Marvel Announces ‘Star Wars: Doctor Aphra’ From Kieron Gillen And Kev Walker

When Marvel Comics released its December solicitations, one of the biggest mysteries was the existence of something dubbed Star Wars: Classified #1 by Kieron Gillen and Kev Walker. There was much speculation about what the new ongoing would be, but with the release of Gillen and Salvador Larroca's final issue of Darth Vader today, Marvel has confirmed that Darth Vader will be followed up by an ongoing series starring the book's breakout original character, Doctor Aphra.

Doctor Aphra's survival has been one of the biggest questions as Darth Vader headed into its climax, and as a character not featured in any of the films, her safety wasn't guaranteed. Indeed, in an interview with StarWars.com, Gillen admitted that for a long time he expected Aphra to die at Vader's hands by the end of the series, but he realized he'd accidentally created a way to save her earlier in the series.

The series will also see a return of other fan-favorite characters from Darth Vader, including the evil Wookiee Black Krrsantan, and the two murderous droids Triple Zero and Beetee. After the end of Darth Vader #25 (spoilers follow), Aphra has found herself trapped between a rock and a hard place where she owes Black Krrsantan a lot of money, but needs to keep a low profile so as not to alert Vader to her survival. She's trying to balance that danger with a return to her career as an archaeologist.

The series marks the first original Star Wars character created at Marvel to receive their own title, and is a big vote of confidence in the fan-favorite Aphra and her creators Gillen and Larroca. Since her first appearance, Doctor Aphra has been embraced by Star Wars fans, especially on the convention scene, where she is an increasingly popular cosplay figure.

Here's the full solicitation information:

STAR WARS: DOCTOR APHRA #1 (OCT160975)
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Art by KEV WALKER
Cover by KAMOME SHIRAHAMA
Variant Covers by ELSA CHARRETIER (OCT160977) and JAMIE MCKELVIE (OCT160976)
Action Figure Variant by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER (OCT160980)
Story Thus Far Variant by SALVADOR LARROCA (OCT160979)
Droids Variant by ROD REIS (OCT160978)
Blank Variant Also Available (OCT160981)
FOC – 11/14/16, On-Sale – 12/7/16