Force Matters: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra — Chaos Agent #4 Makes Good Use Of Its Title Character
by Austin Gorton
Only one Star Wars comic this week, with Dark Horse’s conclusion to the “Codebreaker” story pushed back to November for whatever reason.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra – Chaos Agent #4 by Cherish Chen & Kieran McKeown
Aphra and Chewbacca protect a spoiled prince from Black Krrsantan.
- In an appreciated change-of-pace, this issue opens in media res, with Aphra and Chewbacca already on Taisun Isle and in the midst of their mission, thereby skipping over all the “Aphra gets a new mission, meets her partner-du-jour” setup.
- Prince Flot and Taisun Isle appear to be part of the Celanon Alliance based on some of Aphra’s dialogue; Celanon is a planet with few appearances but lots of mentions, particularly in the old Expanded Universe.
- Aphra’s comment to Chewbacca that half the planets in the galaxy are desert planets is a winking acknowledgement of how just how many Star Wars planets are indeed desert planets.
- Black Krrsantan’s history with Doctor Aphra dates back to the original Darth Vader series from 2015 (in which Black Krrsantan debuted, in issue #1, before Aphra), and he’s made numerous subsequent appearances since (including in live-action, in The Book of Boba Fett).
- Filling in for Gabriel Guzman, McKeown’s art fits the more comedic tone of this issue quite well, especially via the facial expressions, though the Chewbacca/Krrsantan action sequences are handled well too. I wouldn’t mind seeing McKeown return (or stick around).
- This issue reveals that Aphra has a sister, Dellen, who has been working for the New Republic and is the one who disabled her tattoos. She is slated to her make her first appearance next issue.
A fun little done-in-one (Aphra letting the spoiled prince go off with Black Krrsantan to avoid having to become king is good use of the protagonist, a resolution that speaks to Aphra’s specific characterization), though while I imagine the ongoing string of “main Star Wars character” guest stars is good for sales (the Star Wars equivalent of dropping Wolverine or Batman into the second or third issue of a new series), I’d really like to see this series develop more of a consistent Aphra-specific supporting cast. One of the things that made the character fun back in her Darth Vader days was how she was positioned as a “dark mirror” Han to Vader’s “dark Luke”, with her own dark Chewbacca, Threepio and Artoo in Krrsantan, Triple Zero and Beetee. Hopefully the introduction of her sister will be a step in that direction.
Cover of the Week – Annie Wu Variant
The slight angle to the main image elevates this, as does the sense of action (and looming action). You can easily imagine what follows after this image.
Question of the Week
Which comics-originating character would you most like to see make the jump to live-action ala Black Krrsantan? Valance the Hunter? Sana Solo? Aphra herself? Hit me up on socials and let me know!
I’d love to see Jaxxson, the green haired anthropomorphic rabbit from Roy Thomas‘ first original Star Wars story (itself a loose adaptation of The Magnificent Seven), whom George Lucas reportedly hated and was once banished by LucasFilm.
