Various characters have seen their fair share of comic book spotlight recently including Darth Vader, Han Solo, Poe Dameron and Lando Calrissian but now Marvel is taking a chance officially releasing the first issue in stores everywhere for the nefarious Darth Maul. He's a villainous character who essentially "just looked cool" back in 1999 when The Phantom Menace released in theaters. But still arguably one of the only redeemable aspects of the film that disappointed fans worldwide has found a place in the ever expanding lore of the Star Wars universe today. The Clone Wars and Rebels animated shows have done a great job giving the character more depth but can this first issue be the start of something special too?
Darth Maul 1 does not start off with a forceful bang but it does slip it's evil fingers into the mind as we slowly learn about the character's horrifying desire to hunt for Jedi. We are treated to a fun sequence in the first few pages where Darth Maul fights off rathtars on a planet known as Twon Ketee. Rathtars were those giant spherical alien creatures that Han Solo and Chewbacca kept captive in the beginning of The Force Awakens. What was arguably one of the worst parts of that film was much more suitable in this circumstance. The creatures actually have a terrifying presence for a moment before our titular character goes to town on them with his deadly double-bladed lighsaber.
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Moving back to the dark side of this issue, we get a good idea of Darth Maul's struggle to maintain control of himself due to his relentless bloodlust. He's been working as an apprentice under Darth Sidious but he's not a fan of his master's approach to getting things done. Those who know how the story goes would know that Darth Sidious is in the game planning very long term but Darth Maul is living in the moment so to speak. Darth Sidious "allows" his apprentice to take out his anger on creatures and space pirates but Jedi are off limits until the time is right. If it was up to Darth Maul, the Jedi would feel the wrath at any given moment available. So, to see this conflict already brewing could make for a very compelling series of stories for this character in future issues.
Another scene specifies that Darth Maul, to an extent, abides to the rules of his master by getting the job done but not exactly how it was told to be done. He's cutting corners and extracting intel for his own personal gain when he has the opportunity to. He's quite a shady apprentice to say the least. It'll be interesting to see how Darth Maul achieves the goals he's striving towards moving forward.
Overall, Darth Maul 1 is a solid introductory for a character whether you've been a fan for years or you're just looking for a new comic to dive into. There are several fun tie-ins from the films sewed into this issue and Darth Maul's methods of executing plots create intrigue from page to page. I personally can't wait to see where this story goes.
