Burkely HermannNov 9

My latest post on Wading Through the Cultural Stacks--> #Mindcontrol, near-death experiences, evil #robots, #secrets, artifact #theft, and "#lesbian disaster" #DoctorAphra

As of this post, I've written about Doctor Aphra ten times on this blog, first starting in July 2023 and most recently mentioning it in my post last month. This post will pick up where my post in July left off... read more here:

https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2025/11/09/mind-control-near-death-experiences-evil-robots-secrets-artifact-theft-and-lesbian-disaster-doctor-aphra/ #starwars #lgbtq

Mind control, near-death experiences, evil robots, secrets, artifact theft, and “lesbian disaster” Doctor Aphra

As of this post, I’ve written about Doctor Aphra ten times on this blog, first starting in July 2023 and most recently mentioning it in my post last month. This post will pick up where my pos…

Wading Through the Cultural Stacks
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
The perfect encapsulation of Aphra, in her first appearance, in Darth Vader (2015) 3, showing she truly is the moral inverse of #IndianaJones, as it states on a Wookieepedia page. Sorry for the blurriness. This is one of my favorite scenes of her. (1/?) #doctoraphra #theft #lesbians #lgbtq #armory #artifacts #starwars
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
As of this post, I've written about #DoctorAphra ten times on this blog, first starting in July 2023 and most recently mentioning it in my post last month. https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2023/07/12/the-archivist-in-star-wars-crimson-reign-an-archivist-or-a-scholar/, https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2025/10/02/video-games-memory-erasure-and-archivy-implications-in-glitch-techs/ (2/?) #glitchtechs #starwars #crimsonreign
The Archivist in “Star Wars Crimson Reign”: An Archivist or A Scholar?

In November 2021, I noted on this blog about two possible archivists in Star Wars. One was in the first issue of the Star Wars: Crimson Reign comic, with the character, known as the archivist, a Fo…

Wading Through the Cultural Stacks
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
This post will pick up where my post in July left off, covering issues 31-40 of this second Doctor Aphra series. Unlike the first one, this is written by Alyssa Wong, assisted by penciller and inker Minkyu Jung (Marika Cresta and Federico Sabbatini worked on previous issues as pencillers and inkers. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Doctor_Aphra_(2020) (3/?)
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2020)

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra is a Star Wars comic book series, written by Alyssa Wong and art by Marika Cresta, which takes place between the events of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which began publishing digitally on May 4, 2020 and in print on May 27, 2020. It focuses on the titular character Chelli Lona Aphra. The series was scheduled to begin publishing by Marvel Comics in April 2020,[6] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Marvel...

Wookieepedia
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
The two hardcover #books I'm going to review here are not included in Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 2, because that #book only includes issues 1-25. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Doctor_Aphra_Omnibus_Vol._2 #doctoraphra #starwars (4/?)
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 2

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 2 is a hardcover Marvel Omnibus compilation of the first 25 issues of Marvel Comics' Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. The collection was published on August 29, 2023.[1] The rogue archaeologist returns with a new crew! Doctor Aphra is back to doing what she knows best: hunting the score of a lifetime that's too good to pass up! But Ronen Tagge, heir to the powerful Tagge family, also has his eyes on the cursed prize - and he's about to change the game in a...

Wookieepedia
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
Maybe one day they will make Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 3, but I'm doubtful. [this actually did come to pass and I even have it on pre-order!] (5/?) #starwars #preorder #doctoraphra
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
As such, the two books I am reviewing here are: #StarWars: Doctor Aphra Vol. 6 — Ascendant (published in August 2023) and its follow-up: #StarWars: Doctor Aphra Vol. 7 — Dark Droids (published in April 2024). (6/?)
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
These books cover issues 26-40, while Vol. 7 also includes material from Star Wars Revelations issue 1. In this post, I'll note the #archivy themes in both books, and connect it to some issues in the first omnibus book. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Doctor_Aphra_Omnibus_Vol._1 (7/?) #starwars #doctoraphra
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 1

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 1 is a hardcover Marvel Omnibus compilation of the entirety of Marvel Comics' Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, which was in published between December 2016 and December 2019. Content from the 2015 series Star Wars: Darth Vader and the 2020 one-shot Empire Ascendant 1 that feature the character Chelli Lona Aphra are also collected, as well as all issues of the crossover event Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel.[2] The collection was published on March 23, 2021.[2...

Wookieepedia
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
The book begins with #doctorphra, still controlled by the spark eternal (at least she isn't mind-controlled to be a soldier for genocide as the clones were as I noted in my post last week [see below]), trapped inside her own memories, a #mental prison of sorts, as her friends attempt to rescue her. https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2025/11/02/good-soldiers-follow-orders-mind-control-secrets-intrigue-kaminoans-and-the-genetic-records-hall/ (8/?) #starwars #mindcontrol
“Good soldiers follow orders”: Mind control, secrets, intrigue, Kaminoans, and the Genetic Records Hall

When I ordered the box set of Star Wars: The Clone Wars last year, one of the disc sets was something entitled “The Lost Missions.” I soon learned this was the sixth season of the serie…

Wading Through the Cultural Stacks
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
On her flagship many are trying to overthrow / supplant her, since she is the head of the Tagge Corporation. Starros and others seem like they are trying to kill her, but it turns out it was all a set-up to take down Ronen. https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2024/08/28/secrets-inter-agency-conflicts-bureaucracy-and-kent-the-redactor-in-the-mauritanian/ (related post) #themauritanian #redaction #bureaucracy #corporations (9/?)
Secrets, inter-agency conflicts, bureaucracy, and Kent the redactor in “The Mauritanian”

When I started watching The Mauritanian on Netflix, I didn’t know that records would be such a big part of the story. I connected with that aspect of the film more than anything, even though …

Wading Through the Cultural Stacks
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
This goes to even further in the next issues/chapters, featuring, in a flashback a character named Ches who is "Ascendant Record Keeper" while the Ascendant leader, Miril, wants to create #records which sound exciting and #mysterious. https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2020/09/30/arizal-recordkeeping-and-the-world-of-maktaba/ (10/?) #recordedbyarizal #archives #archivy #records #popculture
Arizal, Recordkeeping, and the World of Maktaba

What if I told you that an Austin, Texas, animation studio is currently streaming a show about a 16-year-old Filipina who wants to be a record keeper? You might scoff and laugh, declaring that no s…

Wading Through the Cultural Stacks
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
In the present, Aphra robs a tomb, with the help of two evil mind-controlled #robots, specifically a temple of sorts, and she sees flashbacks the entire time. https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2025/04/15/brainiac-manufactured-memories-mind-control-and-kryptonite-in-my-adventures-with-superman/ (related post) #mindcontrol #superman #myadventureswithsuperman #maws (11/?)
Brainiac, manufactured memories, mind control, and Kryptonite in “My Adventures with Superman”

As of the writing of this post, I’ve mentioned My Adventures with Superman, an animated Superman origin story which mixed together the action-adventure, romantic comedy, science fiction, and …

Wading Through the Cultural Stacks
Show threadBurkely Hermann
Two panels from the beginning of chapter/issue 29, with Miril, otherwise known as Lady Spark, talking with the "record keeper" above the planet of Pyrr IX in a flashback. #recordkeeping #archives #records #popculture #starwars (12/?)
Nov 12 at 7:33pmWeb
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
All of this shows how much Aphra has changed from how she was originally introduced in Darth Vader 3, the first chapter in the hardcover compilation (Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 1) which includes all the issues in the original series which ran from 2016 to 2019, but also many others. https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Doctor_Aphra_(2016) (13/?) #doctoraphra #starwars
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016)

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra is a comic book series that began publication on December 7, 2016.[9] It was originally written by Star Wars: Darth Vader scribe Kieron Gillen. It was then briefly co-written by him and Simon Spurrier before writing duties were transferred fully to Spurrier after Remastered. The series was first teased on September 19, 2016,[12] before being officially announced on October 12, 2016.[13] The series takes place between Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and Star Wars...

Wookieepedia
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
Later, Aphra talks with #Palpatine / Darth Sidious to fill in some gaps, but #DarthVader is so angry with her, he almost kills her, even though she didn't betray any secrets. She barely survives. (14/?) #starwars
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
Other issues show #doctoraphra making an agreement with Dixnet and Domthro who claim to be journalists, running a channel which is not on the side of the Rebels or the Empire, employing two people to get an #artifact, spreading a message about herself, and a message to her friends, through a #hologram, on Hoth. Is this all any surprise from someone recruited by #darthVader, faked her own death, and is roam the galaxy with her two droids, on the other? (15/?) #starwars #death
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
To add to this even further, Aphra is a person who cares about Aphra first and other people second, on the surface. Even so, she does care about others but doesn't always show it well. (16/?) #doctoraphra #starwars
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
For an example of wild things which happen to #doctoraphra, see panels about the data stick in issue 35, in which Aphra is given the data stick by #dominatagge and then has it stolen from her by a person she had sex with named Teviy... so typical (for her) #lesbian #lgbtq #starwars #data (17/?)
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
Aphra wants to ask her more about the previous night, but Domina tells her that this isn't a relationship or #romance, and to seek that elsewhere. Basically Aphra got #seduced (like Leela did by Zapp Brannigan early in #Futurama) and played. She has sex again, with someone who steals the #data stick that Domina gave her. Again, her #baddecisions come back to haunt her, as is a common theme throughout this series. (18/?) #starwars #doctoraphra #lesbian #lgbtq
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
The interweaving of how Aphra's bad decisions and choices effect what happens to is indicative of the well-developed writing of this series, by Alyssa Wong, who is jokingly called a "Official Queer Asian Disaster" by those who edit WookieProject Pride on Wookieepedia. Aphra herself is called a "Official Queer Asian Disaster" https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Wookieepedia:WookieeProject_Pride (19/?) #lgbtq #queer #doctoraphra #starwars
WookieeProject Pride

Wookieepedia
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
Sadly that project is defunct and the founder, Immi Thrax, was cruelly and unfairly blocked/banned from editing for pointing out systemic problems with the site itself. https://www.tumblr.com/immithrax/728418865704484864?source=share (20/?) #lgbtq #queer #bans #starwars
Tumblr

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your people.

Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
The consumption of all #knowledge is something many #villains try to, including, most prominently, Octavian in #CleopatraInSpace (see the below posting) https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2024/02/14/cleopatra-in-space-record-preservation-destruction-and-real-life-archives/ #recordpreservation #destruction #archives (21/?)
“Cleopatra in Space”, record preservation, destruction, and real-life archives

Happy Library Lovers Day! In the theme of today, I am writing about record preservation and destruction in the early 2020s animated series, Cleopatra in Space, and how those same themes manifest th…

Wading Through the Cultural Stacks
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
The #robots take over more minds (again a form of #mindcontrol), but Aphra, Lucky, and Sana work together, even using an experimental #EMP device. Aphra realizes this is something trying to survive, with one #consciousness, trying to bring in everything. https://archivyrep.wordpress.com/2025/10/02/video-games-memory-erasure-and-archivy-implications-in-glitch-techs/ (22/?) #glitchtechs
Video games, memory erasure, and archivy implications in “Glitch Techs”

When I first watched Glitch Techs on Netflix, I only thought of it as a rad animated series about two teens who join those secretly taking care of glitches which result in video game characters com…

Wading Through the Cultural Stacks
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
Its almost like the Big Brains in #Futurama, with the #Infosphere which want to consume all #knowledge, in existence, regardless of the consequences for others. https://popculturelibraries.wordpress.com/2020/07/28/the-brain-spawn-and-the-importance-of-the-public-library/ (23/?) #publiclibrary #libraries
The Brain Spawn and the importance of the public library

This article focuses on the library in Futurama, in an attempt to highlight a common portrayal of the library field in popular culture. It derives from an August 11, 2019 short thread I had, on Twi…

Pop Culture Library Review
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
In the final issue of Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Magna (on the right) and Sana (on the left) sit on each side of Aphra, who welcomes them into a "lifetime of crime," making them a polyamorous couple, of sorts, all of whom love one another. (24/?) #polyamory #poly #lgbtq #lesbian #doctoraphra
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
She asks them to join her in a "lifetime of crime" (see the panels above), saying that since the galaxy is in shambles, they should take advantage of everything. The issue ends with all three of them escaping a bar, together, from people who have a grievance against Aphra. (25/?) #lgbtq #poly #polyamory #doctoraphra
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
It feeds right into Star Wars Revelations issue 1, in the story "Tall Tales," when a bounty hunter, a Black woman named Raslin Grace, wants to track down Aphra. She is recruited by Melchior Votto of the the Imperial Security Bureau to track her down. This isn't the end of Aphra's story by a longshot either. (26/?)
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
In August 2024, Star Wars News Net reported that Aphra will be featured in The Battle of Jakku: Republic Under Siege #2. Hopefully, #doctoraphra gets a live action film or even a series! An animated series would be great as well. (27/?)
Show threadBurkely HermannNov 12
That's all for this thread. Until next time! (28/28)