Jeremy Barlow does the impossible with Star Wars: Darth Maul – Son of Dathomir #1; makes me enjoy a character that had no reason for being alive in any Star Wars continuity. My disdain for much of the extended universe is well documented, my hate for the needless resurrection of a clearly slain Darth Maul the high-point of that hate.
Our tale takes place during the turmoil that is the Clone Wars and sees Darth Maul captured by then soon to be Emperor Darth Sidious. As with most extended universe tales we get the requisite cameo appearances from various Star Wars cast (it’s a small universe), in this case from the likes of Count Dooku and General Grievous.
A majority of the issue is spent in heated battle, the artwork flowing smoothly across the pages. Juan Frigeri is on penciling with Mauro Vargas on inking duties, the two working well together to bring out a bright and vibrant world full of character. Often times these Star Wars tales are drawn far too dark for my liking and lack a certain charm, fortunately Darth Maul: Son of Darthomir isn’t such a case.
Being a new series the big worry is in getting a story that becomes overly convoluted with origins or with backstory. Thankfully, we don’t run into these problems as any necessary backstory is left to a small block of text in on the credits page. Also with this being Darth Maul, odds are most people have an understanding of the character, even if many don’t know his back story, heck, I didn’t even remember he had that damn mechanical lower half that I hate because the story was so well told.
The Star Wars universe is rife with betrayals, double-crossings, and general dickery making its villains the standout characters. Let’s face it, Luke is boring and Han Solo is cool but nobody cares to know his story for fear that it would ruin his sort of “bad-boy” persona. The villains are the ones who actually have room for character development, so focusing on a character like Darth Maul makes sense. If you enjoy seeing a genuinely interesting character punctuated by the intensity of a losing battle, this book is sure to please you and Star Wars fans alike.
Everything ties together well with panels and word balloons supporting each other in a nice fashion. Darth Maul looks fantastic whenever he’s in frame and his Madalorian compatriots make an impact with their unique armor and styling, so much so that the Mandalorian armor I have in my closet for cosplay might be getting a new paint-job ASAP.
Secondary characters, even ones well-known one in the universe don’t always fare quite as well. Darth Sideous comes out looking more like your grandfather than pulling off the dark and menacing thing. Likewise, Count Dooku only has the slightest resemblance to the legendary actor that portrayed him, Christopher Lee.
Darth Maul, for the imposing and bad-ass character that the book presents is always on the losing end of endeavors. The writing helps to drop him down a peg so that we can get this underdog character in future stories that has very little to lose making him all the more dangerious. There are no twists, no shocking ending for the reader to deal with; what we get is a very straightforward story that will satisfy on many levels. Also knowing that Darth Maul isn’t really the concern of Darth Sideous (nothing is ever as it seems) makes you root for the character all the more. These little touches in the writing are exceptional and are a welcome departure from the heavy-handed approach many other books takes.
Darth Maul was one of the few saving graces of the Phantom Menace film, so it’s nice to be able to see him fleshed out as a truly interesting character.
Star Wars: Darth Maul – Son of Dathomir #1
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Jeremy Barlow
Penciller: Juan Frigeri
Inker: Mauro Vargas
Colorist: Wes Dzioba
Cover Artist: Chris Scalf
Publication Date: May 21, 2014
Price: $3.50
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