Written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Luke Ross, the five-issue Marvel Comics miniseries Star Wars: Darth Maul (to debut in February) takes a look at the tattooed villain’s younger days before his short-lived appearance in the 1999 prequel film Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. On tap for the antagonistic warrior: lots of rage, a need to take revenge against the Jedi, and problems taking orders.

The comic finds Maul an untested warrior under the training of Darth Sidious, who would later become the Galactic Emperor. Told to stand down from engaging with Jedi yet, Maul hunts down the worst of the worst in the cosmic underworld to vent his frustration.

After learning a young Jedi Padawan named Eldra Kaitis has fallen into the hands of a crime lord, Maul seizes an opportunity to test his skills against a real Jedi but also maybe turn someone else to the dark side.

Eldra is a protagonist who “has a huge impact on Maul’s life going forward.” Bunn also promises interactions between Maul and Sidious that look at how Sidious relates to his apprentice: “He’s not a very warm teacher.”

Bunn says he finds the fine line between devoted to the dark side or the light fascinating in the struggle between Sith and Jedi. “So a big part of the story is Darth Maul’s descent to the dark side and almost being tempted away from it.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2016/11/14/exclusive-star-wars-darth-maul-comic-book/93789660/

I'm buying this!

@yousufkhan1212@redheathen@zaluk

''Maul hunts down the worst of the worst in the cosmic underworld to vent his frustration.''

It looks like we've another ''Maul soloing the Black Sun'' event.

This fulfills my need for more from Star Wars. Will buy.

But in this event there's a Jedi...

@yousufkhan1212: I am waiting for something like Shadow Hunter x Black Sun mix...

I just want to see them give Maul monstrous Force feats... That can easily happen for Shadow Hunter x Black Sun mix...

I'm not too happy with what I read in the article. We discussed this earlier tonight in a fb group I admin, and the consensus (of 3 people including myself) is that Maul would never have been tempted to the Light Side. I'm concerned how the writer will handle Maul's backstory, and as another person pointed out, he couldn't even be original with the title (Dark Horse, 2000).

Perhaps if Maul was a young child, pre-Orsis, then he may have been tempted, but that is pre-age 8, and I'm not too sure how Sidious would have let him go off on his own at that age considering how guarded he was about the Sith being revealed too soon. Not only is there a Jedi in this comic, but it is a Jedi Padawan.

1) from the time he was a toddler, Sidious had told Maul how much they hated the Jedi, and

2) he wanted to test himself against a Jedi, and now here is a padawan.

He HATED the Jedi from the time he was a wee thing, but now he is going to be tempted to the light side by a padawan? A padawan would most likely be in their teens. If Maul is pre-age 8, then I can see this scenario happening IF he got away from Sidious (Lollipop, anyone?). Maul had wanted a friend, but by the age of 15, he kills everyone at Orsis Academy in a day, including the few he considered friends, including 2 females he was attracted to. He was happy to do it. If he relished killing so much, then... nvm. You get the idea; I hope.

If he isn't a little youngling when he meets this Jedi, then I can't imagine him being thrilled to test himself against a Jedi if the Jedi happens to be a padawan. A friend best put it this way:

"Shadow Hunter made it clear that he felt disappointed in having to fight a Padawan and not a Master when he confronted Darsha Assant on Coruscant.

I guess it all depends on the situation and his current age though."

It seems to me the writer wants us to feel sympathy for Maul and show us that he wasn't always such a bad guy, but we know that from the time he was young that he was pure evil and that the Dark Side favored him. There was sympathy to be had for him when he was 1 year old and taken to Mustafar to be raised by droids. There was sympathy to be had for him when he was little and Sidious locked him in a dark room with the poisonous dinko creatures. You don't sympathize with a malevolent, hate-filled, raging, evil character once they're past wearing diapers.

My fear is that they're going to ruin this character, but I'll still buy the comic, lol.

There have been hints at Maul possessing a capacity for the Light Side; the friend he had at the Orsis Academy who he seemed to hesitate from killing, and the compassion he shows for Savage and Talzin. But very small hints. We'll see how far the comic seems to take this notion of Maul being "tempted" by the Light Side.

I don't think Maul's feelings towards Savage and Talzin is a sign of light-side, the dark side is stronger because they don't afraid to feel and they embrace the spectrum of emotions, and you don't like to get revenge if you don't have any single emotion towards the others in the first place.

“Remember why the Sith are more powerful than the Jedi, Sidious: because we are not afraid to feel. We embrace the spectrum of emotions, from the heights of transcendent joy to the depths of hatred and despair. Fearless, we welcome whatever paths the dark side sets us on, and whatever destiny it lays out for us.”

― Taken from; Darth Plagueis Novel

So Maul's emotions towards Savage and Talzin isn't a sign of the light-side. When Savage has proposed to be partners, Maul has declined the offer and defeated him in a combat to prove his superiority, if Maul was so emotional towards his brother and his mother, he wouldn't become his brother's superior and he wouldn't use his Mother as a weapon against Sidious in the first place.

As for the comic book, this is pre-TPM Maul anyway, and most likely Maul will seduce that Jedi to the dark side, since we know that TPM Maul is a hardcore dark-sider, he will pass the test.

After learning a young Jedi Padawan named Eldra Kaitis has fallen into the hands of a crime lord, Maul seizes an opportunity to test his skills against a real Jedi but also maybe turn someone else to the dark side.

*Spoiler

Apparently, young Maul fights against multiple Rathtars as part of his Sith training.

StarWars.com: Tell us about Darth Maul.

Cullen Bunn: This series takes place shortly before the events of The Phantom Menace. We’re following Darth Maul at a point when his anxiousness, his impatience, and his thirst for vengeance against the Jedi is at an all-time high.

He’s growing frustrated. He’s been taught to hate the Jedi. He’s been trained to kill them. But his master, Darth Sidious, has told him to bide his time, to keep himself hidden. This is driving Maul crazy, so we see him venting his anger by testing his skills against some of the nastiest creatures and cutthroats in the galaxy. During one of his missions, though, he learns something of interest. A powerful crime lord has captured a Jedi Padawan, and only a few people know about it.

Maul sees this as an opportunity to test his mettle against those he hates, so he sets out to find this Jedi. He has to operate in secret, though, because his master would not approve.

StarWars.com: What made the timeframe before the events of The Phantom Menace the best place to tell this story?

Cullen Bunn: The setting gives us a chance to see Maul in a new light. We don’t know much about him in before the events of The Phantom Menace. This lets us explore a different side of his personality and add some important new events and characters into his backstory.

In addition, the pre-Phantom Menace galaxy has a different feel and tone from what you’ve seen in the other Marvel comics, so that helped to set this book apart.

StarWars.com: Maul’s journey has revealed him to be many things. He’s been an attack dog, a broken man, and currently in Star Wars Rebels, he’s someone desperately searching for validation. Who is he in your story?

Cullen Bunn: I wanted to show a man with all of the aspects you describe. In The Phantom Menace, we saw him as a chained beast, pacing angrily as he waited to murder Jedi, but we really only glimpsed a small part of his personality.

In later iterations, he showed how cunning and devious he could be, and we saw hints of grief and loss and even guilt. I figure those things were all part of his personality, and I wanted to depict a well-rounded Maul in this series. He’s younger than he was in any of his on-screen appearances, but there are still shades of the man he will become.

StarWars.com: What can you tell us about Maul’s relationship with Darth Sidious?

Cullen Bunn: The relationship between a Sith Master and apprentice is not a kind one. We’ll see a bit of contentiousness between the two. Maul is railing against the edicts his master has put before him. Sidious is taking delight in seeing these rules make Maul more and more angry, more powerful in the dark side of the Force.

But this is a story about a student rebelling against a very cruel teacher. I feel like this tale helps to shape everything that happens between Sidious and Maul from this point forward.

StarWars.com: The design aesthetic of the prequel trilogy, particularly The Phantom Menace, is vastly different than later Star Wars stories. Has that influenced the writing/art for the series?

Cullen Bunn: Definitely. As I said earlier, the time period affords this series a different look and tone. I wanted to show off several locations that would have fit well into the prequel trilogy. We’ll be visiting some familiar locales as well as some new places in the Star Wars galaxy.

StarWars.com: What’s the one thing you want fans to take away from this series?

Cullen Bunn: I want readers to have a much better, much deeper understanding of what makes Maul tick. I want readers to fear him, respect him, and even feel a little pity for him.

http://www.starwars.com/news/exclusive-cullen-bunn-talks-marvels-darth-maul-series-plus-a-first-look-at-new-variant-covers

@yousufkhan1212@redheathen@alextheboss

This seems like it's going to be really interesting.

@erkan12: Interesting. Has it been released yet?

This could be a great series, and hopefully, it'll give Maul credit. Unless Filoni works on it, given his tendency to humiliate Maul.

@yousufkhan1212: 1 February.

True.

maybe its foreshadowing for his encounter with kenobi?

When this OP was first posted, I went to Marvel's website and ordered a sub for this comic to be delivered to my house. The digital cover and the variant cover both look great, and I'm curious what cover is sent to subscribers who have it mailed top them. The panels look great, @erkan12. Where did you find them?

EDIT: nvm I found them. :)

Dis dude Gon die

Variant cover.

Coloured preview.

That last variant cover is really BA.

@redheathen@yousufkhan1212

Aurra Sing and Cad Bane confirmed for Issue 03.

I realize this is a prequel and am fine with it. I still have to say Maul should have stayed dead after being killed in the first movie. Same with Bobba Fett should have stayed dead after falling in the pit. Star Wars shouldn't fall into that super hero comic book practice of bringing characters back because they're popular.

You mean like with the ancient Sith and DE Sidious? The micro Clone Wars character were all super op'd, or are you talking about canon?

@erkan12 ... this will be interesting.

I was thinking cannon but ya that applies to most everything Sidious included. There are gaps in my memory everything that's happened in Star Wars so there might be some exceptions but I doubt it.

Looks like it's going to be fairly similar to the Legends Maul comics, but with more character exploration, which I'm grateful for. Interesting stuff all the same.

I'm interested to see how much it differs from Legends Maul pre-TPM.

***spoilers***

I really like Legends Maul, but this is just great, and better. The only thing I never liked about Legends Maul, he was a mindless puppet and he was following Sidious' orders as if he is a mindless droid instead of a Sith Lord, but now they made him perfect and they've fixed the only mistake that they made in the previous EU. This is how a DARTH would act, he shouldn't have followed Sidious orders as if he is a mindless droid, he should've questioned Sidious' orders in every opportunity and he is exactly doing that in this comic book, which can finally change the misconception about TPM Maul, he has been just like TCW Maul and Rebels Maul, because that's how a true Sith Lord would act. He is tricky, clever and deceitful even for his master.

And here some of TPM Maul's new canon feats.

Overpowering a Rathtar with his physical strength alone...

Remember how powerful a Rathar was...

Kills 3 Rathars at the end without even using his lightsaber, just for being a nice sportsman.

Conceals his presence from two Jedi Knights, while he was so close...

Creates 4 after images on air while deflecting multiple blaster bolts.

@erkan12: I read it yesterday, it was a cool read. But IIRC, in the Darth Plagueis Novel and Shadow Hunter Novel Maul tried to hide secrets from Palpatine, but couldn't because Palpatine would always sense if Maul was hiding something, Maul's PROXY trainer (or whatever it was) once said to Maul that Palpatine knew everything about him, including some drawing Maul drew. There was this one extract in the Novel where Palpatine scolded Maul for trying to hide the fact that he nearly exposed the Sith early to a Black Sun marksmen. It's not as if Maul could hide anything from Palpatine in the EU, Palpatine would always find out.

@yousufkhan1212: Yup, that's why I said now Canon TPM Maul is different than Legends TPM Maul. Legends Maul wasn't trying to hide anything from Sidious, and he wasn't trying to argue or oppose his orders, now he is toying with Jedi Knights, and risking the RoT Sith's appearance earlier than it should be, and now he will try to save a Jedi from execution in the issue #02 without the knowledge of Sidious.

@erkan12: Maul did risk the ROT Sith's appearance a few times in the EU and tried keeping it a secret but Sidious still found out and scolded him, the only difference is that Canon Sidious hasn't discovered Maul's secrets so far.

DARTH MAUL Dominates February 2017 Comic Book Sales in Another Mixed Month

Star Wars continues to be the star of Marvel Comics's line-up, with the debut of Star Wars: Darth Maul ranking as the bestselling comic book of February 2017 in the North American Direct Market.

According to sales figures released by Diamond Comic Distributors Friday morning, Star Wars was also the only thing to keep Marvel from being shut-out of the Top 10, with Star Wars #28 (#8) being their only other title to chart. DC Comics dominated the Top 10, with seven releases, including Batman #'s 16 & 17 at #2 and #3, and the series debuts of Justice League of America and Super Sons rounding out the Top 5. Image Comics's The Walking Dead #164 finished in the 6th spot.

http://www.newsarama.com/33436-darth-maul-dominates-in-february-2017-comic-book-sales-in-another-mixed-month.html