Star Wars: Darth Maul by Ron Marz

Star Wars: Darth Maul Reviews

• 
  Sud666

  In a galaxy far, far away from the current SJW Wars there was Star Wars. In this galaxy, the Sith were a truly terrible enemy (not the emo Kylo Ren who mainly destroys random equipment). Set right before the events of the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo, this tells the tale of how Darth Maul was tasked by Sidious to destroy the Vigos (mob leaders) of the criminal Black Sun organization. It is a really cool story, if you like Sith. I do.
  
  From Maul's interesting training regimen to the sheer havoc he causes to the Black Sun crime group-it's a pleasure to read. I especially enjoyed his fight against the Nightsister bodyguard who was chirping about the power of the Dark Side, until Maul shows her the true meaning of the power of the Dark Side. I also enjoyed the Iktochi fellow who tried to pry into Maul's mind and then promptly becomes a drooling idiot mumbling "It's so dark". A violent tale that shows just how dangerous the real Sith used to be before SJW Wars turned them into safe-space seeking hipsters specializing in microaggressions. There is nothing micro about Maul's tactics. The artwork is also quite good.
  
• 
  Ill D

  Ever other panel feels like it’s littered with the corpses of the fallen in Star Wars: Darth Maul. And the body count only racks up high and higher as this unconrititantly simplistic yet hardly unenjoyable yarn unfurls across a heap just a few scraps of paper short of the 100 page mark. Most interestingly enough, the very greatest strength of the character of Maul (his opaque shrouds of unexplained mystery) embodies the very flipside of this poorly sautéered character. From the very shrouds of the unknown that seek to cloak Maul not just literally but figuratively – reflect their own flimsy values as a story as equally murky and unrefined in its growth performs its own far from perfect dance of the Yin and the Yang just shortly before the title crawl to I were to have taken place…
  
  Seemingly cut from the same cloth, this offering arrived two years after the movie and with it, a reverberation of echoes that both inform and incestualize the atrocity of the Episode I era. Case in point: all out platonic cookie-cutter manufactories have spewed out our Knights [Qui-Gon/Kenobi], Damsel in… [Amidala], and so on and so forth until we get to the bad guys who while fulfilling their molds well – fogs of literary war merely grant us cheap facsimiles of something that could at least be a tad more complex and slightly better reasoned. Just as Qui-Gon hardly lives up to his “Grey” Jedi status – neither does Darth Maul who ends up representing first and manifesting second the prototypical bad-guy/arch-enemy/black-knight etc… Rehashing well worn and known roads and trails and instinctual pathways of rhythm and metaphor and meaning with little more than an extra dash of Violence – it’s just merely more of the same.
  
  And that sameness (for better and for (hella) worse) that reverberated from Episode I and it’s decaying influence of mediocrity – so too does an equally boring tale in the SW universe recall, reclaim, and then rebind itself to the internal-timestream. Case in point: when the plot boils down to an assassination on the capos of the ever burgeoning Black Sun criminal enterprise (ltd?) in the pre-fall-of-the-Republic era – another loop of written intertextuality becomes closed. With SOTE tied into its chronologically preceding story, loops are tethered into the meaning of the text which have not had a moment to unfurl and lose any connections that could have had (before functionaly damning themselves to the aberrations that are closed loops of nihilism).
  
  So even with some level of connection to bind this standaloneytale* gossamer threads as thin as their length see fit, at the hands of authors and illustrators alike, to merely focus upon it’s own story. And thus constrained to it’s own hamster wheel level production, a puerile inversion of a goo’ ol’ fashioned Good Vs. Evil tale is shockingly replicated the internal values reversed… Just as Luke and Co. effortlessly plow through hundreds of the Empire’s seasoned guards with high power(ed) weaponry, effective armor, and the best train training the galaxy can grant – I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see the same alacrity in application as well as appropriation to hustle and bustle this story through its second, third, and Final Act.
  
  For in our Post-Modern Era (all over again) it is just as crucial to dot our I’s and cross our t’s that we firmly not just cast out floating kites of ideas thoughtlessly but, that we must firmly plant it’s meaning into something else lest it find itself astray ready for appropriation and bastardization. With firm roots in the known- a quilt work of conscious and unconiously known-known’s can bind themselves into something coherent, seeking-truth, and reflecting the values and prejudices of the culture(s) that birthed them first, and then sustained themselves upon once the first loops were lain down.
  
  With everything mind-stretching you’ve heard today, it might surprise you to find out that while hardly the apple of the eye’s delight, neither does this rouge-tinged tale deserve to be merely relegated to the annals of published history. No burnings or dustbins are required- merely an eye our for pleasure and an eye with a scintilla of critical-thinking. In a rare case of mixing uppers and downers – I heartily exhort you to dose yourself with an extra dose of *suspension of disbelief setzer (now in a disposable tablet! - $9.95!). Then curl up the left of your upper lip to read this with a smug knowingness that the unabashed hyper-commercialism of the Prequel’s Era exposed evil Jorge to be the Emperor of his Era who actually never did wear any clothes (Despite what any of his fans wouls say otherwise)
  
  So, there you have it. Dudes get thwacked with D. Maul’s lightsaber, bodies drop, and (in an unusual occurrence) Bad Guys win and other (seemingly) mutually nasty Others lose. Sure, it’s odd to cheer for the bad guy but, maybe we’re never meant to cheer for anybody? Commercialist production sure but, there’s a reasonably decent product here within and without it’s ex/internalized muck(s).
  
• 
  Iset

  
  First thing’s first, truly gorgeous art work. Jan Duursema, for me, has never failed to deliver on the visuals. As someone who’s dabbled in art but never really had the skill to pull off decent likenesses, I have to say I’ve always been in awe of and envy of Duursema’s skill. So. Darth Maul. One of the few cool things to come out of Episode I. Every fibre of this guy is a killing machine, and yet he contains it beneath an exterior of ice cold control and efficiency. Plus the Sith have always been some of fiction’s most intriguing and mysterious villains. Well, we don’t learn much more about the Sith here, but we do get to see more of Maul in action. And that’s pretty much what this collection is; Maul in action. The plot is simple. Sidious orders Maul to keep criminal organisation Black Sun out of their business by causing chaos and eliminating their leaders. Everything else is just how this unfolds, as it’s inevitable. I first read this years ago, but re-reading it doesn’t change my opinion of it. Great art work, simple plot, on the whole too short as a story. Also it’s obvious to the reader that the writers just pulled the “bad guys versus bad guys” angle in order to make Maul work as a protagonist. But hey, they didn’t have that many pages to work with, and let’s face it, setting Maul up as a sympathetic anti-hero just can’t be done. A successful anti-hero needs an empathetic back story for us to take their side and back them through all the gleefully dark actions they thereby undertake. Maul’s just a killing machine. A cool killing machine. It’s a simplistic solution to set bad guy against bad guy but probably the best one given that there’s no time for back story here. Given Sidious’ comments at the end of the story, I would place this just before the EU novel Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves in the overall chronology. Enjoyable for what it is, but that’s all it is. Recommended for Maul and action fans. Probably missable though if you’re not that bothered.
  
  6 out of 10
• 
  Joshua

  This book was a lovely albeit frustrating reminder that Darth Maul was arguably the best thing to come out of the Prequel Star Wars films, and the guy got fridge to shit after one movie. This graphic novel was a blast to read, and I loved every page of it. My only complaint is that while this book is a reminder of Darth Maul's badassery, the book suffers from it's four issue limit. This book could have given the reader more of Darth Maul himself, his motivations, his history, his personal eccentricities, but all we get is one badass lightsaber slaughter after another.
  
  Though, I suppose, this in itself might be all the real characterization the reader really needs to understand a man covered from head to two in tattoos and who's only response when put to the task of disrupting an intergalactic crime syndicate is "Sure, why not?"
• 
  Terence

  The most interesting part of the prequel trilogy, Darth Maul,
  
  is off destroying the Black Sun on Darth Sidious's order.
  
  This is light of story, but high on action. The general story is Darth Sidious being commanded to destroy the Black Sun and him stoically following orders.
  
  I really like seeing Darth Maul intimidate and annihilate his adversaries so this was really fun for me.
  
  3.5 out of 5 stars
• 
  Michael O'Brien

  Great adolescent entertainment! This has a simple story line, and doesn't go into much depth on Darth Maul's background, but it's action-packed and fun to read. The illustrations are well done. I think it would be an enjoyable read for those into the graphic novel genre.
• 
  47Time

  The pacing of the story is a bit too fast to truly be enjoyable, but Maul's effectiveness in combat makes up for it. His skill makes you wonder why he was killed so easily in that epic fail of an Episode I.
  
  Darth Maul is given a mission by his master, Darth Sidious, to unbalance Black Sun, a galaxy-wide organization that has the power to affect Sidious's plans. He must kill the nine vigos, or lieutenants, and the leader of Black Sun. He begins by offering his services for a vigo of Black Sun, but kills all but one of his enforcers, so he can bring the news to the rest of Black Sun. After another vigo dies by Maul's hand, the leader of Black Sun, Lex, brings all the vigos together in his impregnable fortress. Unfortunately for them, this means that Maul can take them all out in one fell swoop. Lex's personal bodyguard, a force sensitive nighsister from Dathomir, senses his strength from afar. The battle is one-sided in Maul's favor. He single-handedly destroys everything in his path.
• 
  Kat

  3.5 stars
  A lot of action and the art style is gorgeous!
• 
  SzaraReadsComics

  I immensely enjoyed this comic art-wise, the fight scenes were dynamic and a great experience. Plot-wise it was simply okay, I wish we had some insight into Maul's thoughts.
• 
  Crystal Starr Light

  "I want you to strike at the heart of the Black Sun"
  Darth Maul. A Sith Apprentice with barely 5 lines of speech in The Phantom Menace, but his very name is enough to make you stop and wonder.
  Just before the Blockade of Naboo by the Trade Federation, Darth Sidious approaches his apprentice with a task: destroy Black Sun. Maul unwaveringly agrees. He penetrates their compound and his bloody rampages again.
  The art is magnificent. Darth Maul is displayed in all his radiant (and little seen in the movie at least) glory. He is beautifully rendered in each page. Other characters are likewise beautifully rendered--Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan as one. The actions sequences are well drawn and easy to follow. And new characters appear on each page. No confusion over who is who and what is what. However, I will say that the Nightsister was a little odd...almost reminded me of the drawing Ian McCaig did of the first Sith Apprentice (go to [..:] to get an idea of what I mean). Not bad, but definitely unexpected.
  There is a high body count in this novel, but not much gory factor. Also, this is not a highly complicated novel. Most of it is just following Maul as he kills people. I was able to stop halfway through and pick up almost a month later having no troubles. If you don't mind a threadbare plot and lots of action, this is your best bet.
  So, I highly recommend to Darth Maul lovers with want to see him do what he does best: kill people.
• 
  Richard L. Haas III

  If you want to read how you shouldn’t write Darth Maul as a lead character, read this. Not to be confused with Cullen Brunn’s 2017 miniseries of the same name, in Ron Marz’s miniseries, Maul is written to be just a character who kills a bunch of enemies on a mission and barely bothers talking or thinking. Such a bland portrayal that even a reader in the Letters to the Editor section picked up on but it was dismissed as “he’s a character of few words.” Bullsh*t. In Cullen’s run he spoke just as much but we got to read his thoughts. Understand motive. In this one it’s just played off as action. The art was alright but very uninventive and seemingly repetitive action. Reading this was a bit of a bore and I was honestly excited to finish it. If you want to read a good prequel Maul comic, read Brunn’s.
• 
  Alex

  Is Darth Maul really a character that Star Wars fans care for? Well, you'd have to be quite obsessed with him to get anything out of this story of Darth Maul killing a few people. That's the entirety of the content of these 4 issues. Darth Maul kills a few people. One can't help feeling that this series was nothing more than an excuse to show off Jan Duursema's striking artwork, someone saying "hey, she'd draw a really cool Darth Maul". And she does. Ron Marz writes a dull story to go with it though.
• 
  Guilherme Smee

  Darth Maul sempre rende e rendeu boas histórias dentro do Universo de Star Wars. Este encadernado não traz apenas uma história principal, mas três delas enfocando o lorde sith da primeira trilogia de Star Wars (cronologicamente). A primeira e maior delas, é uma minissérie dos anos 1990 escrita por Ron Marz e desenhada por jan Duursema em que Darth Maul precisa debelar as forças da organização Sol Negro em benefício aos sith e seu mestre. Esta minissérie não é lá muito surpreendente e segue o riscado de histórias de supers. A segunda história encontramos Darth Vader se encontrando com um trio de desconhecidos que se põem a ressuscitar Darth Maul. O que se segue é um conflito para ver quem é o melhor discípulo de Darth Sidious, o imperador. Esta, sem dúvida é a melhor história em quadrinhos do encadernado. Por último temos uma historinha curta de Darth Maul que mostra ele enfrentando alienígenas, mas é meio sem pé nem cabeça, não dá pra entender muito facilmente. Dito isso, o encadernado é bastante mediano e é ruim se comparado às demais histórias de Darth Maul que são muito boas.
• 
  Prasidh Ramson

  A prequel to a prequel! Set before the events of Episode 1, this story tells of Darth Sidious' enforcers first mission. To create discord amongst the powerful Black Sun squad, Darth Maul is asked to infiltrate this organization. To say more is to give the story away, but suffice to say high action and dual light saber battles abound.
  
  I really enjoyed this - simple storyline with lots of action. Side characters from the Star Wars Universe get woven into the story as well. Perhaps keeping with the nature of the Sith, the drawings are intense, brooding and menacing. The writing is sparse at times, capturing Darth Maul's laconic style.
  
  A thrilling read for anyone with fanboys and fangirls enjoying it more. #Recommended
• 
  Natalie

  This is probably one of my favorite Darth Maul centered comics. The 2017 title of the same name is a nice pre Phantom Menace story, but out of the two pre PM comics we got, this one is my favorite. The art is really good and I like the idea of Maul infiltrating's Black Sun to get rid of them. We also got a character, who's Nightsister roots would be expanded on later in Clone Wars and you have a solid quick read.
• 
  Ashe Catlin

  Not much talking but a lot of action, just what I expected from Darth Maul. If you are wanting deep emotional moments in this, then it isn't the series for you. I did love all the nodes to the Star Wars law like the nightsisters and the jedi rules.
  
  It was nice for Maul to take a lead for once, usually he just pops up in various media but is rarely the focus. Sidious brief moment was good as well, love the fact he referred to Maul as his tool and said it straight to his face.
• 
  Giuliana Neglia

  fun fact empecé a leer este comic antes de llegar al capítulo de TCW en donde nombran a la organización Black Sun y entendí muchísimo más del tema gracias a eso APARTE la tensión que te genera a cada momento y como juegan con el hecho de que es el paso previo al Episodio I me parece tremendo, btw darth maul mi aprendiz sith favorito siempre
• 
  Rizzie

  Absolutely nothing surprising here story-wise (Maul kills some dudes for 4 issues), but I still quite liked it for the brisk pace and well depicted action. Action is the whole comic, and it works surprisingly well for me.
• 
  ISMOTU

  A glimpse into the past of Darth Maul just before the start of "The Phantom Menace." We don't learn much more than what was in the movie but we see where he got his gadgets from and confirm through some brilliantly illustrated fight scenes that Darth Maul is an utter bad-ass and a foe to be feared.
• 
  Dimitris Papastergiou

  Set in 32BBY
  
  It was fun. Maul goes on a mission with lots of action and lots of hating towards the Jedi. Trying not to get caught seeing or reveal himself as a Sith Lord. Great artwork!
  
  I remind you, apprentice.. I do not tolerate failure. - Darth Sidious
  
• 
  Christian Smith

  Story: 7/10
  
  "as the events of the Phantom Menace draw nearer… Darth Maul is sent on missions more and more to bring lord Sidios's plans to fruition."
• 
  Timo

  There was about one memorable character in Star Wars prequels and about him Marz bundled up this very fast paced action thing.
  Not bad, not good but slightly entertaining.
• 
  Andreas Acevedo Dunlop Strom

  Middle of the road entertainment
• 
  liv

  Maul literally just kills people, slayy
• 
  Kat

  Thank you for enabling and perpetuating my obsession, Jules.
• 
  Jared

  
  Star Wars Legends Project #62
  
  Background: Darth Maul came out in 4 issues from September to December of 2000. The trade paperback was released in May of 2001, and the comic was collected again in
  Star Wars Omnibus: Rise of the Sith (
  my review). The story was written by
  Ron Marz with art pencilled by
  Jan Duursema. Marz has also written several issues for the Empire series and Jango Fett. Outside of Star Wars he is best known for his Green Lantern and Silver Surfer stories, as well as various other DC and Marvel works. Duursema has drawn a huge number of Star Wars comics, including most of Legacy, dozens of issues of Republic, and the entire Dawn of the Jedi series. She has also done work for both DC and Marvel, including a number of issues of X-Men, among others.
  
  Darth Maul is set 33 years before the Battle of Yavin, the year before The Phantom Menace. Aside from Darth Maul and Darth Sidious, there is a brief cameo by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. There is also a brief appearance by the Neimoidian Hath Monchar, who had a minor role in Darth Maul: Saboteur (the story that immediately precedes this one,
  my review) and a much more important role later in Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter.
  
  Summary: Darth Sidious is almost ready for the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo to go forward, but aside from the Republic and the Jedi, there's one other galactic player who could disrupt his plans: Black Sun, the massive, centuries-old criminal organization. To nullify any possible threat, Sidious sends Darth Maul to destroy the Master of Black Sun and his nine Vigos, a group of the most dangerous and powerful criminals in the galaxy. They don't stand a chance.
  
  Review: The first thing you notice about this is that the artwork is spectacular. The marriage between the style, the colors, and the story is flawless throughout. Maul is frequently surrounded by blacks and reds, like the comic itself is a visual embodiment of him as well. The flow from panel to panel, particularly during the fantastic action sequences, is brilliant. I would be hard-pressed to name a flaw anywhere in the visual aspects of this book.
  
  The story is alright. It's basically a paper-thin set-up that exists to create an excuse for Maul to tear through a series of intense fight scenes, raining destruction down on anyone that gets in his way. And it does a really good job of being exactly that, thanks in particular to the amazing art. What it is not, though, is a story with any insight whatsoever into its central character or how he operates when he's not dicing beings into tiny pieces with his lightsaber. Maul is an unstoppable evil force, but he's also a total enigma who mostly just shows up out of nowhere and starts slashing. A large portion of the story is told from the point of view of his targets, not his, because once again, he really has no point of view. He's not a character, or at least he's not developed as a character.
  
  So, I wouldn't say that I was disappointed by this story, but I did expect more of a story out of it. I thought it was odd that a quarter of the way through the book, Maul had just received his assignment. The remaining pages didn't really seem like enough for him to complete it. As it turned out, it was enough, but only because we only saw the part of his mission that involved him showing up and killing everyone. How did he find them? How did he infiltrate them? How did he rig an entire space station to explode, and where did he get the explosives? These are interesting questions, and questions that could tell us a lot more about Maul and how he operates when his lightsaber isn't lit . . . but there aren't any answers here, which feels like a wasted opportunity.
  
  But far be it from me to fault a story too much for being what it is rather than what I wanted it to be. The visuals alone make this a great read, and any shortcomings in developing Maul as a character could be attributed to the same causes I mentioned while discussing Saboteur.
  
  B+
• 
  Roz

  I'm gonna be honest, Darth Maul is right up there with Boba Fett on the list of silent killing machine characters that I just don't care about at all. The obsession with these murderous super characters is just so tiresome and I'm never gonna be super hyped about a comic that's focused on them. I will say, that I did appreciate the way this story was told. There was very little dialogue, so the story was mostly conveyed through really expressive artwork. This fit well with how Maul was portrayed in The Phantom Menace and visually was a good work. Just not a story I actually care about.