Darth Vader 3 p.20 - 1st appearance of Doctor Aphra

Happy Star Wars day everyone!

When Marvel got the rights to the Star Wars comics from Dark Horse, I had mixed feelings. As a Portland, OR native, I was a bit sad to see my hometown publisher Dark Horse lose the IP but I was thrilled that the stable of writers and artists at Marvels disposal would now be unleashed onto the SW universe once again I don’t know the details of the acquisition but after I started reading the Darth Vader series I began to feel like the right thing had happened at the right time.

The debut of Dr. Chelli Lona Aphra caught the interest of many, including myself. I thought maybe she would only be around for a short time but that Vader would eventually dispatch her after she outlived her usefulness to him, but to my delight she has managed to survive. I admire her cunning ability and multiple skill sets allowing her to survive being employed by Vader. I also get almost as much enjoyment out of her two murderous droids, 0-0-0 (Triple-Zero) and BT-1 (Beetee) and their hilariously disturbing machinations of gory reverie.

I saw this page up for auction and was determined to get it and so I did but I was not prepared for the final hammer price which at the time felt like I had maybe made a mistake due to it being a digital monoprint but the composition seemed oddly fitting considering for many of us who were born "a long time ago..." back in the 70's-80's, that the format combination of digital/analog in some ways mirrors the SW universe itself.