Aphra is the first original Star Wars character not from the films to lead a Canon comic series.

Aphra is a morally questionable, criminal archaeologist initially employed by Darth Vader in his efforts to replace Palpatine as leader of the Galactic Empire, who later goes into hiding from the former after betraying him to the latter and faking her death, briefly establishing a love–hate relationship with Imperial officer Magna Tolvan.

Supported by droids 0-0-0 and BT-1, and later by her former romantic partner Sana Starros, she is considered a war criminal by the Rebel Alliance.

[2][3] She travels in a unique starship called the Ark Angel, which features a custom white-and-blue paint job.

[3] SyFy Wire calls the character an anti-hero who "shares the snark of Han Solo and sexual charisma of Lando Calrissian, but toes the line between right and wrong far more regularly than these two characters—and more often than not steps over it into the downright naughty.

"[6] Creator Kieron Gillen notes that the character's main interest is "this weird obsession she has with uncovering old stuff".

"[4] Gillen further explains, "you can root [for her], because she makes really bad life decisions and sort of rolls with them ... She doesn't like killing people.

"[3] Gillen has confirmed Aphra's sexuality, saying he has written her primarily romantically interested in women (and as flirting with Luke Skywalker), but noted that real-world attitudes towards homosexuality "[don't] really exist in the Star Wars universe".

[4] At the end of the series, Vader attempts to kill Aphra after she betrays him to Palpatine, but she escapes, leaving him thinking he succeeded.

[4][7] Gillen had originally planned to have Vader kill Aphra during the story, but realized a way that she could escape and still keep the integrity of both characters.

[4][6] She is in hiding so that Vader will not discover that she is alive, but needs to get back into her life as an archaeologist so she can repay her enormous debts to the Wookiee Black Krrsantan, and fulfill her promise to help locate the people who tortured him in the past.

[23] Alan Scherstuhl of Slate wrote of the series, "The stories, like Death Stars, tend to explode, but unpredictably so, with escalating twists, striking moral quandaries, and only occasionally anything like a truly happy ending.

"[3] He explains, "Besides the vigorous storytelling and startling twists, the Doctor Aphra comics ... fill in shades of gray that are otherwise missing from Star Wars' moral spectrum.

"[3] Jesse Schedeen of IGN called Doctor Aphra "Marvel's riskiest Star Wars project to date", but noted that "the distance from the movies gives Doctor Aphra a greater sense of freedom in terms of tone, style and plot possibilities.

"[6] Schedeen described the series as "very much like a Bizarro Han Solo story with a dash of Indiana Jones thrown in", and noted that it "thrives on its dark sense of humor.

[33] "The Trigger" is a short story written by Gillen, published in the 2017 Star Wars anthology From a Certain Point of View.

She wonders aloud whether the Death Star has a "trigger"—whether any one person flipped the switch that murdered billions.

[3]Gillen said he wrote the story with the intent of "working out a fairly logical reason, why with her background, she thinks the Empire is bad to the alternative.

"[7] Doctor Aphra is a playable character in the 2015 collectible RPG game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, released on mobile devices by Electronic Arts.

"[7]Trent Moore of SyFy Wire deemed Aphra "arguably the best thing" about the Darth Vader series,[35] and Catrina Dennis of StarWars.com calls her "the type of character that steals every scene she's in.

"[3] Citing Aphra's "feats of technological prowess coupled with her unpredictable personality" as the characteristics which "make her a character worth watching", Dennis writes, "Aphra has stolen the hearts of fans everywhere with her unpredictable humor and a complicated backstory that has unfolded into something much more than her introduction to the saga may have let on.

[37][38] Doctor Aphra and her two droids have also appeared in the Star Wars: The Black Series line of 6" action figures.