Conspiracy of evil! Darth Sidious captured and interrogated his former apprentice Maul—and learned that the witch Mother Talzin was behind his resurrection. Aware of Talzin’s growing power as a formidable adversary, Sidious devised a plan to use Maul to lure her out into the open, where he can destroy her.
Freed by his allies, Maul rejoined his Mandalorian army on Zanbar, but soon fell under an attack by General Grievous, who routed Maul’s forces after an intense ground battle.
Now on the run, Maul attempts to regroup before Sidious, Grievous, and Count Dooku can close ranks around him…
Writer Jeremy Barlow, penciller Juan Frigeri, Inker Mauro Vargas, colourist Wes Dzioba, letter Michael Heisler and cover artist Chris Scalf bring us the second issue of Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir.
The Review
“With Sidious. Nothing is ever as it seems”
Those are the wise words that Talzin imparts to Maul at the beginning of the second exciting issue of SoD, and she could not be more correct. Maul seeks Talzin for guidance, and she mystically appears to Maul, like an inverse Obi-Wan ghost to Luke. Talzin advises Maul to regroup, but her reluctance to enter the fray herself is not subtle at all. She obviously fears for her own skin way above everyone else’s.
We also learn that Talzin and Palpatine were once allies, and more questions arise, as to who or what Talzin truly is. Plus the added confusion of whether Talzin truly is Maul’s biological mother. It’s something that makes sense, (albeit cheesy), but Talzin referring to Maul as her ‘son’ may just be a tribe like familial connotation. Only time will tell.
The story is face paced and exciting, and we see Maul’s true leadership skills and intelligence shine through. He is a truly not the silent thug Phantom Menace made him out to be. He has ambitions, smarts, and most importantly guts.
The return of the Nightbrothers is exciting, and the image of Grievous in front of a view of space from his ship harkens back to Darth Vader in an oh-so satisfying way.
The artwork was much better than last issue, but still has a few bland, almost watered-down images that hurt the eyes. The space battle was marvelous and Maul’s tactical mind outmaneuvers a Super Tactical droid (not a minor feat) and the battle droids have a weird metallic design exclusive to this series.
While I seem to go back and forth with my comments, that’s how I feel about this issue. It’s all over the place, yet it is perfectly done. I can’t wait for the rest of this series.
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