Staff Pick of the Week 2/7/18

• Comic: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra by Kieron Gillen and Kev Walker
• Staff Member: Liz

If you love Indiana Jones but sometimes wish he were a little less good and a lot more female, I need to talk to you about Doctor Aphra. The second volume of Kieron Gillen and Kev Walker's Star Wars comic about a very morally dubious archeologist comes out today, and it's the perfect time to start in on this series. Chelli Lona Aphra is an archeologist in the way that a mattress store jingle is a song. She's all about making money. Technically, she is a doctor and she knows what the heck she's doing, but she's only really concerned with the profit that her discoveries yield, not studying or preserving the precious objects she finds. Somehow, though, Doctor Aphra is a deeply likeable character. She's competent, funny, and exciting. Plus, she's the leader of a crack team made up of two murderous droids (think R2-D2 and C-3P0 but with homicidal tendencies) and a former-gladiator Wookiee that she's indebted to. The Doctor Aphra series is fun, fast-paced, and feels like a Star Wars book without requiring much knowledge of the Star Wars universe to enjoy it. Pick this one up now!