A twist in the game.
Creative Staff:
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Luke Ross
Colors: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
What They Say:
An evil crime syndicate is auctioning off a Jedi Padawan…that Darth Maul plans to take — and kill — for his own. Featuring: a band of bounty hunters including Cad Bane and Aurra Sing!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Darth Maul miniseries continues to be a project that I’m feeling wary of for a few different reasons even as each installment eases them. There’s appeal in understanding more of Maul at this phase of his life but I’ve been enmeshed in his journey through the Clone Wars series and Rebels to the point where he’s such a different character that it’s hard to reconcile it at times with all that he’s been through. Cullen Bunn keeps things moving well here, almost giving this a Nexus-like feeling to some degree, made more so thanks to Luke Ross’ artwork that expands and works a good range of alien creatures and locales. It’s a fun book once you can get past some of the elements of the character depending on how much you know about him, whether just from the single film or from all the ancillary works.
The acquisition of the Padawan is an area that is fun to watch here ahead of the bidding as Maul has made his way down to where she is and is getting a feel for what she is, to ensure that he’s getting what he’s really after. I love the way that she slowly realizes what he is, which is similar to how Bane and Sing are realizing that they’re into something bigger than they should be here and are looking to ensure that they have a good exit strategy. Considering the path both of them take in the future I know that this isn’t their end but it’s certainly fun to see them tense while trying to deal with that and whatever plan Maul has cooked up to gain the Padawan through the auction. Of course, that’s going to be difficult with the limited funds they have through the Haddrex group/gang that they’ve taken over in order to attend here.
The plan is actually kind of fun in its simple way of essentially laying in wait to take down the winners when they return to their ship. That makes for a good bit of chaos and fun as we see Maul doing the deed and others realizing exactly what he is, which sends a particular shiver down a spine or two. What I really like about all of this, however, is that it was expected by the woman that’s running the auction and she’s intending to use it as part of the next phase of making a lot of money. With the Haddrex ship succumbing to a bomb planted on it and heading for a crash landing on the world below, a new hunt is being setup that she can make money on. It opens up the miniseries to a fun twist that has me curious to see how far it’ll go, and how much of Maul will be revealed that will certainly displease Sidious.
In Summary:
While there’s a lot of fun in general with the book, what I really like are the inner monologue moments from Maul where he goes on about how he’s frustrated by Sidious and how he’s being held back by him but needs him in order to go after the Jedi. It’s a confusing relationship to be sure but one that sees an interesting dynamic to the master/apprentice side of the Sith that we didn’t get from Sidious and Vader. This issue works the auction side well with the plan B going into effect to gain the Padawan while also showing that Maul’s team is becoming increasingly wary of their own fate in all of this. That’s not too much of a threat considering what fans know but it’s a fun read and way to get into their mindset all while getting some really solid artwork from Luke Ross that tickles a particular space opera fetish of mine in showing some creative locales and aliens. Good stuff and better than I expected it to be.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 26th, 2017
MSRP: $4.99
