First Look at Darth Maul #4

Looking at Darth Maul #4 I see that cartel leader, Xev Xrexus, caused Maul’s ship to crash on the moon of Drazkel after he had kidnapped the Jedi Eldra Kaitis. Now that he and his bounty hunter buddies are trapped, she’s started charging other crime lords a fee to hunt him and the Jedi down but of course the Sith isn’t likely to go quietly.

Issue: Darth Maul #4

Name: Book I, Part IV

Published: 2017 by Marvel Comics

Blurb:

Creators:

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

Characters:

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

My Reading:

As I mentioned, Xev sabotaged Darth Maul’s ship causing it to crash on the moon where she set up a contest for her criminal customers to hunt down the Sith and his party. Needless to say, after having the Jedi stolen from them, the criminals gladly paid up to go after Maul and Eldra so the crash survivors split up. Cad and Aurra go in one direction to comendeer a new ship while Maul and the Padawan lead most of the hunters in the opposite direction.

As the hunters close in on the Force users, Eldra convinces Maul that she can help, so he releases her and hands her her lightsaber. She shows no fear of the hunters nor the Sith and Maul is impressed that she must be close to becoming a full Jedi. They fight side by side taking down hordes of the hunters and neither of them receive as much as a scratch.

But the truce is short lived. Maul holds off on fighting her until the proper ritualistic forms are met and once the hunters are dispatched he is ready to send her on her journey to Force heaven. They face off against one another with lightsabers drawn and ready and we’ll see them fight in the next issue.

What did I learn:

• Eldra is further along in her Jedi training than the simple Padawan term would indicate.
• Even though Darth Maul hates the Jedi and is rebelling against his master he still follows the ritualistic practices of the Sith.
• Cad, Aurra, and Vorhdeilo can definitely take care of themselves against these crime bosses that Xev has hunting them.

My Thoughts:

It was good to see both the Jedi and Sith kicking some butt. The fight scenes where they are dancing around with their light sabers are pretty cool and what I’d expect from a Star Wars comic. But I also liked the depiction of the ambush Cad, Aurra, and Vorhdeilo set for the Gorn-like lizard people. Perhaps all these hunters are better in their space ships but they certainly don’t seem to be a match for either of the Force users nor the bounty hunters.

I await the next issue with a lot of anticipation. Obviously the fight between Eldra and Maul is gonna be cool, but I also wonder how Maul is gonna keep all this fighting from the eyes and ears of Darth Sidious. And will Maul and the bounty hunters come to blows to keep the Sith’s secret?

My Rating: B+

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

Daily Ramble 253.1 | Comics – Star Wars – Darth Maul #4