REVIEW: Doctor Aphra #2

Doctor Aphra #2

Doctor Aphra has always been a hit or miss title for me. The concept is great. Indiana Jones in the Star Wars universe (not Lara Croft since she’s not that agile). It makes perfect sense since the Star Wars universe if littered with Sith and Jedi relics. Unfortunately, since the character is pretty new, I don’t feel like she has her own identity yet. Every writer seems to have their own take on her character and personality. I personally miss the murder droids; those were some of the best issues.

It’s also weird that Marvel rebooted the series and jumped the timeline to after the Empire Strikes Back. But here we are. The issue begins with a flashback of Chelli Aphra (the first name looks too much like “Chili” when you’re reading it, so that’s what I call her. They probably should have used an “S” or a “Y”). She’s in college, hanging out with her girlfriend – Before you ask, yes, she’s gay. And the girlfriend introduced here is also who she presently on a mission with.

They’re after the Rings of Vaale and the criminal overlord, Ronen Tagge is also searching for it. I’m not sure exactly what the thing does. Maybe it makes the best pasta fagioli ever. Of course, they refuse to hand it over to him if they get it, and he promises to do a bunch of nasty things to them.

They find the lost city, cause it’s so well hidden, and a wall of ghostly looking faces, who look like Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live. From here they find the seal of the Workshop of the Architects of the Vaale (now there’s a mouthful), which they discover is also a map. They follow the trail deeper into the catacombs where they find a big door. Aphra determines that they are all experiencing unique hallucinations, including an alien being that she shoots.

There’s a key slot in the door and Black Krrsanstan wants to blow it up, but he gets voted down. Sorry, BK – where are the Social Justice Wookie Warriors when you need them? From there they find a bunch of disks and the floor falls out beneath them. Professor Okka, Aphra’s ex-girlfriend, falls into a pit, while the others are held at gunpoint by a third party. Uh oh.

About Author

Frank Zanca

…began working in local television at the age of 22 when he became a Promotional Producer for Channel 9, the Orlando ABC affiliate. During this time he wrote and produced thirty-second spots for the newscast and syndicated shows such as Geraldo and Sally Jesse Raphael. Later he worked as a Production Assistant on NBC’s Gonzo Games and Dick Clark’s Sea World Summer Spectacular. Frank created and wrote his first comic book, which was distributed internationally under the name of Shadow Raven. For a number of years, Frank worked in Sales and then moved into Marketing where he became CFO and later President of two Independent marketing firms that were later sold for several million dollars. Recently Frank helped design Shadow Raven: the Combat Card Game, which was distributed internationally and has written the Shadow Raven novel (to be released next year). Frank is currently producing Shadow Raven: Fading Thoughts, a thirty-minute pilot, which is designed to become a feature film or television series.

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