Darth Maul #1

Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul #1

Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Luke Ross
Colorist: Java Tartaglia
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Paolo Rivera

Darth Maul #1 explores the Sith apprentice in his time before The Phantom Menace. This one ties into the previous Maul series and builds on it. It also ties into his eventual role in the underworld. As such, it’s a nice little story.

The comic opens with a little Coruscant underworld adventure as Maul and a hired thief go on a mission. Maul, via narration, reveals that he’s been building ties in the underworld. A certain thief with remarkable skill came across his radar, so he hired him to see if he was Force sensitive. Maul’s intuition pays off, though I’m not fully certain I understand his motivations as it seems like a waste. Regardless, we get some Maul and Sidious time afterwards as they take another trip to Malachor. There, Maul has a vision of him being a Jedi and he learns a lesson about them. In a war, the Jedi have the numbers and the support of the people. To beat them, the Sith must overcome these obstacles. Lucky for Maul, his master has a plan for that.

On one hand, I like how Jody Houser laid down the foundation for Maul and his criminal empire. Seeing him take the initiative of building contacts and alliances in the Coruscant underworld is a nice way of connecting to his storylines in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Solo. His time on Malachor is also a nice tie-in to Star Wars Rebels. On the other hand, I don’t get why Maul kills the thief. Wouldn’t it have served him better to recruit the thief? Perhaps Maul doesn’t trust anyone else who is Force sensitive. I don’t know. If there was one thing I would have liked explained better, that would have been it. Otherwise it was a good story.

The art style is not flashy, but it works pretty good for the story since it’s the dingy underground of Coruscant and the dark tombs of Malachor. There’s good detail, coloring and lighting. It’s a good fit for the issue.

Overall, I liked this one. It’s not the best Maul comic I’ve ever read, but it’s worth checking out. I give it a four out of five metal bikinis.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.