MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Jody Houser
ART: Luke Ross
COLORS: Java Tartaglia
LETTERS: VC's Travis Lanham
EDITOR: Mark Paniccia
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Paolo Rivera
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Luke Ross with Nolan Woodard; Mike McKone with Guru-eFX
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2019)
Rated T
“Ash”
Darth Maul was a breakout character in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Although he was seemingly killed off in that movie, he returned in the animated series, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and was a major recurring character in a second animated series, “Star Wars Rebels.” He even makes a surprise appearance at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Marvel Comics is currently publishing a new Star Wars maxi-series project that comprises three books: Star Wars: Age of Republic, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion, and Star Wars: Age of Resistance. This project will span 30 issues in total, with each issue spotlighting one hero or villain from one of three particular Star Wars eras: Republic (prequel trilogy), Rebellion (original trilogy), and Resistance (sequel trilogy).
Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul #1 (“Ash”) is the second comic book in the nine-issue Age of Republic series. It is written by Jody Houser; drawn by Luke Ross; colored by Java Tartaglia; and lettered by Travis Lanham.
The story opens on Coruscant, the “Lower Levels.” Darth Maul, still seething with hate and itching to fight the Jedi, has found a new target, Zek Peiro. Is the highly-regarded thief really worth Maul's efforts? Will a trip to Malachor help the Sith apprentice learn patience, if patience is really something a Sith should have?
Illustrator Luke Ross was the artist of Marvel's 2017 Darth Maul miniseries, so it is nice to see his work in this Age of Republic Darth Maul comic book. Writer Jody Houser offers what is essential two plots, each of which would make for a nice standalone comic book story.
The problem is that Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul #1, with its $3.99 cover price, offers only twenty pages of story. American comic book publishers either don't get it or think that they can get away with charging $3.99 for a comic book with only twenty pages of story. Thus, far they have, but there are signs that they have not gotten away with it by much and may not get away with it much longer. Basically, the price of a comic book has increased while the page count has gone down. This would be tolerable if those twenty pages offered an outstanding story.
“Ash” is not at all bad, but it is more a brief interlude in the (mis)adventures of Darth Maul than it is an actual fully-realized Darth Maul story. Anyone who read the Darth Maul miniseries will realize that here Houser merely revisits familiar Darth Maul themes and conflicts. There is nothing new here – at least nothing new that is worth $3.99.
Star Wars: Age of Republic – Darth Maul #1 was originally published in December 2018, and I ignored it then. Something told me that it was not worth the price or effort to read it. The latter is not entirely true, as this comic book is nicely written, and the art is good. No, it is not worth the cover price.
6 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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