It’s a jailbreak in Doctor Aphra #14 written by Alyssa Wong, with art by Federico Sabbatini, colors by Rachelle Rosenberg and letters by Joe Caramagna.
Our heroes awake where we left them: in jail. It’s nothing new for Aphra, for Sana, or for Aphra AND Sana, but it’s not ideal. To add insult to injury, they were knocked out before being dropped here, so they can’t even be 100% sure where they are. Fortunately (or perhaps not) Lucky and Ariole are stashed in the same cell. Lucky lets them know that they’re in the brig on the Vermillion, the flagship of the Crimson Dawn and home to this crossover event.
At least they’re on the same ship they started on? I truly cannot imagine the horror of living in a world where one can simply pass out and instead of ending up in say, Trenton Transit Center, ending up in another solar system.
Seeing Aphra and Lucky reunite is pretty nice! Neither of them is actively betraying the other at the moment! I really like the way they play off of each other as each tries to portray the situation as not their fault. Sana having heard the story of Lucky’s betrayal in the first arc is a nice touch. I do really feel for Sana and Ariole here. Lucky immediately clocks that Sana is either owed money or an ex of Aphra, but it’s Ariole who realizes that it’s both. There are a lot of feelings floating around, and this team up is going to be a DISASTER.
Crae’s repeated offer for Lucky and Ariole to join him and Crimson Dawn stands, but only for the length of the party. Lucky thinks he’ll be able to get Ariole to agree by then, but it doesn’t look promising. I’m honestly unsure if Lucky is actually willing to join, or just saying so to get out of the cell. There’s a bit of a line here between him and Ariole. Ariole doesn’t seem like someone who does well at deceit. Yes, he’s killing people, but it seems like he’s consistent in who he’s killing for. Lucky, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to value loyalty for its own sake, or at least not for anyone outside his brother. I’m not sure where they would place each other in their loyalty hierarchy, and it’s possible they aren’t sure either.
Time for four of the most terrifying words in the galaxy: Aphra has an idea. She recognizes the huge security droid as a modified version of a previously recalled model—and she can hack it, if she can touch it. It’s the best plan they’ve got, so Lucky mulls over ideas for distractions. More a woman of action (and clearly just looking for an excuse), Aphra punches him, because the traditional “prisoner fight” distraction works in every galaxy. They just need to make enough noise to attract attention. Sana’s assistance, with a deadpan “Oh no. She’s killing him. Please won’t somebody help?” killed me.
We get a close up fight in the cell, as Lucky gets a slight rematch against Crae, and Aphra takes control of the droid. When he realizes that he’s losing, Crae decides to take Ariole as a human shield/hostage. Unfortunately, Aphra neither knows nor cares who Ariole is. She would absolutely shoot some guy she doesn’t know to get out of jail! It’s perfect.
Crae dies as he lived: running his mouth about how the Crimson Dawn is powerful. Once it’s clear that he won’t be aiding in their escape and the recovery of their property, Aphra kills him. She and Sana head off, fairly cheerfully planning how to get their items back. Lucky keeps Ariole moving, despite Ariole being visibly upset at Crae’s fate. It’s got to be a lot of whiplash for him—your father figure has betrayed you and your organization and you need to kill him! But he had great reasons and wants you to come to the new organization with him! He beat you up to convince you! He used you as a human shield! He died! It’s a really rough day.
Heading through the ship, they come up with the outline of a plan, and decide to raid the armories. On the way Aphra needles Lucky about his relationship problems, while Sana and Ariole bond over explosives. I just think the dynamics here are interesting, and I would like to manifest more teamups in the future.
As always, the plan is to cause problems and steal things. It’s a good plan! They make it all the way to the main, important areas of the ship. There, they stumble onto Qi’ra stashing the necklace of data crystals from previous issues away in a display case. This has me even more intrigued about what intel is on there—and I’m sure Aphra feels the same.
Before our team can retrieve the necklace, there’s an interruption. Deathstick is here, and without Crae to step in, I don’t think she’s going to go easy on the crew.
Sabbatini’s style of art is a good choice for an issue like this— the characters are mostly having a lot of fun hijinks. This is a tonal shift from other parts of this arc—featuring a Vader-induced panic attack and a lot of stress—and Sabbatini’s style fits this issue well.
Liz Large is a copywriter with a lot of opinions on mutants.
