Published: November 16, 2022
Rated: T
Writer: Alicia Wong
Artist: Minkyu Jung
Colourist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: W. Scott Forbes
The synopsis;
“FRIENDS AND ENEMIES”
• SANA STARROS and her allies have cornered the SPARK ETERNAL!
• She’s determined to bring DOCTOR APHRA back, no matter what it takes!
• But will it be enough? Or will it destroy Sana, Aphra…and everyone they love?
The review;
Potential. This entire series is dripping with potential, for the payoff for all the hard work that Alyssa Wong has done so far in this story arc. You can almost hear the held breathes of readers everywhere, just waiting for the moment. Wong keeps tantalising, giving us tiny snippets but never too much. With Hidden Empire being released this week as well, is this the time for all this potential to spill out? Might we get our Aphra back so she can have her grand reunion (and what a reunion it promises to be!)? Only Wong knows the answer and they are keeping very, very quiet.
Where to even begin with an issue like this. I suppose the first is the tone of this entire issue, it’s creepy and like something from a horror film, which is absolutely perfect. The Spark’s movements with her broken bones are captured by Minkyu Jung so well, you can feel the disjointed movements, the popping of the bones as they heal and just the sheer gruesomeness of it all. It starts the issue so well and really sets readers up for what is to come. This isn’t some happy affair but a fight to the death, a fight that isn’t going to have a happy ending. And that is what this issue is: quite simply, a fight. But goodness, it goes quick, and Wong is able to fit in a lot of moments.
There are a lot of characters, each vying for time and Wong does their best to make sure that the key characters get their time. This is no truer than of Kho, who you can’t help feeling a little sorry for. In their ambition to get power, the Ascendency technology they have collected now works against them. It is very much becoming a thing that they ultimately hate. Their character arc has been fascinating and there still feels so much to delve into with this character. Wong of course can’t give us too many answers or too many reunions without raising at least one or two questions, one of the biggest is what is said to Kho.
But the moment – well who am I kidding – moments, start rolling thick and fast, you might almost believe that Wong has made a mistake giving us quick so many ‘yes’ moments. And they are yes with a big YES! First, we see the droids completely let go and show why they are so feared. While everyone is struggling to contain the Spark they just stroll in and do their thing. It is a moment so perfectly captured in the words of Triple Zero and the artwork by Jung. The pacing, the feel, the general ‘oh hello!’ just sums up these two murderous droids. Yes, the Spark is able to take control, but for that brief moment, the droids were back to themselves.
If this moment wasn’t enough, only a few panels later do we have the reunion with Tolvan and Aphra. Again, it is fleeting, Wong isn’t going to give us too much, but it is enough. There’s no hesitation on the part of Aphra and it is another YES! There is so much insinuation about a love triangle between Sana, Tolvan and Aphra and yet when you see these panels, it leaves little doubt how much of that will actually play out. These two were made for each other. On the note of Sana, she is barely in this issue, and I think that’s a positive. I love the character and yet in this comic, it’s all about Aphra’s past, allowing readers to sit back and enjoy these reunions with all the power and build up that Wong has created for them. For all these moments they are brief, but they have so been worth the wait.
With all these pivotal moments and the general creepy atmosphere that descends over the fight, Wong knows that it needs balancing out. They make sure to interject the sort of humour that we have come to expect from Aphra. With this issue, the timing of these laugh out loud moments is done perfectly. Whether it’s comments when introducing characters by Wong themself, or if it’s a throw away comment by Triple Zero. It all works so well. And those laughs are going to be needed if the ending is to be believed.
There has been an incredible build up to this issue. I do wonder if part of that was to try and line it up with Hidden Empire, but the way that Wong has woven all these pieces together, given readers just enough to make us sit up and pay attention, I can’t think that has just been a wonderfully orchestrated affair that has really delivered this month. The pacing, the timing, the atmosphere, Wong has accomplished all of these to perfection. Although they provide questions to what will happen to some of the newer characters, they also provide such beautiful moments between characters that haven’t been seen in several years. This is a highlight – if not the highlight – of the entire series so far, the perfect blend of the original series and Wong’s. They should be incredible proud of what can be found here. The ending, a way to get rid of the old or Wong leading us down a certain train of thought while taking our characters somewhere else? Only time will tell.
Availability;
Doctor Aphra (2020) is an ongoing series published by Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $3.99 and is available via the Marvel App, ComiXology and all good comic book stores.
