Review of Darth Maul #5

Having kidnapped the Padawan Eldra Kaitis, Darth Maul has faught beside her taking down criminals intent of taking her from him. But now is the time to finally test his metal against an actual Jedi. He finally confronts her in the battle he’s been waiting for all series long. Will it satiate his hunger for vengeance on the Jedi or his rage? Or will he just get found out and punished by his master Darth Sideous?

Issue: Darth Maul #5

Name: Book I, Part V

Published: 2017 by Marvel Comics

Blurb:

Creators:

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

Characters:

The Good: Eldra Kaitis, FE-B3
The Bad: Xev Xrexus, Darth Maul, Darth Sideous
The Undecided: Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, Vorhdeilo

My Reading:

It turns out the crooks that Xev Xrexus enlisted to hunt down and kill Darth Maul and his bounty hunters were not up to the task. In the last issue we saw how badly they faired and now Xev is gonna have to pay for their failures.

But first we get the top of the card fight between Darth Maul and Eldra Kaitis. And a good fight it is. We get everything expected…light saber swinging and throwing, force powers, and using the environment to try to distract or crush your opponent. Both combatants are pretty formidable but this is a Darth Maul comic after all.

Meanwhile, Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, and Vorhdeilo take care of the final mercenaries and acquire a ship and new cargo to get them off the moon but of course, they were the second billing. The real fight quickly jumped back to Sith vs. Padawan. Too bad it didn’t get much better for Eldra. She puts up a good fight and even surprises Maul but in the end she was just a Padawan after all and not a Jedi Knight.

Once his business was finished on the moon, Maul hitched a ride with his bounty hunters to take care of Xev Xrexus and it was satisfying to see her get her just reward.

In the end though, Darth Sideous in fact did know what Maul had been up to with the Padawan. It was, after all, his plan to get Darth Maul started on his killing of Jedi.

What did I learn:

• Darth Sideous knew about Maul’s plan all along.
• Never trust a Sith, they may seem like they’re on your side but that would only be as long as it benefits them.

My Thoughts:

This issue continued smoothly from the previous and provides a nice conclusion to the story arc. The fight between Eldra and Maul was epic and it was drawn perfectly. The hatred of Maul and the confidence of Eldra were clearly depicted and the fact that a Padawan could surprise a Sith was really cool.

I think this whole arc would have been great as a animated episode or even multiple episodes and I’d really like to see what the future holds for Cad Bane and Aurra Sing. We already kinda know where Maul is headed and I think the Phantom Menace movie is actually my next stop on the chronology.

My Rating: B+

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

Daily Ramble 267.2 | Comics – Star Wars – Darth Maul #5