First Look at Darth Maul #3

Darth Maul #3 continues the storyline from the previous issue and that started in issue 1. The basic idea is that Darth Maul is restless and ready to destroy some Jedi but Darth Sideous has a plan that requires patience. Unable to contain Maul, the Sith Master sends him on a mission where he learns of a captured Jedi Padawan. This Jedi is being auctioned off by Xev Xrexus and Darth Maul has infiltrated the auction with a plan to purchase or kidnap the Padawan.

Issue: Darth Maul #3

Name: Book I, Part III
Published: 2017 by Marvel Comics.

Blurb:

Creators:

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Luke Ross
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Characters:

The Good: Eldra Kaitis, FE-B3
The Bad: Darth Maul, Xev Xrexus, Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, Troo-tril-tek, Vorhdeilo, Jee Kra, Hondo Ohnaka

My Reading:

After the standard title scroll page we see that Darth Maul is already confronting the Jedi. We find out she is Eldra Kaitis, a Twi’lek Padawan, and the Sith can feel the dread he inspires in her. He’s enjoying his threats so much that he forgets himself and lights his lightsaber. But before he can kill the Padawan, Xev shows up and scolds him for violation of the auction rules – no one is to see the merchandise before bidding.

As the rest of Maul’s team prepares for the auction they realize they have no chance to win. Of course that just leads Maul to rely on plan b…kidnapping. And the bidding goes pretty quickly. As the price skyrockets to 2.5 million credits from Jee Kra, Cad Bane and his bounty hunters assault the other Mooga and get ready to intercept the winning bidder. The Sith easily takes out Jee Kra and his gang but we see that Xev has anticipated some kind of conflict considering her auction attracted some of the most vile criminals in the Galaxy.

Taking the Padawan to their ship, Darth Maul and Eldra enter into a verbal sparing contest as the rest of the crew prepares to get outta dodge. By this time the Padawan knows Maul is a Sith but she says she’s not afraid of him – she just wants a chance to fight and beat him with her lightsaber. But before the ship can leave the system, the bomb that Xev planted goes off and disables their drive – they’re heading outta control towards the moon and Xrexus plans on charging credits to hunt them down. It looks like things will get even more interesting in the next issue.

What did I learn:

• Xev Xrexus is pretty smart and devious.
• Darth Maul may be a kick ass Sith but he gets carried away with his revenge and and it makes him do dumb things.
• Vorhdeilo is a Cusisetto bounty hunter that looks kinda like a mix between Gollum from Lord of the Rings and a mosquito. He uses his long snout to feed off the blood of his victims.
• Aurra Sing doesn’t trust Darth Maul and wants to sever ties as soon as possible
• Eldra realizes Darth Maul is a Sith when she senses him using the Force, not when she sees him light up his lightsaber.

My Thoughts:

As in the previous issues it was fun seeing Darth Maul kick butt however it was also good to see Xev get the better of him and the whole idea of charging to hunt a Sith is quite interesting. I’m also wondering how things are gonna resolve themselves with Eldra since she is just a Padawan and Maul is a full blown Sith.

My Rating: B-

This comic can be found on Marvel Unlimited, Comixology or at your local comic book shop.

Daily Ramble 246.3 | Comics – Star Wars – Darth Maul #3