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jaredkwheeler's review
4.0
Star Wars Legends Project #149
Background: The Sith Hunters was released in August 2012, the ninth in a series of 11 graphic novellas connected to The Clone Wars animated show. It was written by [a:Henry Gilroy|153690|Henry Gilroy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Steven Melching|3414949|Steven Melching|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and pencilled by [a:Vicenç Villagrasa|6476652|Vicenç Villagrasa|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Gilroy was head developer of The Clone Wars show through season 1 and has an extensive Star Wars bibliography. Melching was also a writer for both The Clone Wars and Rebels and collaborated with Gilroy on some other comics. This is Villagrasa's only Star Wars credit.
The Sith Hunters takes place between seasons 4 and 5 of The Clone Wars (20 years before the Battle of Yavin). The main characters is Darth Maul and Savage Opress, with major roles played by Obi-Wan and Plo Koon and minor appearances by Anakin, Palpatine, and several others.
Summary: Going to ground after their encounter with Obi-Wan and Asajj Ventress, Darth Maul and Savage Opress can't help but leave a trail of destruction wherever they go. Meanwhile, the Jedi Council dispatches a task force to hunt them down, but the combined might of the two Sith may be too much for even the Jedi to handle.
Review: This is the story I was expecting The Wrath of Darth Maul to be. It weaves a potential explanation for how he survived his battle with Obi-Wan back on Naboo with a series of clashes with the Jedi who are determined to see he doesn't get away again. But what's really good is that the action is driven by character development and by a larger ongoing story. That's far too rare in a lot of these one-off Clone Wars comics.
I didn't love the art style in this book, and particularly the coloring work. It was a bit bland and minimalist, but it gets the job done and conveys a lot with a little. The characters' faces are very expressive, which is great, for example, for the moment when Palpatine learns for the first time that Maul is still alive. The vignettes where we see Maul's escape from Naboo are particularly good.
I'm less of a fan of how the Jedi are depicted here, and of some of the Jedi characters. There's a throwaway Master named Jun-Fan, an expert in unarmed combat, who is particularly lame. And, just in general, the more Jedi are fighting Maul and Opress together, the weaker they have to be as individuals to keep the battle going. It's hard not to notice that these encounters look about the same, whether there is a single Jedi fighting them, or 2, or 6 . . . And we're just supposed to not notice this. If Obi-Wan can narrowly hold his own against the two of them for a bit, then Obi-Wan plus Plo Koon and several others should have Maul and Opress on the ropes. Maybe it's just that the team is bad at working together? There's a moment late in the story where Jun-Fan laughingly dodges a thrown saber, only to be horrified when it impales the Jedi behind him. Come on, guys. Let's get some coordination going.
Still, this is above average for this run, and a big step in the right direction for the kinds of stories that deserve to be told.
B+
Background: The Sith Hunters was released in August 2012, the ninth in a series of 11 graphic novellas connected to The Clone Wars animated show. It was written by [a:Henry Gilroy|153690|Henry Gilroy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Steven Melching|3414949|Steven Melching|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and pencilled by [a:Vicenç Villagrasa|6476652|Vicenç Villagrasa|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Gilroy was head developer of The Clone Wars show through season 1 and has an extensive Star Wars bibliography. Melching was also a writer for both The Clone Wars and Rebels and collaborated with Gilroy on some other comics. This is Villagrasa's only Star Wars credit.
The Sith Hunters takes place between seasons 4 and 5 of The Clone Wars (20 years before the Battle of Yavin). The main characters is Darth Maul and Savage Opress, with major roles played by Obi-Wan and Plo Koon and minor appearances by Anakin, Palpatine, and several others.
Summary: Going to ground after their encounter with Obi-Wan and Asajj Ventress, Darth Maul and Savage Opress can't help but leave a trail of destruction wherever they go. Meanwhile, the Jedi Council dispatches a task force to hunt them down, but the combined might of the two Sith may be too much for even the Jedi to handle.
Review: This is the story I was expecting The Wrath of Darth Maul to be. It weaves a potential explanation for how he survived his battle with Obi-Wan back on Naboo with a series of clashes with the Jedi who are determined to see he doesn't get away again. But what's really good is that the action is driven by character development and by a larger ongoing story. That's far too rare in a lot of these one-off Clone Wars comics.
I didn't love the art style in this book, and particularly the coloring work. It was a bit bland and minimalist, but it gets the job done and conveys a lot with a little. The characters' faces are very expressive, which is great, for example, for the moment when Palpatine learns for the first time that Maul is still alive. The vignettes where we see Maul's escape from Naboo are particularly good.
I'm less of a fan of how the Jedi are depicted here, and of some of the Jedi characters. There's a throwaway Master named Jun-Fan, an expert in unarmed combat, who is particularly lame. And, just in general, the more Jedi are fighting Maul and Opress together, the weaker they have to be as individuals to keep the battle going. It's hard not to notice that these encounters look about the same, whether there is a single Jedi fighting them, or 2, or 6 . . . And we're just supposed to not notice this. If Obi-Wan can narrowly hold his own against the two of them for a bit, then Obi-Wan plus Plo Koon and several others should have Maul and Opress on the ropes. Maybe it's just that the team is bad at working together? There's a moment late in the story where Jun-Fan laughingly dodges a thrown saber, only to be horrified when it impales the Jedi behind him. Come on, guys. Let's get some coordination going.
Still, this is above average for this run, and a big step in the right direction for the kinds of stories that deserve to be told.
B+
birdmanseven's review
4.0
Solid and entertaining. Darth Maul is an interesting character and this little volume added a bit more dimension.
imalwayswrite's review
1.0
Despite not having enjoyed most of the books in this series, I looked forward to The Sith Hunters because come on, Darth Maul is in it. And Darth Maul, besides Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, was just about the coolest thing in Episode I. So I figured the story takes place before Episode I. Nope. Wrong. It takes place between seasons 4 and 5 of the animated Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network that I don’t watch because I can’t stand sitting through the obnoxious toy commercials. So I wait ‘til they’re out on DVD, but I’m still totally behind.
Anyway, the TV show takes place between Episodes II and III, so guess what? Darth Maul never actually died. *eyeroll* The dark side of the Force is so incredibly strong in him that he willed himself to live – despite being sliced completely in half, folks. That’s right. Then again, the Emperor comes back to life in that God-awful Dark Empire comic series, the one with the utterly ridiculous World Devastator weapons.
Even if you aren’t up-to-date on the TV show, The Sith Hunters still does well as a stand-alone book. The ending leaves room for a sequel, which I’m guessing is going to happen in the beginning of season 5 of the show. What I found particularly impressive was how dialogue boxes explained what was going on at the moment while the background illustrations showed how Maul escaped Naboo and survived. That was really cool the way the writer and artist collaborated on that.
Unless you’re a die-hard Star Wars fan, particularly of the Clone Wars era and TV series, you don’t need to read this book. And Darth Maul fans, I think you’ll just be disappointed. Bruce Lee fans, you will be, too. The author pays homage to this real life martial arts master, but it falls flat.
Anyway, the TV show takes place between Episodes II and III, so guess what? Darth Maul never actually died. *eyeroll* The dark side of the Force is so incredibly strong in him that he willed himself to live – despite being sliced completely in half, folks. That’s right. Then again, the Emperor comes back to life in that God-awful Dark Empire comic series, the one with the utterly ridiculous World Devastator weapons.
Even if you aren’t up-to-date on the TV show, The Sith Hunters still does well as a stand-alone book. The ending leaves room for a sequel, which I’m guessing is going to happen in the beginning of season 5 of the show. What I found particularly impressive was how dialogue boxes explained what was going on at the moment while the background illustrations showed how Maul escaped Naboo and survived. That was really cool the way the writer and artist collaborated on that.
Unless you’re a die-hard Star Wars fan, particularly of the Clone Wars era and TV series, you don’t need to read this book. And Darth Maul fans, I think you’ll just be disappointed. Bruce Lee fans, you will be, too. The author pays homage to this real life martial arts master, but it falls flat.
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