- "Aphra is just so much fun. She's got a ton of personality and brings chaos to every situation she steps into. You want to follow her, because you never know what's going to happen. Sometimes, she's a hero. Sometimes, she's a villain. She's clever and hyper-competent, impulsive and arrogant, and her personal life is a flaming wreck. What's not to love?"
- ―Alyssa Wong, on writing the second Doctor Aphra series
Alyssa Wong is the writer of the 2020 Marvel comic book series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, featuring Chelli Lona Aphra. They also wrote the one-shot War of the Bounty Hunters – Boushh 1, for which they created the Ubese bounty hunters Brene, Ilini, Hareck, and Tans with artist David Baldeón.
Biography[]
Writing Aphra and more[]
- "Deeply satisfying, as one queer Asian disaster, to write another queer Asian disaster"
- ―Alyssa Wong, on Chelli Lona Aphra
Alyssa Wong is an author who wrote the 2020 Marvel comic book series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, the second series headlined by the character Chelli Lona Aphra.[2] Wong is non-binary and gender fluid.[4] As described by Wong, both Aphra and Wong are "queer Asian disaster[s]," which adds to the satisfaction of writing the character.[3] Wong told StarWars.com, "I think Aphra is a delight. She's out for herself, for fun and profit, and that drives her actions more than any internal moral compass. It makes her really fun to write!" They also enjoy how Aphra's creator Kieron Gillen gave her emotional complexity, and how prior writer Si Spurrier made her face the consequences of her actions.[2]
Wong attended weekly meetings via Zoom Video Communications with fellow writers, including Star Wars: Bounty Hunters writer Ethan Sacks, and Marvel Comics editors.[5] The meetings were a highlight of Wong's time on Aphra for them[6] and Sacks, who enjoyed learning of Wong's plans for the Aphra cast.[5] Aphra was Wong's first time writing an ongoing comic series and, thus, was a major learning experience for the writer. With all the time they spent writing on Aphra, Wong would also reflect that the "little dirtbag archaeologist" managed to "worm her way" into their heart.[7]
For the 2021 Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters comic book crossover event, Wong wrote the one-shot issue War of the Bounty Hunters – Boushh 1 with art by David Baldeón. The issue featured the Ubese bounty hunter Boushh and a crew of new characters: Brene, Ilini, Hareck, and Tans.[8] After the release of the issue, Wong confirmed and shared further details from their script notes via Twitter, including the genders of each character and observations about their personalities.[9]
The character Alys "Crash" Ongwa is a tribute to Alyssa Wong.
The character Alys Ongwa, nicknamed "Crash," was created by Daniel José Older for the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative. Ongwa debuted in the comic story "Crash and the Crew Do What They Do" in the The High Republic Adventures Annual 2021[10] before featuring as a major character in Older's 2022 novel The High Republic: Midnight Horizon.[11] Since then, "Crash" has appeared in further The High Republic works.[12][13] Older created the character as a tribute to Wong and tuckerized their name; "crashwong" is Wong's screenname.[14] Ongwa's occupation and role within the Star Wars universe were based upon Wong's hypothetical answer of who they would be in the Star Wars universe: "the stressed out chaotic manager of an assassin squad (or something like that)."[15] Wong later had a chance to write "Crash" with their 2023 short story "Rogue Element,"[12] their The High Republic debut.[16]
In June 2022, Wong and Gillen were interviewed by Bria LaVorgna for a Pride Month feature on StarWars.com. The three discussed their experiences as queer people, the real world compared to the Star Wars universe, and the Doctor Aphra comic books and character.[4]
Aphra's end, other projects[]
Wong participated in several projects released in 2023 in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Wong wrote the one-shot comic Return of the Jedi – Ewoks 1. Wong's short story "Wolf Trap" was published in the anthology book From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi, continuing the story of scout trooper Hoyel from Wong's one-shot comic.[17] They also made their aforementioned The High Republic writing debut in 2023 with "Rogue Element," which was released in the Barnes and Noble edition of The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life.[16] Wong wrote the middle grade novel The High Republic: Escape from Valo with Daniel José Older[18] and was very pleased with the end result, even noting they found it hard to believe it was published and canon.[19]
The Star Wars: Dark Droids comic event gave Wong a chance to return to their horror roots.[20] Wong teased they were working on another High Republic project on November 2, 2023.[21] On November 23, Wong confirmed the 2020 run of Doctor Aphra would be ending with issue 40, much like the 2016 run, but promised future stories its fans would enjoy were in the works.[22] They also thanked the readers of Aphra for the fandom they had formed around the comic[23] and their support.[24] After its release, Wong thanked their "Doctor Aphra Family," including the comic's fans.[7] In particular, they thanked fans for their positive response to issue 40, along with the positive response to Escape from Valo.[25] Aphra would go onto win the 2024 GLAAD award for Outstanding Comic Book, much to Wong's delight. In response, Wong thanked their team and the fans of Aphra.[26]
On November 28 of 2023, Wong teased they had a new Star Wars story in the works.[27] On April 10, 2024, Wong teased that they had a chance to write a character they had never expected to be able to as part of their High Republic work.[28] Wong joined the comic writing portion of The High Republic with The High Republic Adventures – Dispatches from the Occlusion Zone 2,[29] which they were thrilled to write.[30] After rumors swirled that Wong would be joining the initiative's comic writers, it was confirmed with the announcement of Dispatches 2,[29] which Wong teased would feature an unexpected character.[30]
Proposed projects[]
Wong has expressed an interest in writing a prequel comic about the character Shin Hati.[31] Wong has also hoped for a chance to work with artist 5Health,[32] who, themself, also wants to work with Wong.[33]
Works[]
Bibliography[]
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
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External links[]
- Official website
Alyssa Wong (@crashwong) on Twitter- Alyssa Wong on Wikipedia
