This is review of Volume 6: Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon and Volume 7: A Rebel’s End. The last two volumes of Doctor Aphra (2016 - 2019). It was good while it lasted. Doctor Aphra’s adventures continue in new series which has only one issue out at the moment. This ends her stories from time between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.
Unspeakable Rebel Superweapon continues some time after Worst Among Equals. Aphra has girl from that story with her and mysterious woman behind scenes gets bigger role this time. Story continues more serious less fun tone of previous stories. It still adds fun parts but it doesn’t work so well because of serious tone. Villain’s plan is too convoluted for serious story. It would have worked better in funnier story. Simpler plan would have worked better in serious one. I was engaged but kept thinking why villain tells her plan to our hero.
A Rebel’s End is tie in to Empire Strikes Back. Aphra is trying to survive when story heads to beginning of Empire Strikes Back. Before this she has tried to save herself but now more mature Aphra tries also to save her friends from herself and help them survive from Empire. So Aphra growing and seeing errors of her ways arc pays off in this story. This volume pretty much ends everything open from Darth Vader ( 2015 -2016 ) and this run of Doctor Aphra. Annual gives conclusion to monster hunters’ story. Everything is ended with Doctor Aphra related part from Empire Ascendant (2019).
A Rebel’s End made one choice I didn’t like. It reset Triple-Zero and BT-1 to default state. Triple-Zero became much more than your regular evil droid in Worst Among Equals. They could have done much more with evil droid who questions his whole existence. But no. Back to being regular evil droid. Triple-Zero and BT-1 had big role in story but it wasn’t worth undoing all development of Worst Among Equals.
This next one goes to whole Disney’s Star Wars. It has need to reference movies in everything and use movies’ characters as much as possible. Doctor Aphra was introduced in Darth Vader’s comic. In the end of it she was dead to Empire. Her stories didn’t need to involve movies’ cast. She didn’t need to meet Darth Vader, Emperor, Luke, Leia or Han in her own books. It was worst in A Rebel’s End where characters acted and talked like they knew what will happen in Empire Strikes Back. It is probably too much to ask to have Aphra to stay away from movies’ characters and events in her new comic. I fear she will be one helping rebels to get to Jabba’s palace in Return of the Jedi.
Doctor Aphra is best thing Disney’s Star Wars has given us. No, I have not seen Mandalorian yet. I am curious to see where new comic goes. First half of this was about fun ride and second one had serious tone showing evils of Empire and how Aphra betraying everyone leaves her lonely. Both parts worked. I liked first half better but Worst Among Equals from second half was my favorite story.