REVIEW: DOCTOR APHRA #11 Prescribes Pain!

by Rebecca Kaplan · July 2, 2021

In Doctor Aphra #11 by Alyssa Wong, Minkyu Jung, Victor Olazaba, and Rachelle Rosenberg, with a main cover by Sara Pichelli & Nolan Woodard, Aphra and Sana Starros get involved in a spooky alien mess!

Doctor Aphra #11 Credit: Marvel Comics

This issue is another entry in the ongoing Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters event, and it continues the trend of great standalone issues that do not retread narrative ground as they move the many pieces of the developing narrative forward.

Durge.

Durge. Image: Marvel Comics.

This issue is especially interesting for re-introducing Durge. This character was part of the Star Wars Legends canon, having originally been introduced in some of the multimedia material related to the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It is very cool how these issues have tied together plot threads that have been dangling since before Disney acquired Lucasfilm.

Durge gets dirty. Image: Marvel Comics.

This re-introduction of Durge gives the storytellers a chance to tweak his character somewhat, just like Cobb Vance was adapted when he made the journey from Aftermath by Chuck Wendig to Disney+ for the second season of The Mandalorian.

Gross Aliens

In addition to re-introducing an interesting character, this issue also has plenty of Aphra-style goodness: namely, Aphra tracks down a weird bio-weapon, ends up in over her head, and then double-crosses her way out of the mess. When I open an Aphra book, this is the kind of thing I want to see, and Doctor Aphra #11 delivers.

Image: Marvel Comics

Plus, can we talk about how perfect a pairing Sana Starros and Aphra are? Sana calls Aphra out when Aphra goes too far, and Aphra pulls Sana along into one adventure after another. Plus, Sana has a personal connection to Han Solo that makes her inclusion in this narrative all the more interesting. Now this is podracing!

Doctor Aphra #11

I adored Doctor Aphra #11, and I can’t wait for Doctor Aphra #12… if you aren’t sure why, just take a look at the advert for it! Aphra is on a collision course with one of the galaxy’s heaviest hitters, and we can’t wait to see what happens when they finally meet.

Image: Marvel Comics.

Did you get a chance to pick up a copy of Doctor Aphra #11? Were you able to get the Pride Variant cover, featuring Sana, by Jan Bazaldua & Rachelle Rosenberg, or the other Variant by Chris Sprouse, Karl Story & Nolan Woodard? We’re waiting to hear from you, Marvel Blog True Believers! Let us know what you think in the comment section.