Review: ‘Doctor Aphra’ #37 – ‘Flesh Resolved’ Is a Dark and Chilling Installment
The 37th issue of Doctor Aphra is a chilling installment of the Star Wars comic series that makes it clear that our beloved archaeologist is about to get involved in the Dark Droids crossover in a big way.
Doctor Aphra comes to a realization in Flesh Resolved that puts her way ahead of our other “organic” heroes, with knowledge that could prove useful in the larger fight against the Droid Scourge. The B storyline of the issue focuses on Magna Tolvan, and while Aphra’s story is plenty tense and action-oriented, Tolvan’s is terrifying as she searches the Rebel ship for clues about what happened to the crew.
It doesn’t take her long to discover that the possessed droids were behind their deaths, and if you’ve read Dark Droids #3 then you’ll know how the rest of Magna’s story plays out in this issue. Even if you do though, there’s still plenty of horror to be had by empathizing with Magna’s ordeal.
By the end of this issue, it appears the Droid Scourge has everything it needs to take its next step in the crossover arc — though critically, it has not taken Darth Vader yet — and Doctor Aphra might have a vital role to play in bringing it down. Issue #38 of Doctor Aphra doesn’t come out until after Dark Droids #4, by which point we’ll have a much better idea of Aphra’s role in this crossover.
Spoilers ahead…
Unfortunately, the most exciting development in this issue was already spoiled in Dark Droids #3, as Magna Tolvan finds herself tortured and eventually possessed by the Droid Scourge, the final one of the three hybroids now in its arsenal. The issue wastes very little time in building to Magna’s encounter with the scourge, as she and her squad are quickly ambushed and forced to fight for their lives.
Most of her crew is slaughtered, with the scourge deeming the organic beings useless enough to be killed — as I’ve said before, some consistency would be appreciated here, as the Droid Scourge has spared some organics for exactly the same reason as it kills others in other comic series — and Magna is captured. One last member of her crew lives long enough to be killed via experimentation in front of her.
She is possessed by the Droid Scourge, joining Valance and Lobot as the third hybroid in the scourge’s ranks. It’s still not entirely clear what the Droid Scourge thinks the hybroids can do that droids cannot in terms of warfare, but I look forward to seeing the havoc they will cause.
Meanwhile, Doctor Aphra herself is closer to understanding the Droid Scourge than any of our other heroes aside from perhaps Ajax Sigma. As the droids on The Casus Belli begin to attack Aphra, Just Lucky, Lapin and Domina Tagge — the only organic beings on the station — Aphra quickly suspects that this is all the work of the Spark Eternal.
After an entertaining sequence where they fend the droids off just long enough to seal themselves on the bridge, they set the station on course to crash on a nearby moon, while they leave in an escape pod. Aphra takes this moment to question a severed droid head, which is when the Droid Scourge both confirms her suspicions and corrects her, catching up anyone who hasn’t been reading Dark Droids on the scourge’s origins.
It goads Aphra about its accumulation of hybroids, which immediately makes her fearful for Magna Tolvan. By the end of the issue, she’s embarked on her own rescue mission to save Magna from the Droid Scourge. It might be that her upgraded electro-tattoos can help her wake the hybroids from the scourge’s dominance.
It’s unclear if Just Lucky is accompanying her on this mission, but she seeks out another old flame, bashfully knocking on the door of Sana Starros. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other since the end of the Spark Eternal arc, and Sana doesn’t seem enthused by the sight of her. I can’t imagine she’ll be delighted to go on a quest to save another of Chelli’s exes, but she tends to the right thing so will probably agree.
With Sana Starros back in the mix, I am intrigued to see how she and Doctor Aphra will disrupt the Droid Scourge’s plans.
Rating: 7/10
Josh is a huge Star Wars fan, who has spent far too much time wondering if any Star Wars character could defeat Thanos with all the Infinity Stones.
