In “Star Wars: Darth Maul #1,” Cullen Bunn takes his love of villainy to a galaxy far, far away. Here he has the opportunity to expand the backstory of the soft-spoken Sith apprentice. Having only spoken about three lines in his only major movie appearance, there’s plenty left to say about Maul.
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Luke RossBred on hate, fear, and anger, steeped in the ways of darkness, and trained to kill. Darth Maul’s time as apprentice to Darth Sidious has long been cloaked in shadows, but at last we will reveal his tale of revenge. From writer Cullen Bunn (DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE, WOLVERINE) and artist Luke Ross (STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, HERCULES) comes a tale of rage unleashed as Darth Maul prepares for his first encounter with the Jedi. Rated T
Unfortunately, not much of consequence happens in this issue. Unlike “Darth Vader,” which filled in the story of what the Dark Lord was up to between the movies, “Darth Maul” doesn’t have much to say. Maul is cool, Maul is evil, Maul is deadly, but we already knew all of that. What we get are a series of escalating vignettes that finally tease a more substantial conflict that has yet to arrive.
The issue starts with Maul hunting Rathtars, the tentacle beasts Han Solo was hauling in The Force Awakens. This shout-out to Episode VII is fun, but again, we don’t learn anything new about the characters or the world. Artist Luke Ross does a fine job with his portrayal of the googly-eyed tentacle beasts, but in doing so he reveals that Rathars aren’t terribly visually interesting, especially in the insanely diverse pantheon of Star Wars creatures.
From the Rathtar hunt, we go to Maul stalking a Jedi and her Padawan on Coruscant. Ross does a great job at framing the scene, but again, not much happens. The Jedi are up to some unspecified business with a couple of Rodians, they walk through an alleyway, their long shadows creating a cool film noir effect, and throughout the sequence tiny panels of Maul’s demonic eyes and gnashing teeth show how frustrated he is that he can’t just jump these galactic do-gooders and stab them to death.
It’s around this point that Maul’s inner conflict becomes clear. He’s chastised by his master Sidious for putting the larger plan at risk, when all Maul wants to do is cut loose and kill. Hunting space-beasts and stalking Jedi is not really scratching the evil itch as well as it should. Bunn can definitely turn a phrase, and Maul’s inner monologue captures some of the difficulty of being a young Sith. “It is strange- ironic- that I have been urged to give in to my passion… my unease… and yet my master commands me to bide my time.” You said it Maul.
Though he kills a lot of creatures, sentient and otherwise, by the end of the issue, none of it has lasting consequence. The violence is drawn with brutal efficiency by Ross, but it leaves the reader feeling as pent up as Maul. It’s hard to capture the fluidity of a lightsaber fight through static images, but Ross acquits himself well. In some panels, Maul is drawn multiple times, as if he is so fast that he can be in several places at once. That’s pretty cool, and perhaps Ross is doing a better job with lightsaber action than any other artist on a Star Wars comic. He also gets the gift of drawing the most visually compelling character in the entire prequel trilogy. It’s a shame none of the kinetic carnage amounts to much.
The Darth Maul in the films was an intriguing enigma. It’s in the cartoons, Clone Wars and Rebels that he was really fleshed out with a backstory, a family, and twisted machinations of his own. That Darth Maul (or just Maul as he later insists on being called) is a complex figure, craving violence and revenge, but also juggling a few assassinations and a coup and the accumulation of forgotten mystical knowledge. He was shown as someone who was capable of love- in this case his brother- and of later having a bottomless well of hate for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maul was changed from an awesome opportunity for Ray Park to show off his stunt prowess to a complicated three dimensional character.
The Maul of this book is younger. He hasn’t yet been bisected by Obi-Wan and revived through the sheer power pf hated. He almost feels like a frustrated teenager who just wants to show evil dad what he’s capable of. As any Star Wars fan knows, prequels can be tricky. You want to add depths while not ruining the lore, you want to pay tribute to what came before while finding something of your own to say. Darth Maul succeeds in showing the violent adventures of a hateful Sith, but it doesn’t find new depths.
Final Verdict: 5.8 – Demonic Zabrak Sith Lords are inherently cool, but a story of how bored he is seems like wasted potential.
