"Doctor Aphra #18: Conjurations" by Alyssa Wong

"Doctor Aphra #18: Conjurations" written by Alyssa Wong, illustrated by Minkyu Jung and Rachelle Rosenberg

This issue opens up with a bang because...OMG!!! We get a flashback to when Ariole and Just Lucky were last together as a couple!! There's even a super sweet and intimate panel of them that got my heart a fluttering. I couldn't be happier now that we finally get some meat behind the knowledge that the two used to be in a relationship. *heart* There's also Aphra and Sana on the hunt for the Ascendant artifacts and them being thwarted by Kho Phon Farrus, the delightfully evil new non-binary character, at every turn. 

First, the flashback(s): Ariole is smitten to the max with Just Lucky, something that can be seen not only in his words, but also in his facial expressions, "I've been thinking about the future. Our future together. I love you, Just Lucky, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So I want to know if you..." Just Lucky's answer to this is to hug Ariole and kiss him on the forehead (see below), right before saying, "Ask me when I get back, Love." D'aww!!! But, unfortunately, that was Just Lucky's way of cutting ties with the other man which we learn from a flashback down the road a bit when Just Lucky and Ariole are stuck on Crimson Dawn's flagship, the Vermilion. Apparently, his brother Pak's debts were getting astronomical and he feared putting Ariole in a dangerous situation, so he just walked out...no wonder Ariole is so angry and on edge around Just Lucky all the time.

Then we go to Corsin where Kho Phon Farrus has struck again! Aphra and Sana have been going after every member of Tase Somer's Black Market Network to find Ascendant artifacts but all they've been actually following is a trail of destruction. In this issue, they enter a room with a whole bunch of dead people floating in the air. Luckily we don't see the severed tongues nailed to the wall that they came across at a previous site. Kho is one wacked out crazy, but I still find them to be a fascinating character. As Aphra says, "Kho dresses like a Sith dipped in glitter." Ha! Also, Kho was actually a classmate of Sana and Aphra's at The University of Bar'leth!! As Sana puts it, "The shy, quiet kid you got in trouble all the time? They were so nice. What happened?" Oooh, yikes...sounds like a typical Aphra situation...which she confirms with, "Well, I do ruin everything I touch." Aww, poor thing *heart*.

Aphra realizes that one person in the Black Market Network is still alive...none other than Beol De'rruyet, the guy with the fake Nihil hyperdrive (see below). Aphra convinces the man to put up a posting for a supposed Ascendant artifact with the intention of luring Kho into a trap...which of course works. See Kho below, using electromagnetic doohickeys to fling boxes at Sana, Aphra, and Beol.

Meanwhile, on Brentaal IV, Kho is lamenting their seeming to find only fake artifacts, "Oh, Ascendant, you left behind so many secrets and riddles...power to rival the Force itself, ways to transcend the flesh...all waiting to be deciphered by a worthy heir. I just don't think it's me." Again, awww, this issue had SO many feels in it. Feels that made me feel rooted and connected to the characters because they reflected parts of my own life. Alyssa Wong...you are a beast!!

Looks like we're headed to the University of Bar'leth next issue which should be an extremely interesting ride. AND we still don't know if we'll find out what went wrong between Just Lucky and Ariole before their latest separation!! I am super stoked to see where all this goes...