Aphra's at it Again. Need I Say More?

Sarah Kuhn meaningfully expands upon Doctor Aphra’s first appearance in the Darth Vader (Kieron Gillen, 2015) comics, in addition to briefly covering her role in Vader Down and the Rebel Jail arc in the main Star Wars comic run (Jason Aaron, 2015), while also creating another notable entry point to Aphra’s adventures for new audiences. Just after escaping Maz Kanata and her pirate gang, Aphra finds herself face to face with Vader himself who’s demanding her service for his efforts to build a droid army to overthrow the Emperor. Since the Empire's insurmountable loss against the Rebels at the Battle of Yavin, Darth Vader has been taking the heat for the loss of Death Star I from the Emperor, and even though this tension doesn't make its way into Sarah Kuhn's Aphra story, the reader still can sense precedence in Vader seeking Aphra's assistance. In the Vader comic, Vader periodically reflects on his past whenever he encounters places or people Anakin knew, and in the script, it shows Aphra picks up on these subtleties within Vader which then causes her to recall her own memories, providing insight into who she is in a compelling way that parallels with Vader’s introspection; this is definitely one of my favorite aspects of Aphra's story and Kuhn does a wonderful job with creating these moments that can stand on their own, while also complementing events in the original comic well to provide a fresh experience for those who read the 2015 Darth Vader comics. Another highlight is none other than Sana Starros: Aphra’s first love. The comics establish there’s a romantic past between the two but it’s not elaborated on, which is something I’ve been curious about, and let’s just say you’re in for a treat when Kuhn unravels their history.

While reading, I was in awe of how profound Aphra’s voice is, especially in sections where she’s narrating, and it’s truly magical to read which is what prevents this script from feeling flat. Kuhn’s words dance across the page, which makes a captivating story from beginning to end. For those who aren’t familiar with Aphra or haven’t read the comics, reading - or listening to - Sarah Kuhn's Doctor Aphra will provide a good sense of who Aphra is and introduce her in an exciting way. Because this story covers so much about Aphra, I recommend new audiences read or listen to this story before diving into the comics. For those who have read the comics, it’s fun to view these events from Aphra’s perspective and see how much of an unreliable narrator she is which can be humorous at times - plus the insight into Aphra’s time at university as well as exploring her relationship with Sana is worth it. I enjoyed reading the script, and I hope there will be more Aphra stories told outside the comics, whether it be more audiobooks or an original novel (one can only hope)!

Click the image to check out my Instagram post that has a detailed, sequential order of everything Aphra