– Spoiler Review –
Greg Pak and a few artists feature in the fourth and final issue of Darth Maul: Black, White & Red, which sees the horned apprentice tasked with focusing on silence and stillness and finding anything but!
Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #4 is one of those fun stories where the situation continues to spiral out of control, though whereas the person stuck in the center is often unable to stop it until comically too late or just in time, this one stars a character capable of bringing just as much chaos to the situation to match it. Just like those stories though, this doesn’t guarantee an end to the events, as Maul’s brand of chaos and destruction only escalates things further, as his interactions with the locals brings bigger and bigger problems. Had Maul listened to Darth Sidious’ instructions, to meditate in stillness and quiet in the ruins of an ancient Sith temple, maybe the death and destruction which follows wouldn’t have happened, but maybe it was the point, to make sure Maul was forever restless, always wanting to impose order like a real Sith would. Either way, Sidious seems pleased when he arrives, saying he did ask for stillness and quiet, so is this just a reminder from him on how he’s the Master and Maul’s just the apprentice? There’s some nebulousness to the proceedings and what was ultimate taught or learned, but at least the tale was enjoyable along the way.
On Maul’s final issue, Luca Pizzari and Will Sliney are on pencils and inks, though inkers Jay Leisten and Roberto Poggi join them, while Andres Mossa returns for colorist and of course Joe Caramagna is letterer once again! Since we’ve had more of Sliney’s work over the years in Star Wars comics, I’m a little more familiar with it, as Pizzari has only worked on one issue, but it was often hard to tell who was doing which pages, especially with the other inkers mixing things up. An early sequence which stood out was Maul’s first attempts at meditating in the Sith Temple, as we see him practicing forms as the sun moves across the sky, panel by panel, Mossa’s colors keeping track of its journey by casting an eerie red light on the white tree line around the space. It seems pretty serene in these early moments, no word bubbles or sound FX to be found, the nature scene unmoving around Maul besides the sun, giving the impression of fair weather and calmness, so the final panel is such a stark interruption of the mood, it really pulls you out of the serenity like Maul is at the same time. In the final panel of the page, we’re zoomed in on Maul’s face, turned back and towards a word bubble containing someone shouting, spiking lines on one side of the panel to denote the birds fluttering past Maul and the word bubble, heightening the sense of things being disturbed. Gone is the beautiful scenery, the background largely white, besides an angled chunk of black, and it’s all such a stark change from what came before, it makes readers miss the serenity. When Sidious appears in person on the final two pages, it’s one of the spookier renditions of the character, ghoulish in his facial structure and the glowing red eyes, and his movement almost makes it seem like he’s floating through the panels, a ghost to haunt us and Maul and whomever comes in his path.
Here are a few other things:
- I’d love if the next Black, White & Red miniseries focuses on either Kylo Ren or Darth Sidious himself, as they are the two Sith with the least amount of stories about them directly, but I wouldn’t be against Marvel veering away from a Sith character and instead choosing a bounty hunter or Imperial of some sort. Both the Vader and Maul series haven’t totally sold me on this concept however, as recent 4-issue minis have shown a stronger sense of character with interesting ideas that don’t rely on a simple conceit, so if this is where it ends, I also won’t be upset.
- Speaking of endings, Pak’s Darth Vader (Vol. 3) is closing out in September with its 50th issue, alongside Soule’s Star Wars (Vol. 2), with both being followed up by The Battle of Jakku maxiseries starting in October. There’s no word on what comes after the maxiseries yet, but it might be the last we see and hear of Vader for a little while.
Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #4 makes for a fun final issue with more great art playing up the central conceit.
+ Fun series of escalating events
+ Capturing serenity and the chaos with great overall art
– Not quite sure on the lesson
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.