Max Nocerino 
Max explores the technological tease found in Marvel’s Dr. Aphra comic series
Normally, I don’t review comics anymore but I do glance at Marvel’s solicitations every month or so, just out of curiosity, and the solicitations for Dr. Aphra 7 caught my eye.
The plot synopsis mentions that she “sets her sights on a mysterious piece of tech that could shift the balance of the galactic civil war.” For reasons still unknown to me; I am obsessed with the science and technological progress of a GFFA; even though Star Wars is a space fantasy and not hard science fiction. Anyways, this line piqued my interest and it made me very curious as to what piece of tech that could be introduced that could alter the course of a war that spans an entire galaxy. Star Wars would be considered a Type 3 on the Kardashev scale for future civilizations, so most of the innovative technological discoveries are far in the rearview mirror.
The last tech boom was the discovery of Faster than light travel and this changed everything, as it opened the galaxy up to further colonization. It also provided the opportunity to even engage in an interstellar war, as they could now move fleets and troops in several hours as opposed to hundreds of thousands of years. In the real world, the biggest innovation in warfare was probably the invention of the rapid-fire machine gun as it allowed soldiers to mow through troops much quicker, and not have to worry about a lull of time between shots. Star Wars is WAY past both of these things, so I wonder what could be introduced to change warfare.
In Legends, there was exactly this incident coming up; in one of the last Legends books actually; a story about Han Solo stopping the Empire from unlocking a long-extinct alien race’s technology that allowed them to control hyperspace travel. If Emperor Palpatine had come into possession of this ability, it would completely end the Galactic Civil War; as he could keep ships from traveling, and control the very fabric of spacetime. Ironically, he intended to do this in canon, but through Force power means and not technology. In Canon, during the previous Dr. Aphra series, we are introduced to the Rebels version of a superweapon and it is depressingly overwhelming. It was just a way to utilize lightsaber tech to increase the range of sharpshooting.
While cool; this doesn’t seem very game-changing and the only other thing I can speculate on is that maybe it has something to do with wormholes. A wormhole makes an appearance in the Han Solo mini-series comic, and the wormhole is portrayed as an ancient tech that modern scientists could not crack. The wormhole could very well be what the writers have in store, but I am truly hoping for something special.
We won’t find out until December, and I hope that the authors’ imaginations are as boundless as the universe itself and we are treated to something truly cool to contemplate.
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Max Nocerino is a new addition to the Future of the Force roster. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter @MaxN2100 where he channels his passion frequently!
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Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
