by Mark Mitchell

This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!

Doctor Aphra is a book built around taking familiar characters from the Star Wars universe and remixing them by removing their moral compasses. Chelli Aphra is the Han Solo who would have taken his reward at the end of A New Hope and never looked back as the Rebels attacked the Death Star. Her robot compatriots, BeeTee and Triple-Zero, are the lovable C-3PO and R2D2, but also they’re always looking for opportunities to murder. And Black Krrsantan? He’s always been a bit of a mystery, but Doctor Aphra Annual 1 revels in finally letting the audience in on his past.

Turns out Black Krrsantan is Chewbacca, if Chewbacca actually had the temperament to pull someone’s arm out of its socket because he lost at 3D chess…and then kept on pulling until the arm was completely detached…and then beat them over the head with their own limb until they lost consciousness. Oh, and also there’s a bit of bonus Wolverine in there as well, because why not? The real joy of the issue comes from the clever reveals and reversals that keep the audience on their toes throughout the story. Krrsantan set himself as bait for the slavers all of those years ago on Kashyyyk. He didn’t bristle at being forced into gladiatorial combat for survivial, he relished it.

Doctor Aphra Annual 1 is the rare annual that tells a side story removed from the regular action while still satisfyingly tying into the whole. We finally know more about Black Krrsantan, and he fits right in with Aphra and the rest of the bizzaro world Star Wars crew that inhabit this part of the galaxy.

The conversation doesn’t stop there. What do you wanna talk about from this issue?