It must have seemed a very good idea for a story, too, but leaving aside dream sequences, illusions or stories outside regular continuity, can there be any doubt how an officially-sanctioned version of this confrontation must end? We have a pretty good idea where Darth Vader resides on the power scale, and we know that Maul is dispatched by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who, it seems likely, occupies a position on that scale inferior to Vader's. We also know that Vader overcomes even the Emperor, in the end, when Vader is surely not at his best. Could Vader possibly be defeated by anyone, let alone the dead and defeated Darth Maul? Maul may have an apparent weaponry edge, greater agility (and a more flamboyant fighting style), but Vader is Anakin Skywalker, mightily midi-chlorianated, armed every bit as well as Obi-Wan is when he punches Maul's ticket -- and Vader survives, in one form or another, through the next five films; Maul bites the dust in the first film, and, we are told, is history.

Expecting to crash a Rebel rendezvous on Kalakar Six, a spooky little planet complete with abandoned fortress of evil reputation, Vader encounters instead a group of three self-taught Dark Siders. These three have taken it upon themselves to judge Vader, have found him wanting, and have settled on a solution. Maul. They have lured Vader to Kalakar Six, there to destroy him, so a more worthy apprentice can replace him at Lord Sidious's side. That's the set-up.

This story is not obviously a dream, delusion, illusion, or any form thereof; there's no "Infinities" logo on it, so ... there are no real surprises. Still, it offers one solution, and not without one or two points of interest. The -- what shall I call it? -- decisive tactic is certainly novel, and not a little shocking.

But it's too little, too late. Prior to that, it's all fight scenes, hokey dialogue, dark shadows and ominous architecture.

Ron Marz, who brought us the Darth Maul limited series, is the writer responsible, and the work is quite similar. There's too little or too much dialogue; the obvious is explained while the rest is left a mystery. Most of the words are prattle in the duel -- he does make up for the lack of Maul dialogue in Darth Maul , but the effects are hardly salutary.

Let me be plain: The writing is not good. Marz offers no justification for Vader' s perturbed state; why should this man, a servant of the Emperor, a former Jedi, a master of evil, be so disturbed by three robed figures and the reconstituted Darth Maul? Why should he take them seriously at all?

Almost everyone in the story talks too much, or about the wrong things. Vader is far too revealing dealing with Maul in the duel. Death seems to have loosened Maul's formerly-laconic lips. There' s not much backstory to relate, but Marz puts almost all of it in the mouth of one of two stormtroopers accompanying Vader. Bad idea. Why should this guy know so much about this peculiar world? Why should he and his comrade be yammering about it? Does it seem possible that anyone in their right mind, especially stormtroopers, would engage in what amounts to telling ghost stories behind Lord Vader' s back? Later, Darth Vader takes it upon himself to deliver a bit more backstory, needlessly. It seems improbable, if not truly impossible, that either Maul, the other characters, or the readers, don't know that Maul was Darth Sidious' s previous apprentice, but that's precisely what Vader proceeds to relate.

And yet, with all the expository chatter, nothing significant gets explained. For instance, how do you resurrect a Dark Lord thirty years dead? If you have to ask the question, well, you'll hate the answer: "There are ways those who are no more can live again." Thanks, that certainly clears that up.

Art:

Leonardi is no Leonardo, but the artwork is far from awful. Generally, it's unobjectionable. Kalakar Six is effectively portrayed as dark and moody, red, black, and shades of grey, recalling certain settings rejected during the development of Return of the Jedi. Very Sith. (The only thing wrong with Kalakar Six' s scenery is that so little happens in it.)