''Aphrodite IX'' is a science fiction comic book character created in 1996 by writer

David Wohl David Wohl is an American comic book writer and editor. He is best known as an editor at Marvel Comics and Top Cow Productions and, at the latter, writing '' The Darkness'' and ''Witchblade''. Career David Wohl began his creative career as a h ...

and artist David Finch, published by the American comics studio

Top Cow Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, an imprint of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. History During the early years of Image Comics, which was founded in 1992, co-founder Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Jim Le ...

, an imprint of

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

. Aphrodite IX is a

self-aware In philosophy of self, self-awareness is the experience of one's own personality or individuality. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While consciousness is being aware of one's environment and body and lifest ...

female android designed as a spy and assassin who retains no memory of her missions. A sequel series was launched in 2013, and the character was rebooted in the 2018 ''Cyber Force: Awakening'' series.

Publication history

The first series of ''Aphrodite IX'' was written by

and drawn by comic book artist David Finch. Issue number 0 was released with an issue of '' Wizard'' magazine on November 30, 1996. Originally appearing on the Top Cow solicitation schedule as a monthly title, to date only 6 issues and one trade paperback have ever been published. The 2000 publication year saw the release of issues 1 and 2. Before issue number 3 was released in early 2001, Finch was replaced with artist

Clarence Lansang Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a loca ...

(the issue features artwork by both artists), yet only two more issues would be published during Lansang's tenure (number 1/2, a place-holder issue recapping previous story events and containing ten pages of "

pin-up A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...

s" by various artists, and number 4 which continued the story but did not finish it). ''Aphrodite IX'' still appears on the Top Cow website as a "current" publication, although Wohl has since moved on to other projects. A trade paperback, ''Aphrodite IX: Time Out of Mind'', collecting all extant issues, was released in 2003.

Aphrodite IV

An android similar to Aphrodite IX, identified as Aphrodite IV, appeared in a page from Top Cow's ongoing series '' Cyberforce''. An Aphrodite is featured on the cover ''

Witchblade ''Witchblade'' is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owner Marc Silvestri, editor David Wohl, writers ...

'' #119, where she is shown wielding the Witchblade itself. The Aphrodite is confirmed to be IV, the same one stalking the Cyberforce. The cover, showing Aphrodite IV wielding the Witchblade, may seem a bit misleading, as she does not actually wear the Witchblade in this issue. During the Artifacts limited series, Aphrodite IV is hired by an unknown person who desires to bring all Thirteen artifacts together.

Vol. 2

Top Cow released a free preview issue for Vol. 2 of ''Aphrodite IX'' on May 4, 2013, with the first new issue released in June 2013 and the 11th and final issue released in July 2014. The preview is set in the distant future of the previous issues in the series. The artist of the series is Stjepan Šejić.

Plot

Aphrodite IX is a female android who has amnesia shortly after being sent on undercover missions. This leads to ongoing confusion about what she does and for whom. Although she becomes aware that she is intended as an assassin, she finds the idea increasingly distasteful and experiences dreams and desires like a human. This begins to undermine her morale but not her efficiency, for her conditioning takes over as her masters or survival circumstances require. When she seeks out clues to her past and true identity, she stumbles onto a conspiracy involving a secret society of

cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

s attempting to undermine the legitimate government.

Main characters

Aphrodite IX – Aphrodite IX is a

gynoid A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Name A gynoid ...

designed to carry out undercover missions of infiltration and assassination. Although she has been trained to kill, Aphrodite IX retains no memory of her actions; her brain is designed to experience an episode of

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

at the end of each mission, apparently to protect her masters if not herself. The character's appearance is her trademark:

Kelly green Shades of chartreuse are listed below. Historically, many of these colors have gone under the name of either yellow or green, as the specifics of their color composition was not known until later. Wrapping the spectrum into a color wheel In a c ...

makeup and hair (including an oversized spot on one cheek), form-fitting outfits ringed with ammo belts, thigh-high lug soled boots. She typically carries a very large knife on her belt and one or more large guns.

In other media

An anime of ''Aphrodite IX'' was being developed, but aside from a trailer released at the Top Cow booth during the 2005

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

, nothing ever came of the project.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aphrodite IX Comics characters with superhuman strength Fictional assassins in comics Fictional gynoids Fictional women soldiers and warriors Top Cow titles Top Cow characters Science fiction comics 1996 comics debuts Fictional characters with amnesia Fictional female assassins Fictional marksmen and snipers