Random Happenstance

Even though I sometimes ask myself why; I still buy a fair amount of Star Wars Black figures. But I didn't get around to buying the titular character of this one; although I think there will be chances later with a new version. Even though she's barely in this one: from 2018, Doctor Aphra Annual #2, "Winloss and Nokk" Written by Si Spurrier, art by Caspar Wungaard.

On a distant planet outside the Outer Rim, the husband and wife monster hunting team of Winloss and Nokk have taken a job that they hope will put them in the big leagues. They're relatively ethical monster-hunters, though; not wanting to harm innocent or non-dangerous monsters. But they've been hired by the moral null-space that is Doctor Aphra, who communicates with them via hologram. She tells them she's working for a mobster that wants his own monster, as they were the in accessory: think Jabba and his Rancor, although they are described as the "cute" end of the scale.

Among other complications, the creature is in a mysterious temple, filled with traps. Very Raiders, in fact, Winloss recognizes a body in a dart trap as a rival hunter. Although Aphra talks them through the traps, she admits they weren't the only hunters hired for the job, but hey, good news! Most of them were dead, which had to improve their standings, right? Oh, and the creature was bioengineered with a force field that was building up and would probably explode if they hit it with blasters. Good luck!

Winloss and Nokk find a wounded hunter, top gun Squoxx. Who was going to bleed out, so they don't feel real bad about throwing him out as bait, but the monster doesn't bite. Nokk realizes it had been hunting by sound, and is able to use the chattier Winloss as a distraction to lure it into position and knock it out. Still, their negotiations with Aphra take a turn, as her offer for their work, is nothing. They could kill the monster, but she calls them too soft for that, and she turns out to be right. The dying Squoxx will, though. Winloss and Nokk aren't thrilled about it, then confused when something stirs within the body: Doctor Aphra in a null suit! She had infiltrated the temple to steal the prize inside, but got gulped by the creature and had to call for help that wouldn't just shoot at it and blow them all up. She's still not paying them; but there's still some comeuppance heading her way.

I haven't read a ton of Doctor Aphra, but I think the character only works if she is unrelentingly terrible. Just the worst. I don't know if this was Winloss and Nokk's first appearances, but they're on the cover of the next annual as well: they manage to avoid being completely burned by Aphra once, could they do it again?