Star Wars : Darth Maul : Death Sentence #2

Searching for the source of the bounty placed on their heads, Darth Maul & his sibling Savage Opress end up on the mining colony of the planet Moorjhone. With their target in sight, the only thing that stands in their way are a fleet of soldiers, 2 highly trained Jedis & a padawan. For one Sith Lord, it’s child’s play, but for two it’s a bloodbath!

The Team

Written by Tom Taylor (Star Wars : Invasion Vol. 1 : Refugees, DC Universe Online Legends Vol. 3), illustrated by Bruno Redondo (Push), coloured by Michael Atiyeh & cover art by Dave Dorman (Aliens : Tribes, Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis). Published by Dark Horse Comics.

The Pros

This is a balls out action issue as a futile attempt at negotiation is made by the Jedis that just infuriates the Sith Lord brothers. Lives & limbs are lost as the scale tips into the Jedis favour when an accident involving a barrel of carbonite immobilizes Savage Opress. Now wounded & outgunned, Darth Maul escapes the planet’s fiery desert to certain doom only to be rescued and nursed back to health by the planet’s true inhabitants. This is an amusing mini series featuring one of the Star Wars universe’s best bad-ass. Darth Maul is probably the only good that came from The Phantom Menace, so I was in complete glee to find out that he somehow survived being cut in half by Obi-Wan Konebi. Minus his real legs which have been replaced with mechanical ones & with the help of his psychotic brother, his hate burns more now than ever before. The freezing liquid known as carbonite returns, not since The Empire Strikes Back has this liquid made a very unique statue out of some poor sap who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. If Jabba wasn’t dead he’d probably like to add this one to his collection. But these events take place way before the events of Return Of The Jedi, so this joke is rather pointless.

Writer Tom Taylor spins a very straight forward tale about revenge, family & survival. I’ve never known a Star Wars comic to be too slow or boring, so he keeps the story flowing and the action cranked up. Penciller Bruno Redondo uses large panels to display the killing machine that is Darth Maul in action and with the assistance of colourist Michael Atiyeh’s red & black colours makes DM the stuff of nightmares.

The Cons

The plot is not terribly original and I have to admit, Darth Maul’s mechanical legs give him a little too much maneuverability and they look kind of goofy too, but in a context of the Star Wars world, it fits.

The Outcome

This series does get better as the story progresses and I look forward to the next issue