Diamond announced its list of titles for 2016’s Halloween Comic Fest this morning, which included a curious addition: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #1.  The freebie is an apparent reprint of Star Wars: Darth Vader #3, which introduced the character of Aphra–an evil archaeologist who functioned as a sort of inverted Indiana Jones for the Star Wars universe.  It’s a curious reprint, given that the Darth Vader series is coming to an end in August with issue #25.

However, the supporting character of Aphra has proven to be a fan-favorite, along with the psychotic droids BT-1 and 0-0-0 (evil versions of C-3PO and R2-D2).  Could Marvel be releasing this reprint as free advertising for an Aphra miniseries or ongoing?  No announcement has been made yet, but the move seems to be a logical replacement for the Han Solo miniseries finishing in a few months as well.  This could be another first for Marvel, as there has never been an ongoing Star Wars comic for an original, non-film character.  Dark Horse Comics certainly published a number of books that starred original characters, though none whose names featured in the title.  The closest it came was a one-shot for Jedi Aayla Secura, although Aayla had been incorporated into the films by that point.

PCU predicts that Marvel will be announcing a Doctor Aphra miniseries or ongoing in the coming weeks, possibly by Aphra’s creators Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larrocca.  Stay tuned!

Update: Marvel Comics has announced that there will be a Star Wars: Doctor Aphra series beginning December 7, 2016.