– Spoiler Review –
Darth Maul’s latest missions puts him the sights of retired yet deadly mercenaries, will he be able to rise to the challenge? Find out in our review of Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #2!
New issue, new team, new story for the Darth Maul: Black, White & Red miniseries, and whereas issue #1 dove deep into horror, issue #2 prepares a more straightforward, yet still tough, gauntlet for Maul to attempt conquering, with an ending which comes across as interesting commentary on the character and the Sith at large. The issue starts with introductions to Moonbender colony, a retirement home for hired guns, bounty hunters, and mercenaries set up by the Republic to keep them removed from the rest of the galaxy, which they run however they like, providing defense from raiders and maintaining its legal system and everything in-between. We learn all this from the colony’s doctor, Korvik, who later reveals he was never really one before this, and throughout the issue his narration slowly offers more details about the colony’s central tower, where they govern from, and the others alongside him who make up the ruling council. It’s a neat conceit, as Korvik gets to talk up their defenses or abilities, making Maul’s task seem more impossible by the moment, therefore making his success and unexpected way working around the obstacles all the more impressive. Had the issue sort of ended there, this colony and its protectors being another gauntlet Sidious has his so called “weapon” apprentice take down, it would still be an interesting entry in his story, but it wouldn’t escape being one small bump on the road. Thankfully, and even though it’s only in the issue’s final page, there’s an elevating bit which takes issue #2 from very interesting and enjoyable to memorable, as despite Maul’s efficient decimation, a young Twi’lek girl gets away.* There’s a message which comes with it, Korvik saying “In a battle where darkness always wins, victory is measure in whatever light escapes.” The line feels like a commentary on both the struggle of the Jedi and the Sith, but also about the series itself in meta way. For the struggle of the Jedi and the Sith, we know Maul’s activity is a harbinger of the fall of the Jedi against Sidious’ machinations, though knowing many Jedi survive, and the Force itself continues to find itself in beings despite Order 66, their survival is the light which escapes the darkness, ready to fight for light and life when the time is right. If no light escapes, then darkness has well and truly won, so while Maul’s decimation is nigh complete of the colony and the Remainders who live there, the Twi’lek living offers hope something they taught or passed along with live to see another sunrise. As for the meta sounding part of it, given Maul is the star and he technically can’t die in these stories thanks to plot armor, he’s the darkness which always wins in this series, so having light escape, aka this young Twi’lek, gives readers a taste a hope when there typically won’t be one.
On art, Carlos Nieto, with Joe Caramagna on lettering, bring a heft to the fight Maul faces, with expressively full faces and some well-designed spaces. One of the earliest panels I enjoyed is Maul avoiding blaster fire as it bounces around the magnetized tunnel they set up as the first line of defense. Thanks to the coloring deceit, the round tunnel in the background, mainly blacks and whites, blends in with the scene, really letting the red blaster bolts ricocheting take up a majority of the panel, looking unavoidable and even more deadly since they can’t be stopped, Caramagna giving some of the bouncing impacts sound FXs with aggressive, loud, and deadly edges to them. Maul himself, almost always fully cloaked, hood up the entire issue is floating around, jumping to avoid blasts or swinging his saber, cloak billowing around him yet he seems very acrobatic, while the final progression across the panel has his black and red distinctive face growling, clearly channeling his anger to survive the gauntlet before him. My next favorite panel is basically a full page, with a little insert of Maul sneaking into ducts above, but the main action is Barva-Zul using her big rotary blaster to attempt killing Maul, her wide stance and shouting face giving us an impression of how difficult this is and strong she must be to hold her place and shoot at him. With the perspective Nieto chooses, it feels like you can see the scene play out, following the path of her blaster shots, themselves only steps behind the mobile Maul, climbing the wall and up towards the vents on the ceiling, and I loved how interactive he made it seems despite it being a static image. The level of detail to the room they are in helps a lot, as Nieto uses white space to his advantage, the black/grey lines offering so much definition, it helps add a cramped feeling to the scene. The final panel I want to point out, which I loved the most, is the smallest one I’ve talked about yet, just an insert after Barva-Zul’s bomb goes off, though it’s a close up of Maul’s face, blood dripping from it, while the narration box in the panel mentions the word blood. Why it stood out to me so much is the little pieces of shrapnel lodged in his face, white against his frightening red and black features, and the WHITE blood which drips from them, like little rivers of noticeable blood which showcases this latest effort by the Remainders was the most effective yet, while I just found the choice of white blood arresting against the character’s features.
Here are a few other things:
- *For a moment I almost wondered if the girl was actually Eldra Kaitis, the Twi’lek Jedi Padawan whom Maul mixes up with in his Darth Maul (2017) miniseries, but they clearly aren’t the same.
- As for upcoming issues: #3 is out June 26 and features Erica Schultz with art from Leonard Kirk, who will force him to question his loyalties to Sidious; 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?
Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #2 manages to leave an impression with its initially straightforward story, while artist Carlos Nieto makes it memorable regardless.
+ Brilliant, memorable art by Nieto, where you can see the action play out
+ The promise of light and hope at the end
– Otherwise feels a little too straightforward
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.