Review: ‘Doctor Aphra’ #40 – Aphra Gets a Wonderful Send Off in ‘Night As Day’
Doctor Aphra’s journey of self improvement finally comes to a close in the 40th and final issue of her current run. I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to confirm that no, she did not die after last month’s cliffhanger, but that doesn’t mean the issue is any less emotional.
Every panel serves a purpose in telling you just how Aphra feels, what she’s thinking, and how she’s come to the point that we leave her on. Not a single page is wasted. There’s very little action to cap off this issue, but that’s not what the story was about anyway and it allows us to spend more time with the character as we say goodbye for a little while.
In the end, it’s an emotional and heartwarming conclusion to Doctor Aphra‘s second run. It resolves every single plot thread it needs to, but leaves one or two dangling ahead of her inevitable return. Doctor Aphra has consistently been one of the best Star Wars comic series over the last four years and it ends on a high note.
Spoilers ahead…
Cover by BETSY COLA
The issue wastes no time in letting us know that Aphra did survive the crash on Rocedila. As soon as she punched in the hyperspace coordinates, she ran to the escape pod and jettisoned before the jump, landing safely on the surface. There is absolutely no dialogue here, even when we see frames of Sana yelling into the comlink, desperate for Chelli to evacuate the ship.
It’s an incredibly effective decision. A picure can tell a thousand words, and keeping the dialogue mute kept my heart in my mouth. It was heartbreaking seeing Sana beg Aphra to save herself, unclear if the two would ever see each other again, while Aphra thought of nothing but Sana as she prayed to survive.
When Aphra started narrating — a one-way dialogue to Sana in her head — it had an air of finality about it and I wasn’t sure where it would all go. Would she really stay hidden from everyone she loved, regressing back to her old self with a private regret about abandoning them?
The temptation was strong, clearly. She immediately makes a beeline to Rocedila’s ancient Jedi Temple she’d researched in university, discovering an ancient tome deep inside. Seeing Aphra exclaim about actually finding a paper book was fun, as I forget sometimes that nearly every book in Star Wars is digitized on some datapad or other. As an aside, I wonder if she ends up giving this tome to Luke Skywalker? She mentions him once or twice in her narration and it would be cool to say that one of the books in his collection in The Last Jedi was gifted to him by Doctor Aphra.
She knows that she can sell this tome for a huge fortune to the right people, but ultimately she realizes there’s no fun in earning a huge fortune if there’s no one for her to share it with. How’s that for character development? She hasn’t exactly turned into a goody-two-shoes or anything, but she has finally stopped thinking only about herself.
While she’s doing this narrating, we see Sana and Domina head back to the Starros family home with a weak Magna Tolvan in tow. Magna seems to be furious that Sana left Aphra to die, before breaking down in tears. This is all done without any dialogue between the two of them, again to maximum effect. Eventually though, we get to see them talk and Magna urges Sana to search for Chelli, with both of them certain that she’d found some way off the ship.
It seems a bit odd that Magna couldn’t come with Sana, a convenient excuse to get Sana Starros and Doctor Aphra together for their own reunion and finish up their own emotional arc. Sure enough, Sana finds Chelli after she emerges from the temple with the book, and Chelli bounds into her to plant a big kiss on the lips.
She’s ecstatic to see her again while also frustrated that her love for Sana has changed her into a less selfish person. The writing here is wonderful and does a great job expressing these complicated emotions that Aphra is feeling. Sana is delighted that Aphra is ready to love her more than she does herself, and the two get a happy ending.
We get a brief montage of Domina returning to Lapin at Tagge Corporation, and Just Lucky having fun with Ariole and his little brother, before returning to Aphra chatting with Sana and Magna. Chelli invites the pair of them to team up with her on future heists and expeditions and the pair of them accept. I’m not entirely convinced that Magna would give up her renewed purpose serving the Rebellion for a life of crime, but she has anyway.
I can’t be the only one thinking that this dynamic must be a bit weird. It seems that Aphra and Sana are in a relationship now, but surely it’s weird that her ex is with them too? Again, it’s difficult to believe that Magna gave up her noble calling to become Aphra and Sana’s awkward third wheel. Maybe they’re a thruple now? Who knows.
We see the three of them get into some hijinks at a bar, while an ISB agent called Melchior — who I think was recently seen in the final issue of the Bounty Hunters comic — hires a bounty hunter named Razlin to hunt down Doctor Aphra. It’s not clear why Melchior has it out for Aphra, but presumably we’ll find out when Doctor Aphra returns in her next comic run.
It’s a shame we have to wait a while to see her again, but in the meantime we have this wonderful ending to savor.
Rating: 9/10
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.
