Comic Review: Darth Maul: Shadow of Maul #3 (of 5)

The last time reviewing this series, I had purposely decided not to watch any of the series. Coming back to it – well – I’ve seen the entire series, as I’m sure every reader will have by now. Let’s just say this instalment is certainly filling the void left by the empty Monday slot this week. So, let’s get the obvious out of the way: I did not expect Lawson to have a voice like that, I did not expect Two-Boots to sound like that, I’m so glad I had read the two comics of this series first and the whole comic series now completely shifts. Phew! So, voices, yup, sounded completely different in my head, but that’s completely fine, a little adjustment in my mind but nothing too bad. The two issues of this series really do help to set the series up. I watched the series with my son Charlie, who hadn’t read the comics, and he was following along fine, but was full of questions about the planet. The comic series really does do so much to help everything just flow so much better. And the final point. To until now, we have had no idea where this is all heading, it’s guess work for the fate of all our characters. Now however, we know. This means instead of wondering, this series is now flipped on its head, and we’re left in a ticking time-bomb situation. We know the countdown is on, but our characters do not. I’m interested to see how easy changes how that changes how that will change how readers perceive the comics. Leading the charge in this changing series is writer Benjamin Percy who has done an incredible job so far of explaining the world of the television series. Joining him – as always – is one of my favourite Star Wars artists’ Madibek Musabekov. Together I can’t wait to see where they take us this week for Shadow of Maul…

I am always impressed with how these comics always start, its detective noir at its best. This time it’s almost textbook – taken from Blade Runner. Lawson is at Mayak Market, ordering noodles, just like in the aforementioned film. The narration from Lawson works so well, setting the tone and atmosphere of the whole story, as it has done for every issue so far. Yet this issue, it hits a little different because we know where it is heading, it is heading where a lot of detective noir stories end – with the end of the detective. Lawson may not know it, but we do, that this trajectory is ultimately going to end in his ultimate demise.

It is these strings that Percy can pull on more during the story. The absence of Rylee, or more accurately, the absence of Lawson in Rylee’s life, makes so much more of an impact now. Now we have much more of a context. We know who Rylee is from the show, the fact that he wants more time with his dad, that he wants to spend time with his dad and that – without knowing it – take time is never going to come. The remorse that we see Lawson has in his apartment means so much more. Percy is very quick to make it clear that even though he is so busy, Rylee is the most important thing to Lawson, something that we see echoed in the show.

Now that there is a context for the voices, it is easy to see that Percy has got the intonations of the voices of the characters just right. I can’t even hear how I was hearing the characters before and I am going to need to go back to the previous comics to reread them properly. The voiceover of Lawson sounds even more grim with the right voice in my head and somehow the overly bright voice of Two-Boots works as the perfect opposite to this.

The artwork by Musabekov is – as always – simply stunning. Whether it’s getting that sense of grimness that pervades across the whole of Janix, or the sceptic scenes, he can handle anything with ease. For me though, it is those small, emotional scenes that always take the cake. Lawson, alone in Rylee’s room, simply staring at the ball – the amount of emotion that Musabekov can convey in a few simple panels is so powerful. You can’t help but be moved.

The comic ends, as have all the others, with a brief look at what Maul is doing. It doesn’t really matter what he is doing. His name might be on the comic, but this is not his story. This is the story that is setting the groundwork for his grand entrance, which is what the television show is. Percy plays it perfectly, not showing too much of him in this series. Instead, he is showing us more of the characters we don’t get to see more of in the main act. It also means Maul is left a mystery, a much better use of Sith Lords than giving us too much.

This series goes from strength to strength. With the television series now out, this comic fills a hole that is left by the excellent series. It also flips how readers enjoy this series, making it even darker than when it first came out. There is no happy ending for these characters. There is no way out. There is no parent and child living happily ever after. Percy knows this and doesn’t try to hide from it. He embraces it, creating a series that is much darker than a lot of things we have seen in a galaxy far, far away, matching the tone of the series that this is a prelude to…

Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter is a 5-part mini-series published by Marvel Comics. This issue retails at $4.99 and is available from comiXology and your local comic book store.