‘Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul’ | Comic Review

By Jonathon Wilson
Published: January 2, 2019
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Star Wars Age of Republic Darth Maul Comic Review
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Summary

A slight improvement but still nothing special, Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul brings little new to the table.

Let’s start with the good news. Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul is definitely better than the miniseries that it builds from, and also slightly better than the previous one-shot in this prequel-era maxiseries. Now, the bad news: It’s still not very good.

Stop me if you’ve heard any of this before. Maul, still an apprentice under Darth Sidious and eager to bring down the Jedi Order, is finding it difficult to satiate his bloodlust. He feels confined by his lowly status as a mentee and is taking increasingly dangerous risks to stave off the rage. In the meantime he’s busy forging underworld connections and building his own criminal cartel. So far, so Maul.

What differentiates Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul, and also elevates it, is how Jody Houser refuses to indulge Maul’s defining impulses. On the contrary she has Sidious take him to the charred remains of Malachor and subject him to visions that increasingly agitate him but that ultimately teach him patience. The idea is to convince him of the power of the shadows; how a full-frontal attack isn’t always the best approach, which is something that we see reflected in other corners of the canon. (Most notably in The Clone Wars, but also in Rebels and Solo: A Star Wars Story.)

Building on both what came before and what comes after is quintessential expanded-universe storytelling, and I appreciate it, but once again the format here feels stifling. There just isn’t much scope in a single issue, and especially following the previous five-issue miniseries, not to mention Son of Dathomir and Maul’s TV appearances, there’s something that feels used-up about the character. Houser’s writing is as respectable as ever, and Luke Ross returning as the artist helps to keep a seedy visual consistency to Maul’s prequel-era adventures – the question is whether his prequel-era adventures are worth the effort.


Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul is part of the current Star Wars canon. Check out the full timeline.

Comic Reviews, Comics