– Spoiler Review –
After Darth Vader, the next most obvious choice for the darker Black, White & Red line for Star Wars was Darth Maul, and with the first issue of his series alone, he seems like the better choice overall. With a story by Benjamin Percy and art by Stefano Raffaele with colors by Raúl Angulo, Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #1 gets off to a spooky and memorable start.
Unlike the Darth Vader: Black, White & Red miniseries, each issue of Darth Maul’s will be its own story, and after the first issue, not only does Maul feel like he’s a better fit for this specific line, but this is a much better format for it as well. Vader’s series had one story that played out across the four issues, with two smaller ones joining it per issue, but with the character overload prior to its release and then 9 new stories in the series alone, it all felt largely the same. Maul hasn’t quite had the same level of exposure, though his time in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and a few previous comics has certainly expanded it, yet what Benjamin Percy and team bring to issue #1 feels different than what’s come before, as Maul’s time under Sidious and the odd errands the Sith Master had this blunt weapon deal with is ripe for development. And by getting a whole issue to tell their story, there’s no manufactured cliffhangers to keep readers roped in for the next release, but rather the strength of Maul’s characterization and the art team’s usage of the line’s limitations to focus on and promote what this series can do with its selected character. As for why Maul seems to fit better, there’s still much unknown about him and his own goals and motivations, especially in this time period prior to The Phantom Menace, and these stories and the dangerous situations he finds himself have the potential to show more than his intimidating factor, but the sharp mind and self-preservation we come to see develop more after his fall. Issue #1 does a great job with exactly that, showing his raw strength but also his hidden intellect, and his own goals and desires, all while introducing a fascinating enemy of not just the Sith, but the galaxy as whole. I wouldn’t say Maul’s actions here make the Sith seem heroic, but even they have their limits about the power of other mystical or Force-related sects accumulate and they’ve stopped many threats which not only affect their rule, but the rest of the galaxy (the Drengir and the Spark Eternal being two more recently introduced powers the Sith brought to heel). Needless to say, the focus on Maul in issue #1 alone has already delved into more Sith lore, the other powers of the galaxy, and Maul himself in fascinating ways, leaving me excited for what’s to come in the next three issues!
Maul’s sent by Darth Sidious to investigate the Final Occultation, many who were arrested (by Sidious, somehow, so maybe via Palpatine persona in the Republic?), including their leadership, and yet their prison ship has gone silent on the way to its final destination. Maul informs us through his narration Palpatine wants to interrogate the members of the Occultation, learn their ways, as they draw their powers from the Netherworld, a different source of magicks than even the Witches of Dathomir control. The leaders Maul is after are some of the spookiest designs I’ve seen in awhile, especially in Stefano Raffaele’s art and the way Raúl Angulo uses the three colors allowed, and they each test Maul in different ways. There’s Heldi Cerebron, who reminds me of a Parwan (like Jedi Master Obratuk Gii), but its brain expanded far beyond the normal, its eyes are hollowed out, and instead of a few tentacles, there’s tons of strange tentacles dripping down its body, which digs into Maul’s mind, tearing into his fears and making him feel small and insignificant, but he trusts his training and gets through. Next is Vasik Aldritch, who basically looks like a bipedal rhino in a space suit, has a blazing fast gun and really tests Maul’s physical abilities. And lastly there’s Unknown, more of an eldritch horror than Vasik or Heldi, reminding me a lot of the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth, though it’s tentacled face and sarlacc-like mouth holds its one eye, and it tests his not just his training and his raw skills, but his loyalty, not only to Palpatine, but to himself and his beliefs. It’s in this final test where we get the most interesting aspect of Maul’s character this issue wants to show us, as while he might be Sidious’ student, given the Sith’s way of always wanting to be the Master, he decides to block access to the Final Occultation’s abilities since he doesn’t want his Master to have such power in case he wants to come after him, while he’s afraid of it himself, and lastly he knows it’s bad for the galaxy if anyone came to wield those abilities. I definitely wanted to know more about their connection to the Force, how they knew about the Sith, and what chaotic plans the Final Occultation had for the galaxy, but we got a frightening enough display of their abilities I’m glad Maul was able to bring them down.
The art team pulls off some memorable and spooky images, reminding me a bit of Peach Momoko’s work at times, and really helps highlight the absolute horror of the Final Occultation and their ideals. One the earliest stand out, frightening moments is when Maul first steps on the derelict ship and the cult’s madness hits him, he begins to lift up and crack likes form, his body shattering into a thousands pieces of glass, all while Joe Caramagna’s narration boxes remain at the edges, detached, calm, collected, as if this terrible thing is happening to him and yet he is as prepared as he’s saying. The little crack lines and spikes that protrude from his body, and then the little shards, look fragile and brittle by Raffaele’s hand, and I like how Angulo covers Maul in red, one of the few rare instances, preferring otherwise to make the only red on him his typical facial color, as it makes it seem like Maul’s mind is the one experiencing this, not really his body. As Maul approaches Vasik, the way the page brings the painful screams Maul’s hearing to life is such an unsettling way for us to hear them ourselves. For starters, as he goes towards the screams, these red tendrils reach out and part for him as he grows nearer, while Caramagna’s dialogue bubbles for the screams take up a big portion of the side of the first panel. The next panel, Maul says the screams come together as one voice, which Caramagna’s screaming bubble is larger, more prominent this time, while the snaking tendrils consume the way Maul came, Angulo’s red smothering the rest of the way. The next page gives us a giant view of what’s yet to come, hundreds of people on a giant platform, a red globe of energy above and center, a single beam reaching down and creating the tendrils which Maul walks through and surrounds all the people, while Caramagna makes the screams ginormous to the scale of the scene, the bubbles matching the letters producing the noise, as if to make them notes in a song like Maul says they are. Everything about the image screams something is wrong, that’s for sure. The follow two pages, Maul running into Vasik who takes his form, pulling away his skin to show the skeleton beneath, and then Vasik becoming a shadowy presence, black tendrils shifting through the overwhelming red, are dark and frightening, making readers wonder if they could overcome these insane visuals like Maul manages to.
Here are a few other things:
- Much like the Vader version of this, there are limited marginalized creatives, which is forever disappointing given the numbers continue to stack against them, year after year. But I’ll celebrate where we can and at least issue #3 will feature Erica Schultz as a writer!
- As for upcoming issues: #2 is out May 29 and is from Mark Russell and Carlos Nieto, and will see him deal with something called the Remainders; #3 is out June 26 and features Erica Schultz with art from Leonard Kirk, who will force him to question his loyalties to Sidious; while issue #4, out July 31, is from Greg Pak and Luca Pizzari, with a rather fascinating sounding story that’s the most secretive yet about what’s to come, mentioning a temple, assassins, and…silence?
- After Vader and Maul, who should be the next Black, White & Red character? Kylo Ren? Palpatine himself? General Grievous? Who would you pick?
- Don’t forget, Maul returns to the big screens for The Phantom Menace’s 25th Anniversary, starting May 3 (and he might appear in the May 1 release of the TPM Anniversary comic)! On top of that, he stars in the next Star Wars Villainous expansion, Revenge At Last (alongside Captain Phasma), out July, and I’m very excited to see how his character plays.
Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #1 is haunting, layered start that shows the promise of this line of stories and shifting to characters who deserve more focus.
+ Percy explores Maul’s many facets
+ Haunting cult tests Maul in a variety of ways
+ Raffaele and Angulo thrive in the series’ limitations, haunting us and Maul
– Wish we had just a bit more on cult/how captured
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.