Darth Maul – Black, White & Red #2
“THE REMAINDERS”
Before the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader, Darth Sidious trained another disciple in the secrets of the Sith Order.
This apprentice was a mysterious warrior of Dathomir, who left a path of death and destruction as he made his way through the galaxy….
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Carlos Nieto
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Carlos Nieto
Cover artist: Tyler Kirkham
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: May 29 2024
There are few things in the galaxy more terrifying than bering hunted down by a Sith lord, and when that Sith is Darth Maul, the most savage of all the apprentices, then you truly know your time is up. In the second issue of Darth Maul – Black, White & Red we see Maul on the hunt, but who is it he’s chasing down? The prey are a group of former bounty hunters and soliders known as the Remainders, a group who have survived in their chosen professions long enough to have outlived most of their competition, and so opted to move to the abandoned Moonbender Colony on the Outer Rim. Here they try their best to live a peaceful life, looking for some kind of absolution for their collective sins and staying well out of the way of the rest of the galaxy (much like Mother Aniseya and her sisters do on Brendok in The Acolyte.) The Remainders are the colony’s legal system, sorting disputes where needed.
We’re following Doctor Korvik, a medic patching up fellow citizens of Moonbender, and hear the alert as a vessel approaches. It’s the Schimitar of Darth Maul roaring in, and we watch as they decide to investigate their new arrival as we see Maul in all his black-robed glory. He’s sent a message, telling them to evacuate the colony by order of the Republic, but they refuse, wanting to stay in their out-of-the-way home. They send a messenger droid to reply, but as Maul destroys it they realise the request is likely fake, and wonder what to do. They decide to take him down, sending two sentries to lead him through the main gate so they can snipe him. That goes about as well as can be expected as he leaps out of their site, swooping down and ending them in pieces.
Shocked, they believe their new arrival to be a Jedi and are even more shocked when they receive the second message – leave or die. Resolute, the Remainders decide to stay and protect the few remaining colonists, and their Mon Calamarian leader Zandloss orders them to prepare for battle stations. Many haven’t fought for years, but as they weapon up and prepare for battle it’s telling that the Mon Cal leaders tells Korvik to stay near the med center as there will be casualties. They watch as Maul enters a blast-shielded corridor, and pour angled shots into the corridor to take him down. He evades all blaster fire, making it to the impenetrable door and slicing his lightsaber through, forcing them to fall back as Zandloss sacrifices himself to give them more time to regroup. Maul is merciless, and we see him start to pick off the remaining Remainders, limbless soldiers being brought to the Med bay. Maul is contacted by his master Darth Sidieous, who is unsurprised that they opted to fight and watches as Maul takes the hands of an attacking Rodian, and more Remainders attack, one named Jeq leaping high from Mauls reach, another opening fire with a huge bowcaster. They decide to split and search for Maul, who is watching from above, and watch as the woman with the bowcaster believes she’s found Maul but instead captures an already dead Jeq. The distraction is enough, as Maul lands and quickly runs her through.
As she dies she detonates a hidden failsafe, hurling shrapnel through the room, but Maul escapes and arrives at the Med centre. The final defenders try to keep him at bay, but to no avail, and we see Korvik run through as Palpatine contacts Maul once again, telling him the attack had no purpose, it was simply a training mission to see how he would cope with a variety of offensive styles, and as we see Mauls ship leave and Korvik fade, the young girl he was tending to at the start of the issue comes out of hiding to flee and live, the one good thing from the whole sorry episode.
Great issue, highlighting the ruthless efficiency Maul brought in service to the future Emperor and the Sith. The art by Carlos Nieto is effective and impactful, the black, white and red theme perfect for such dark tales (with his red and black tatooed skin arguably even more so than Darth Vader). There’s always the fear of repetition in such mini series, but for this particular episode there’s no fear of that, just fear of the Sith with a lust for death and destruction.
