Published: July 22, 2020
Writer: Alyssa Wong
Artist: Marika Cresta
Colourist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Valentina Remenar
The synopsis;
BEWARE THE MAD CITY!
DOCTOR APHRA and her new team have tracked the RINGS OF VAALE to a mysterious planet filled with primordial horror. What’s worse, the rings may be cursed…a malediction that could already be tearing Aphra’s crew apart. Will they escape the terror of the cursed planet with the precious rings or succumb to the creeping madness pervading the ancient world?
The review;
Oh, the days when I use to complain about issues not coming out fast enough, I should have held my tongue. It has been two months since Wong and Cresta reintroduced Doctor Aphra to us, stripping back what we already know about the character to the bare essentials, reinvigorating this fan favourite female lead. Although we, as fans, have had to wait so long for the next issue, this week is certainly Aphra’s week, as along with this issue, there is also the audio dramatisation being released. Eager would be too simple a word for how much I have been looking forward to this next instalment…
In my last review, I mentioned that Wong has done away with all the baggage that Aphra (as a character) brings with her after the previous series. Wong continues with this to present the story she wants, that’s not hindered by the previous stories and experiences. With stripping Aphra back to her routes, Wong makes sure to remind us that although this is her story, that Aphra is still the same character that we have all fallen in love with. We see flashbacks of Aphra in her younger years, treating Tagge the same way she treats everybody else. She has also been in a relationship with Okka, again, setting up a previous relationship that has gone wrong. It allows new readers to understand who this character is as well as reassuring old fans that this is still the character we know. Having the fact that Okka and Aphra were in a relationship, I couldn’t help but wonder what plans Wong may have in the future, bringing back Tolvan (I hope) one day…
For me, the overriding word for this issue is atmosphere. Although we’ve seen bits and pieces of Aphra actually working as an archaeologist, I don’t think it’s ever been the overall focus. Either Imperials, Rebels, women, and a whole host of other things have gotten in the way. For the first time, I really get a feeling that we are being guided on a voyage of discovery. Wong focuses on this, and only this, for most of the issue and the story is better for it. The creepiness that seeps out of this comic is incredible, I was surprised to find that I was getting chills up my spine. The city of Dianth is done wonderfully and Wong writes lots of little mysteries that put the reader on edge. The noise that can be heard (or not), the moving figures on the wall (or not) and the mysterious figure that is seen (or not). There is so much that we are unsure of, so many things that appear to be happening, yet as the reader, we don’t know what is real. Our senses, as much as the characters, are being played against us. We can see visually what the characters are seeing, but we don’t know if they are actually being seen or are hallucinations. Wong has really thought how to take the reader out of their comfort zone, to put them into the shoes of the characters.
Yet for all this incredible writing, the atmosphere would be nothing without the art. Cresta brings Wong’s vision to life. It is easy to say something happens on paper, but Cresta really brings those words to life, with the faces in the wall, the design of the entire city, the slight movements seen at the edge of the panel. It all feeds into this atmospheric horror story. One panel that really stood out for me was the stairs. In one grand panel, Cresta is able to have a complete feel of movement yet also that foreboding feeling that something is going to come out at the bottom and endanger our characters. Added to this is the wonderful colour work by Rachelle Rosenberg. In my first review I said that I don’t usually mention the colour and here I am again talking about it. Rosenberg is the final piece of the work done by Wong and Cresta. The shadows and the lack of light are the final touches to Wong’s writing that make this city feel…wrong (in the right sort of way). It is so clear from when our characters start in the ship and move into the city that the colour just bleeds away, that there is a barren quality.
At the core of this is an archaeological adventure. From the very first page with the summary, we are presented with all the information on a tablet. It might not seem like a big thing, yet its this attention to detail that comes through this issue time and time again. The tablet can’t help but remind the reader of Indiana Jones, which is just the sort of feel Wong wants readers to enter into this with. We then see Aphra being an archeologist. Now you might say we’ve seen this before, but not like this. Wong lets us in on Aphra’s thinking process, how she goes about solving the locked door, rather than just go, ‘Oh we need this’. We get to see Aphra actually working, thinking about the clues, thinking about the solution., as I said, actually being an archeologist. The traditional art that Cresta designs for the clues also harkens back to more traditional times, as well as having a touch of artwork seen in the television series of Clone Wars and Rebels. It is all these little things that really help focus the issue and not get distracted by other, less important, things. Wong knows what she wants this story to be and makes sure it will be exactly that.
The first issue of this series was excellent, it promised the reader what was to come. It laid the foundations for the series and decluttered anything that Wong thought was no longer necessary. Yet issue two, raises the standard even higher. Wong is taking us on an adventure, a creepy, horror type story that is very unique to Aphra. What comes through is three talented people all bringing their best to create this wonderful effect. Wong, Cresta and Rosenberg all have a part to play to ensure the reader is drawn into this story, to feel just as confused and terrified as the characters and loving every minute of it. In the previous series, we’ve had force ghosts and things that are a little creepy, but not to the scale that Wong has brought forth here. Wong is really setting Doctor Aphra apart here, taking the series into a new direction that I really like. I can’t help but compare the atmosphere in this issue to that of Deathtroopers. The creepiness, the darkness, the unknown, it feels like Star Wars horror crossed with Indiana Jones. Two months may seem like a long wait (and it is) but when the quality of the issue is this good, I’m happy to wait…
Availability;
Doctor Aphra #1 is the start of the second series in this title available from Marvel Comics. This issue is available via the Marvel App and all good comic bookstores and retails at $3.99.
