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darthmaul
Kareem Ali 4

Star Wars Darth Maul: Son Of Dathomir #1

 

  • The good

    Action sequences are enjoyable and even though the premise is simple the events unfold in a fun way.

  • The bad

    Zero character development, which might take its toll later in series for those unfamiliar with events in the Clone Wars. Artwork detail in some of the panels

  • The ugly

  • Star Wars Darth Maul: Son Of Dathomir is a new series written by Jeremy Barlow, published by Dark Horse and is set during the Clone Wars. It features Darth Maul, the Sith once presumed dead after being cut in half by Obi-Wan but was able to survive by becoming part cyborg and eventually found by his brother. After rising in the underworld and building his own empire of criminals he’s deemed a threat by the Emperor, Darth Sidious, and ultimately defeated and captured by him. This issue opens up with Darth Sidious torturing Darth Maul and telling him that he has no intention of killing him. But Darth Sidious reveals to Count Dooku his true reason for keeping Darth Maul alive and that’s to draw out Mother Talzin, the one who trained Darth Maul, despite the initial belief that she was killed as well. This is all part of his plan to eliminate all his enemies and despite the main focus being on the Jedi, Mother Talzin is deemed just as dangerous to him. But while the two of them are discussing plans on defeating Mother Talzin there are two others breaking into the facility to free Darth Maul, and despite the drone forces’ attempt to stop them, they’re able to escape. However this all seems to be part of Darth Sidious’s plan to want to destroy Darth Maul completely by destroying everything he has left as well as drawing out Mother Talzin. Is it all just inevitable or will Darth Maul be able to cheat death once again?

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    Of course this series would have a strong appeal to fans of Darth Maul, who were ecstatic about his return in the Clone Wars or fans of the Clone Wars series (or Star Wars in general) as this picks up where the series left off. But considering the time frame this series is set in it has to overcome that air of inevitability that is an obstacle to all forms of entertainment set between well known events and involving the same characters, and so this premise might be less appealing to those who are unfamiliar with the Clone Wars series. However this issue opens up very well so even if you didn’t have a clue that Darth Maul survived or what he’s been up to since it’s still easy to jump right into it, and those who are already familiar with those events won’t have to endure those events being rehashed unnecessarily with the way it’s handled here. And events unfold pretty swiftly once Darth Maul escapes as he rallies some of his forces to contend with General Grievous and his drones who tracked Darth Maul’s ship to a secret base. Aside from the usual case of drones being cannon fodder the action is pretty entertaining as Grievous gets in on the action too. The artwork is strong in panels where there are character close ups but the detail goes down almost drastically in some action sequences, and even though the movements are easy to follow with some impressive finishing moves it doesn’t reach out from the page and grab your attention as a result of being wowed. And since everything was laid out early in the issue there is no suspense in the story but that doesn’t necessarily work against it this issue as the story progresses in a very satisfactory manner. All in all, this issue is a good, although simple, start to the series and I’m interested in seeing how events play out in the remaining issues.

     

    SUMMARY

    Star Wars Darth Maul: Son Of Dathomir #1 is an entertaining start to the series as its simple yet interesting premise benefits from the pacing and the enjoyable action sequences. I’m not sure how long that enjoyment can hold up considering there was virtually zero character development but taking this issue for what it is, a continuation of a Clone Wars story line devoted to Darth Maul, it’s still pretty fun. If you hated Star Wars Episodes I – III then this series isn’t for you as many of the same characters reappear here but if you’ve been looking for more Darth Maul you might want to give this issue a look.

     

    Release Date: 5/21/14

    Writer: Jeremy Barlow

    Artist: Juan Frigeri

  • Rating ( 8.25 )
  • Total score 8.3

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