Doctor Aphra (2020) #7 - Comic Review

Following an explosive exit from Ronen Tagge’s penthouse, Doctor Aphra finds herself an employee of Ronen’s aunt Domina Tagge. Her mission is to secure an ancient Nihil Path Engine and she knows just who to talk to for information: Lady Proxima!

Check out our review for the previous issue before you read ahead.

Instead of revenge for attacking her nephew, Domina Tagge has brought in Aphra because she needs her for a job: stealing an ancient Nihil Path Engine. Aphra has no real leads, but she knows where to get information so she heads to Corellia to meet up with an old acquaintance: Sana Starros. Still on bad terms from previous encounters, Aphra has to pull some strings to get Starros on board, which she eventually does with all her wit and charm, and gets Starros to set up a meeting with the one and only Lady Proxima! Convincing Proxima to assist with some information, Aphra finally gets a lead on someone who’s recently had their hands on the path engine and her and Starros head off to find them. In another part of the galaxy, we see Just Lucky trying to figure out how to make some credits to help continue to pay for his younger brother’s gambling debt, only his contract with the Tagge family has officially been terminated. This forces him into some drastic measures and old alliances in order to get some work. It’s not long before both Lucky and Aphra get what they’re going after, but both come with some big strings attached!

While certainly slower than the previous issues in this current run of Doctor Aphra, writer Alyssa Wong still brings the adventure and intrigue to the latest issue of the spacefaring architect. She takes us through some of the slums of Corellia with Aphra which is juxtaposed quite nicely against the nicer Tagge ships and casinos of Canto Bight. Wong also, once again, delights with Aphra’s often deceiving wit and charm throughout this entire issue as she keeps the characters and the readers enthralled with her personality. Speaking of the juxtaposition between the slums and casinos, penciler Minkyu Jung, inker Victor Olazaba, and color artist Rachelle Rosenberg show off some fantastic skill here bouncing between the two opposite types of locales while still making them just as visually interesting as the other. A very nice standout of this issue is the encounter with Lady Proxima who looks to be popping right out of Solo: A Star Wars Story with her intricate detail and viscous ferocity.

A slightly slower paced issue gives way to explore the rich dialogue and witty charm on display as the story sets up for what is sure to be an epic race to get to the path engine with their lives still intact!