Doctor Aphra No. 27 review: Without murder

Less than 10 hours remain before the proximity bombs that bind Aphra and Triple-Zero together will end them both. Can Doctor Aphra convince her unwanted companion to only use murder as a last resort this time?

The last time we saw Doctor Aphra and Triple-Zero  the infamous fugitive archaeologist and the assassin droid who wants her dead but can’t kill her – the latter had just murdered presumably the only man who knew how to save their lives.

There’s still hope, though – as long as Aphra can convince Trip to refrain from ending a human life long enough to get them to another expert who can disable their proximity bombs before they explode.

Yeah, that’s probably not going to go well, is it?

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Spoilers ahead for Doctor Aphra #27! You have been warned.

This issue stars off with Nokk and Winloss (remember them?) accepting a job on behalf of “Princess Leia Organa” (actually Evasan disguised as Her Highness), agreeing to kill Aphra and bring Triple-Zero back intact. That will probably be important later.

Meanwhile, Aphra and Trip attempt to use public transit to get to a cyberneticist who should be able to disable their proximity bombs before they explode.

“Attempt” is the best word to use here, because at the first detection of insult, Trip threatens murder and gets both human and droid kicked off the transport.

And by “kicked off,” I mean “forced to jump into the deep, haggard underbelly of an otherwise utopian planet to fend for themselves.”

That’s where things go even further south – because this is Aphra’s story, after all, and there is always a worse outcome waiting in the forthcoming panels.

SURPRISE! Tam Posla is not (technically) dead – thanks to hookspores – and is back for revenge (well, justice) at the worst possible time. It’s only fitting that droid and human, forced to travel as a single unit, hit yet another snag that could prevent them from getting the help they need in time.

I absolutely love this comic.

The back-and-forth between Trip and Aphra keeps getting better and, as always, never ceases to strengthen each individual character — Aphra always pushing the droid to go against his programming (however it might benefit her) and Trip constantly reminding Aphra how terrible of a person she is (which might actually motivate her to change one day, maybe).

Even if you’re jumping into this comic way too late as I did, it’s worth catching up on. The writing is phenomenal, the pacing is just right, and we’re always left wondering how Aphra is going to get out of another mess that’s (usually) her fault.

The cliffhangers are always good. And the dialogue is always on point.

Every issue, we’re given a glimpse of how the Empire’s dictatorship is slowly infecting different parts of the galaxy. The Rebellion hasn’t won – not yet – so there’s not much hope around, especially in the eyes of someone who used to work for them.

Aphra has plenty more adventures to come, and they’re definitely going to be worth the wait. 2019 can’t come soon enough.