Darth Maul continues his epic quest to find a child he can kill without his boss finding out about it.
Darth Maul #2 (Marvel Comics)
Observations
- Now THIS is a wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Pictured: How I feel walking in late to a professional development session.
- Kung Fu Maul can still kick your ass without a lightsaber…
- …and with a little help from some of the best expanded universe characters of all time!
- Sometimes it’s easy to forget that most protocol droids are completely insufferable.
- Darth Maul’s nightmares can’t be fun for him, but they sure are fun to read.
- ZUVIO LIVES! (Sort of).
- Talk about an awkward first meeting.
The Verdict
Now we’re cooking with gas.
With the introduction of some new/awesome characters—and a healthy sprinkling of fan service—Darth Maul’s second issue has molded the series’ somewhat lackluster premise into a deliciously intriguing conflict.
I don’t want to spoil the surprise of who shows up, but let’s just say that these new additions are part of a very short list of beings who could go toe-to-toe with Maul in skill, cunning, and depravity. Cullen Bunn does a superb job of immediately establishing the group’s personalities and inherent distrust of their employer. He does so good a job, in fact, that the fact we don’t get any real conflict between them—aside from a lot of side eyes and grumbling—which starts to become a little frustrating.
Thankfully, Bunn helps makes up for this with a trip through the darkest corners of Maul’s mind. Even if you don’t catch all the EU references (I admittedly had to look some of them up), the atmosphere Bunn creates is chilling. More importantly, it adds to the narrative, making this one of the very few times a comic dream sequence actually serves the story in a meaningful way.
The art, which was great in the first issue, is somehow even better in this one—particularly with regard to Nolan Woodward’s washed, well-textured coloring.
In the aforementioned nightmare scene, penciler Luke Ross evokes a Templesmith-esque aesthetic that stands out from everything else we see before and after it. He also continues to do a great job sequencing the fast-paced action in a way that is both beautiful and easy to follow.
Now let’s hope that this beautiful powder keg the creative has built starts exploding soon.
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