Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Star Wars Darth Maul Death Sentence #1Star Wars: Darth Maul – Death Sentence #1 of 4
Dark Horse Comics
Taylor, Redondo & Atiyeh

So you thought Darth Maul was dead? Well, if you aren't watching the cartoon then this is a big spoiler. Darth Maul is alive and he has crazy looking mechanical legs. This issue marks his return to comics and it has the makings of an awesome mini-series. As much as I am not a fan of having characters come back to life, in this case I definitely am – for the sake of the cartoon and the comics.

The recap sums up the cartoon perfectly. Basically, Maul has a brother, Savage, and he found his brother, legless and completely insane, on a garbage world. After getting his brother fixed up, the pair set out to raise money to form up an army. In the process they plan to make life miserable for whoever gets in their way.

The comic book is set right in the middle of the Clone Wars, which leaves a couple of lingering questions that this book doesn't really even recognize. Maul is aware that the Clone War has begun and since was planning it with Darth Sidious prior to his "death" then he probably can deduce that Sidious still lives. Why doesn't he look for his former master?

A secondary concern, is that during the Clone Wars, in the comics, there were plenty of Sith pretenders running around as agents for Dooku. Wouldn't they be hunting for Maul before anyone in hopes of having him (them) join their ranks? Or possibly they would want to gain favor in the eyes of Sidious by challenging him? Or wouldn't Sidious seek him out?

This book focuses just on Maul and his brother. They are being hunted by a bounty on their heads and also by the Jedi. Maul is more than happy to tangle with anyone, which makes this issue a lot of fun.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe artwork for this issue nails everything in the book. Maul has that scary, but focused look. He does look slightly possessed as his revenge is clearly bursting out of his eyes. While his brother comes across as cautious, but still dangerous. The book contains a lot of action and it looks fantastic. This book captures the cartoon vibe, but in comic book visual form. The only misstep is the depiction of Yoda. The re-release of Phantom Menace in 3D saw Yoda go back to his Return of the Jedi look where he doesn't have sideburns, the buggy eyes and that patch of hair. However, this book retains the Menace look, which is just plain awful to look at in my opinion.

This issue introduces you to the characters, throws the plot out there and gives you plenty of action to get you ready for the next issue. This is shaping up to be a terrific series. I can't wait for the next issue to drop.

4 out of 5 Geek Goggles