Star Wars #31

Written by Jason Aaron

Penciled by Salvador Larroca
Cover by Marco Checchetto
Published May 17, 2017

   On a temporary rebel outpost, Sana Starros recants to Han Solo and Princess Leia that if she knows Dr. Aphra, the fact she kidnapped Luke to bring to the Queen of Ktath'atn right now is bad news. Han asks how it is she knows so much and she clams up but they all decide that time is of the essence. They leave Chewbacca behind and head for the Screaming Citadel.

Don't worry. You're not missing much, big guy.

   Meanwhile outside the gates of that very citadel, her guard explains to some disgruntled travelers that the Queen is no longer seeing guests. This doesn't sit well with them as she only sees visitors once a year. Obviously being in a bad mood at this gate isn't very wise, and the guards show that this queen means business. One time of note is that the Wookiee Black Krysstann sits in quarantine for reasons apparently shown in this stories previous chapter in Dr. Aphra #6.
   In the spire of the citadel, Luke and the doctor make their way up the stairs to see the Queen. Aphra explains to Luke that she's a collector of oddities. She's obsessed with all things Jedi, and if their intent is to get her to reactivate the artifact they've found, not to mention escape without being collected themselves, Aphra tells Luke to let her do the talking.

Zip it, farm boy!

   They enter her dining chambers and she greets them. She tells them that it's not every day somebody beings a Jedi before her. Luke keeps trying to interrupt and is clearly about to blow it, when Aphra keeps talking over him to keep him from saying the wrong things. Finally dessert is served, and the queen wants to see the Jedi lift the plate covers using the force. Obviously as he's still untrained, this ability doesn't seem to come easy. The Queen's guard pulls a dagger, putting it to his neck to see if Luke works better under pressure, as the doctor explained.
   Luke is trying but it's not working. Meanwhile Aphra explains to the Queen in exchange for the Jedi, she has an artifact containing the archived personality of the Jedi Rur. She asks that it be reactivated while quietly applying an explosive under the table. While the pressure on Luke grows, Aphra offers to remove the tops but is refused. She begins to sense the entire thing is a ruse. She yells at Luke to not remove them, as he slams his head back incapacitating the guard. The tops come off the platters and some symbiotes leap out to attack.  Aphra triggers the explosives to detonate and they make a run for it.

Whoopsie! Time to go!

   As they run back down the stairs, she explains to Luke that the Queen obviously intended to keep both of them. She radios her torture droid  Triple 0 for a quick escape. Obviously as some rather nasty guards bear down on them, the droid explains that he's having a tough time figuring out who's on what side. As Sana, Han, and Leia stand before him, he practically begs for permission to murder the rebels. But with that, we're left to be continued.
   Obviously I know that the Star Wars universe is a whole different ballgame in the Marvel stable. That said, this story required part 1 be followed in their pages of the Dr. Aphra book which I don't read. And since I also don't read Darth Vader (yet), Han Solo, or any of the other Star Wars books, I really thought this lone book would stay dedicated to things kind of in the original trinity wheelhouse. It didn't... and that's disappointing. Still it was an easy enough follow and worth skipping around YouTube to find out all the details. Hopefully this is a one time crossover though. I don't appreciate it but I'll tolerate it. What else am I supposed to do? I give it a 6/10.

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