You got War of the Bounty Hunters in my The Engine Job! You got The Engine Job in my War of the Bounty Hunters! Time to solve one problem and start another in Doctor Aphra #10 written by Alyssa Wong with art by Ray-Anthony Height, inks by Victor Olazaba, colors by Rachelle Rosenberg and letters by Joe Caramagna.
This issue wraps up “The Engine Job” arc and sets Aphra on a collision course with the “War of the Bounty Hunters” crossover. It’s a lot to get done in 20 pages, but Alyssa Wong manages to tie up all of the plot threads in a satisfying way, while making room for fun.
We open on Midarr, with Aphra and Sana’s attempted theft interrupted by a hostage situation. If we were meant to learn anything from this series, I think it’s that nothing is more inconvenient for criminals than other criminals. Vukorah, who thinks our heroes are dead, is here for the same thing they are: the ancient Nihil hyperdrive, and she’s willing to kill every scientist and intern in the building until she gets it.
Aphra’s plan? Get out now. As she tells Sana, being a hero isn’t worth it. Of course, Sana takes this opportunity to bring up Magna Tolvan, Aphra’s ex, who absolutely would support doing the right thing. It’s Aphra’s curse to find herself entangled with people who have more stringent moral codes than she does.
Spurred on by the guilt trip and Sana’s plan to get involved on her own, Aphra rushes in. She’s got the know how to disable the engine before it explodes, plus the bad attitude to distract the hostage takers while Sana gets other people out. It’s the perfect plan, or would be, if both the engine and Vukorah weren’t extremely volatile. Several hostages are shot, and there’s an explosion—but the situation is nowhere near as bad as it could have been.
Domina Tagge is not quite as happy, since the engine she asked Aphra to steal was destroyed in the explosion. Aphra saved one piece, which she hands over as a peace offering, but neglects to mention that the piece is nearly useless to anyone without her skills. But that’s a problem for future Aphra. Domina has a problem: a mole in the organization needs to be flushed out. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the Sixth Kin faces the same issue. Looks like we’re in a battle of the exes as Aphra and Just Lucky (along with their respective exes) are on a collision course of an investigation.
The art in this is a bit of a departure fromMinkyu Jung’s work in the previous issues. It’s not a massive difference, but the change did throw me off a bit at first. Height’s faces aren’t quite as expressive, making scenes that should have emotional weight behind them fall a bit flat.
This issue was a satisfying conclusion to the arc, and seems to indicate that we’ll be seeing more of Sana going forward. It’s a great move—the series is better when there’s multiple strong personalities, and Aphra and Sana have a history that makes every interaction that much better. I hope these anvil-sized hints mean that Magna will be showing up soon, too. I love Aphra, and I wish nothing but the worst for her.
Liz Large is a copywriter with a lot of opinions on mutants.
