge was going to die. Well at least that’s one life saved! Where the future of Aphra is going I don’t know, but Domina Tagge is crying out for more focus, for more delving it, for just more!

Been a crossover event, we can never escape the villain: The Scourge. A truly delicious enemy like we haven’t seen in a galaxy far, far away. Although this event has been going on for some while, it’s only now that the galaxy of the regular people is really starting to hear signs of the problems. Lucky watches a news report of the incidents occurring, and I love it’s taken this long for them to notice. Between the Scourge’s tactics of laying low and I’m sure the Empire trying to make less of it than what it is, it makes sense that the events we’ve been reading about are only now just getting into the public domain. We see the Scourge in his normal glory, hearing that wonderful voice over come through, yet we also hear more and more doubt. This time (unlike in Dark Droids) not doubting itself but doubting what it isn’t controlling. It seems so perfect that it is Aphra who finds the way to do that, the one to make the Scourge doubt itself.

Minkyu Jung is always a pleasure to admire his artwork. This issue is extremely fast paced, and you can see just from the movement of locations between pages, just how much change Jung must accommodate. From Canto Bight, to in space, to on Tagge’s flagship, to the Ark Angel, I’m getting exhausted just remembering it all! Yet Jung shows just how varied his style is and encapsulates each place brilliantly. You never feel thrown out of the story, which considering the pace it’s going at, is impressive in and of itself. For me, the panels that show the spread of the Scourge really grabbed me, Jung can capture this so well (and has done before). I’m really going to miss seeing this in the final comic.

Which leaves us with Aphra herself. She always works better opposite Sana or Tolvan, and here we can see how she becomes so much more confident when Sana is by her side. Instead of worrying, she becomes determined, with a plan in mind. Her plan is right up her street, a virus to send back to the Scourge. It’s a really active role for the character, far more so than the role in parts of the Crimson Dawn Trilogy. It feels like her time to shine. Dropping Lucky off at Canto Bight, not only does it provide somewhat closure for the character but allows Aphra herself time to shine in the issue. And obviously, Aphra gets to use one of my favourite Star Wars lines in this issue, Delusions of grandeur, thank you Wong!

This issue has it all. It provides more to the story of Dark Droids while not sacrificing the story of the Doctor Aphra series itself. The writing, the artwork, the characters, it’s just a joy to read this series every time. But of course, there is one question… The end? Aphra finally deciding on Sana, telling her the feelings she’s always denied, making a choice. Knowing that this is the penultimate issue of the series. Is it the right time to let the character go? As much as I love the character, it almost seems poetic that she should fall just as she finally admits the love that she has been too scared to share. The tension as to what will happen is very real and although I don’t want to see the character go, I love that there is a genuine risk to them. Issue forty is going to be a sad day for many fans but one thing is for sure, Aphra isn’t going to be going quietly.