Doctor Aphra Annual #3: "The Arrangement" by Simon Spurrier

Doctor Aphra Annual #3: "The Arrangement" written by Simon Spurrier, illustrated by Elsa Charretier, Edgar Delgado, and Jim Campbell

     What an oddly entertaining and charming story. It was a little tricky keeping up with all the twists and turns but I guess that's par for the course with Doctor Aphra. In the end everything fell together nicely and I was delighted in piecing together all the hints throughout the issue. In the best of news, Winloss and Nokk are back for another adventure as well as Black Krrsantan!! I love all three of these guys so much and am always happy for more stories starring them. The humor was great too with Winloss and Nokk and their typical bizarre banter, as well as funny taglines whenever new characters/scenes were introduced. And with Elsa Charretier on deck for the illustrations, the whole issue is a lot of fun to look at. Also, the title is certainly apt as everyone keeps making "arrangements" with each other...some that stink of betrayal...
     We begin with Nokk watching a message from Aphra about how everything causes ripples and how she wants to do something good for a change to cause positive ripples (instead of her typical selfish ripples) so she's going to help the Trandoshan out. Apparently, back during Nokk's coming of age ceremony which was lead by a Trandoshan named Skikkesk, everything was going great until Skikkesk's surprise--Nokk was supposed to kill a baby Wookiee as the ceremony's culmination. She of course wouldn't do it (we're well aware of her scruples and moral compass) and her clan was decimated as a result of her "failure." Nokk has wanted revenge on Skikkesk ever since and Aphra has a line on his whereabouts...Tatooine!

     We enter the famous Chalmun's Cantina in Mos Eisley (see image above) and meet Shrem the bartender who makes small talk with Winloss. The monster hunter shows Shrem the scurrier he's caught and this little critter (see image below) becomes the crux of the story as Black Krrsantan enters the cantina after Winloss and Nokk head out for a bit. It sounds like Black Krrsantan did something to get on Jabba's bad side--I can't recall if we knew about this or if it's a new addition to this story. One last thing I'll mention before leaving the rest up to your imagination, is that Aphra and Shrem knew each other back in the day (see image below)...could that provide a hint for how all this is going to work out??

     The best line in the whole issue of course came from Nokk who says to Winloss about the scurrier, "Hurry cloaca-deficient fool! We will release the vermin back into the wild to symbolize the utter hopelessness of my emotional closure." It's so ridiculous it's hysterical!!
     A great annual featuring some of my absolute favorite side characters! I really couldn't be more content. Hopefully we'll get more of the monster-hunting pair and the bounty-hunting Wookiee as Aphra's story continues in the relaunch of her long-run series!!