Star Wars: Shadow of Maul (2026) #2
GAME TACTICS
Janix, a bustling Mid Rim metropolis, is home to some of the most unsavory characters the galaxy has to offer. As the captain of the local Tactical Defense Force, Brander Lawson is trying to keep them all in check. But on these neon-lit streets, a new threat is always just lurking around the corner….
Brander Lawson and his partner, Two-Boots, conducted an undercover investigation that quickly became deadly when they realized the culprits had been tipped off.
After narrowly escaping death, Lawson was assigned to lead a new squad, including officer Hendrix, who Lawson identified as a mole working for the crime lord Nico Deemis!
Meanwhile, in the Cina system, a shadow lord plans his infiltration of Janix: the fearsome Maul!
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Madibek Musabekov
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Luis Guerrero
Cover artist: Derrick Chew
Editor: Mark Pannicia
Publication date: April 8 2026
“Game Tactics,” issue #2 of the Shadow of Maul series, plays with some sport allusions as it brings Maul closer to the action, albeit in the final minutes.
The pitch is Janix, but the game is not football or even botekin—the chosen sport of Brander Lawson’s son—the game is crime versus law enforcement in an unsavory setting. The captain of the Tactical Defense Force admits he needs to make more time for his kid, but there are more important things to focus on at the moment, given his role as referee in the crosshairs between multiple local crime lords.
Lawson, looking through binocs, is joined by his droid partner Two-Boots while staking out Nico Deemis’ Janix headquarters. The Gran is one of the biggest, figuratively and literally, crime bosses on Janix, and he’s up to something. A droid emissary, after convincing Deemis to recuse himself from a dinner with powerful politicians and business leaders, strikes a deal with the crime lord that sets multiple groups in motion, after Lawson can hear just enough of the conversation—there’s 20 million in Imperial credits and weapons at play.
The dealing droid, now confidently fleeing Deemis’ headquarters, is followed on foot by Lawson as Two-Boots keeps their speeder close by. Readers are introduced to just some of the myriad dark and dangerous alleyways of Janix as the old-school detective movie chase ensues, ending up on a train that Two-Boots has to keep pace with.
The droid attempts to persuade Lawson not to get on the train, but to no avail—and it is then that the enemy droid confronts his pursuer, immediately taking the upper hand. After some close combat, Lawson eventually gets his blaster free and shoots the droid in the head, but only stuns it into saying, “We were told the Janix Civil Defense Force was irrelevant.” It recovers, stands, and lurches towards the still fallen Lawson before Two-Boots saves the day. From the still-moving speeder through the broken window of the train, it shoots and finishes the droid before retrieving its data drive for important intel.
The story jumps to one hour later at the Janix Spaceport with an unnamed smuggler showing off the 20 million Imperial credits to Deemis and his henchmen. Everything is running too smoothly until the smuggler and owner of the now destroyed droid asks where his mechanical emissary is, to Deemis’ surprise. The Gran doesn’t react favorably to being blamed for something he had no hand in, and the exchange gets heated.
And from out of nowhere, Vario, a rival crime boss on Janix, pops in wearing his droid suit, accompanied by two additional droids. Lawson, pulling his own version of shadow tactics, provides a tip to Vario in order to maintain some level of peace and to ensure all 20 million credits don’t go to one crime family. Lawson, watching from afar with Two-Boots, refers to it as a quiet win and explains, “A broken field is easier to conquer,” having no idea what new threat is arriving at nearly the same time to his planet and jurisdiction.
Quietly, Maul arrives at the metal yards on Janix in his stolen ship from issue #1. He is welcomed by other Zabrak lackeys, whom he orders to melt the ship, patiently waiting to make his official entrance to others.
It was great seeing some additional background of Deemis and Vario after “meeting” them during the initial episodes of the Disney Plus “Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord.” This issue keeps building the tension and setting the stage for the rough days ahead for Lawson, the crime lords, and the status quo of what Janix was. Maul has arrived and is getting ready to play.