I also particularly enjoyed Aphra's unconventional romance with Captain Tolvan (not 'unconventional' because they're gay, you understand, but rather because they take love/hate thing to a whole new level). I enjoyed the rogues gallery of allies and enemies she makes along the way, with Beetee and Triple-Zero managing to be both hilarious and genuinely terrifying.

However, things improved immeasurably once I got onto the stories from Aphra's own solo series. So, the first third or so of this book was a bit underwhelming. I also wasn't impressed by how she fitted in to the crossover stories 'Vader Down' and 'The Screaming Citadel', feeling that she just didn't play well against the main characters of the Star Wars saga. I liked the concept of an Indiana Jones character in Star Wars but even more unscrupulous ('It belongs in an armoury!') but the tone of her stories felt a little bit like the writers were patting themselves on the back about how clever they'd been. Through her initial appearances in the pages of Darth Vader's series I was in two minds about Doctor Aphra. With backstabbing and betrayal for profit her stock-in-trade, Aphra is challenged by personal connections with her estranged father, with her enemy/lover Tolvan and with the young girl Vulaada who she takes under her wing. Here we see Aphra working as an agent of Darth Vader before striking out on her own with the Wookiee bounty hunter Black Krrsantan and the psychotic droids BT-1 and 0-0-0. That small quibble aside, however, Aphra stands among characters like Vader, Ahsoka, and Maul as one of the most fully realized characters in the canon, and you're missing out if you don't delve into her.Ī huge collection of fifty-four issues featuring the immoral archaeologist Doctor Aphra, covering the years between Episodes IV and V. The constant rotation of artists keeps it from establishing as solid a visual identity as its written one. Other times it fails to stand out at all, or worse, is even hard on the eyes. Sometimes it's spectacular, like Lasio's work on the title. The thing that keeps it a 4.5 instead of a straight 5 is the inconsistent art. These are complex, messy relationships with heart at the core unmatched by anything else in Star Wars.

Her dynamics with Triple Zero, Vader, Tolvan. It does an admirable job of showing her slow growth without losing sight of her appeal, while much like Vader's first ongoing did with her, introducing vibrant new characters to the world. Of all the Star Wars characters, she may be the most human, brilliant and awful in equal measure. Aphra is the only comics original Star Wars character to get her own ongoing, and this series shows exactly why she deserves it.

Kieron gillen star wars