Doctor Aphra #13

Doctor Aphra #13

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Penciller: Kev Walker
Inker: Marc Deering
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Kamome Shirahama

There’s a lot of closure in Doctor Aphra #13 as several story threads come to an end. Vader, Rur, the debt to Krrsantan, the murderbots, and even an old grudge, all swept clean. For now. It makes for a nice resting point for the story before the next arc kicks off.

The issue opens with the showdown between Darth Vader and the Immortal Rur. They taunt each other before locking blades and Force launching each other. Or at least before Vader Force launches Rur. For all his talking, Rur is pretty limited with his skill set. He can control machines and he has two lightsabers, but he cannot Force push anyone. Vader, on the other hand, has made some modifications so even Rur can’t tamper with his mechanical suit. It gives Vader the upper hand throughout the entire fight, thus maintaining the Dark Lord’s rightful superiority as the villain supreme in the Star Wars galaxy. When Vader eventually finishing toying with Rur and destroys him, he takes the crystal containing the Jedi’s essence and presents it to the Emperor as a gift. Perhaps someday will see it again in one form or another.

Elsewhere, Aphra still has to make her escape from the space station. The leads to a really funny scene with Sutha the Hutt, and then some dark humor. Of course Aphra gets away, but she also snags the Shadow University ship full of valuable artifacts which she then goes about selling off to their owners. With the debt to Krrsantan paid, and being free of the murderbots, Aphra earns herself a little vacation. Krrsantan gets a few panels showing his revenge against the brothers who enslaved him. There’s a nod showing Vader sensing Aphra’s presence, but letting her go for now, and the murderbots get a nice wrap up with their new master. There’s a lot of endings, and thankfully they’re all satisfying. It makes for a good end to this issue and the arc.

The artwork has its usual cartoony style which gets the job done and kind of maintains a more lighthearted mood throughout the issue. The coloring and lighting add a lot to the panels, which helps it pop off the page a bit. There’s a good flow to the action, some fun panel arrangements, and overall, it works pretty good.

With a solid story, tons of resolution, and good artwork, I give Doctor Aphra #13 a five out of five metal bikinis. For Doctor Aphra fans, this is a great issue to check out.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.