Worlds in Motion Picture: The Graphic Novel Collection Issues 12 - 15

After our mass review last time of the four issues I'd managed to get all in one go it's the same again this month.

Starting out we have The Edge of the Galaxy, an original story set after the events of the 2009 Kelvin timeline movie. Now here's the twist, these are actually reworkings/reboots/rewritings of some of The Original Series' first season stories, specifically Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Galileo Seven and Operation: Annihilate!

I can hear the groans now but you're actually wrong to judge that early since not everything is as crystal clear as you might immediately expect. Rather than just being a case of inking in Chris Pine where Shatner once stepped, the writers of these graphic tales have gone back to the originals and retold the tales with a Kelvin spin. Not everything is cut and dry - as with the movie, the characters are all there but there are not necessarily the same outcomes that we experienced in The Original Series. For starters, Doctor Dehner isn't even aboard the Enterprise leaving Gary Mitchell alone as the sole protagonist here. His likeness is based on Gary Lockwood who played the character in the second pilot but as for similarities that's as far as it goes. 

Have to admit I raised a smile when they commented on the "other" Delta Vega since one was used as Spock's prison in the 2009 film. Indeed you'll spot lots of parallels to the original as you read through the story but it's a compelling narrative and waiting for the changes makes it even more exciting. The same goes for The Galileo Seven which has a huge spin in it towards the end due to the relationship between Spock and Uhura. Pushing through to Operation: Annihilate! and the alterations to the timeline thanks to the Narada are even more evident from the appearance of a very much alive Sam Kirk.

These stories have their characterisation of the Kelvin Timeline Enterprise crew down to a tee. Kirk is particularly bang on with a slight swagger and cockiness replicated right on the page. So too is McCoy amazingly well represented by the graphic novel. Getting the likeness is one thing but managing to instill the essence of the role is key and in The Edge of the Galaxy we have that in spades. I love the way in which the writers have chosen to twist these classic stories in new ways for the Kelvin generation and there's more of that coming in Vulcan Vengeance so bear with...

Let's turn to the Marvel Comics, Volume One. Created in the late 1970's, this series takes place in the era of The Motion Picture so expect a lot of beige. The first stories in here are the graphic novel version of the first film. 

It's a close reproduction of the story but luckily doesn't take half as long to read as to watch. The other neat thing is that there are a few scenes missing from the movie which appear in here including the sequence of Kirk going after Spock within V'Ger. 

The artwork here is much rougher and the likenesses to the actors from The Original Series are further out than you may want but the core of The Motion Picture story definitely asserts itself and there's no mistaking this as Star Trek. The colouring too is a little sloppy in places throughout the stories included in this volume but, y'know, different times, so you can't really make too much of a comment but coming after the crisp lines and vibrancy of The Edge of the Galaxy it's quite a culture shock.

That of course is the brilliance of the Graphic Novel Collection in that we get all these different periods of Star Trek comic history rubbing shoulders with each other in a matter of pages (yes, and I will happily include Gold Key in that bracket). 

What is appreciated with The Motion Picture story here is that the longer, visual effects pieces that dominated the big screen return of the franchise are slimmed to a few frames and don't detract from the pace of the narrative. We brush through the unveiling of the Enterprise in a page, we're inside V'Ger in about four; it makes a huge difference.

Once you're through this, we have Marvel's interpretation of "what could have been" to some extent in regards to Phase II. That series never reached the air but in these pages we get a ride into that never-explored territory. Now knowing what the first series scripts might have looked like thanks to the brilliant Phase II: The Lost Series book, these are somewhat far fetched and almost stepping into the equally crazy realms of the fabled Gold Key archive.

The Haunting of Thallus story for instance would fit right in although this tale does manage to pull in a ton of Klingons and at least try and weave in some form of established canon. However, it's still far outside the remit of what I would expect from Star Trek. There might be some exploration in here but the leaning towards the fantastical does seem a bit of a sell out and I honestly don't think it would be a concept that would have even made it to a writers room. These stories do ensue a sense of indulgence and while visually they are in line with the vision of The Motion Picture and do portray the cast with a degree of accuracy, there doesn't appear to be too much substance to the narratives.

We also have The Enterprise Murder Case and Tomorrow Or Yesterday - two single part stories that nicely fill out the volume but are fairly instantly forgettable. Nice inclusion of some of Kirk's backstory with the appearance of the chunky USS Republic within these pages but aside from that they are typical comic fayre.

What also works for the collection is the inclusion of artwork for The Motion Picture film poster plus additional cover art for the editions of the Marvel Comics included in this volume. I'm a bit embarrassed I've not mentioned this with other volumes as they are some of the great hidden gems that are getting a nice bit of additional exposure - I'd take a closer look in the specials too because they seem to have taken this section a whole step further particularly with The Planet of the Apes crossover.

Issue 14 pulls back some respect for the graphic novel medium in regards to Star Trek with another sojourn into the Kelvin Timeline. Another three stories fill out the majority of the edition with new twists on the Romulans in Vulcan's Vengeance, a reworking of Return of the Archons and a new Tribbles story.

Vulcan's Vengeance is a fantastic read and combination of stories and I ripped through these in a very short period of time. I'm fast becoming a huge advocate of the IDW material especially their work with the new Kelvin Timeline which has removed some of the restrictions of 700+ episode continuity and offered a blank canvas on a plate. 

It makes sense that episodes the crew of the Prime Timeline faced would surface here but the writers have l, as with The Edge of the Galaxy tales, managed to keep them fresh and exciting from start to finish. The Balance of Terror remake/total makeover takes the destruction of Vulcan into account and reaffirms the new mentality of the quadrant around the refugees and their offshoot cousins. Vulcan's Vengeance is a dark, grim story that delivers the unexpected from very early on and keeps you guessing to the end.

The Return of the Archons goes along the lines of the three stories from The Edge of the Galaxy and is a strict remapping of the episode from The Original Series.  Now I didn't think it possible but this is an improvement on the classic story. After all, The Return of the Archons isn't one of the strongest episodes and some of the alterations make it much more feasible and align with the Kelvin Timeline more reasonably. I'm rapidly becoming a big fan of Mike Johnson's writing as everything I've seen from his pen so far has been excellent. In fact the Kelvin installments have been the stronger and more driven stories up to this point (maybe with the exception of Early Voyages). The attention to detail, JJ-canon and arcing plotlines is fantastic and fills in more than the films ever will. His portrayal of the crew is very endearing, retaining key elements of the originals personalities while still managing to encompass the updating from Pine et al.

What you come to appreciate with this and with the final story of the three is that there are sprinklings of ideas and threads that will be picked up (or were retconned in here) to bridge the gap from the 2009 movie through to Into Darkness. I won't blab them out here but you'll spot a few of them straight away and I'm predicting that on two or three more revisits I'll spot a few more nods to the first of the two reboot films. 

The Truth About Tribbles story is, frankly, excellent. 

A completely new tale about the rapidly multiplying furballs that take the reader to their homeworld, sort of explains why they have to reproduce so quickly and adds in a few severely irritated Klingons to max out the story.  It actually adds some depth to their background that we've never been privvy to before. There is the expected element of humour in here that could only come from a Tribbles story but this is actually quite dark for something that we know to be one of Star Trek's lighter moments. It also manages to handle two strands of story at the same time under the Tribble umbrella if you will while also setting up a certain controversial blip from Into Darkness.

The parallels back to The Trouble with Tribbles and Trials and Tribble-ations are nicely done and we can see here the Klingon plan to eradicate the "menace" as it was. Wonderful read, fantastically illustrated right the way through. For reference the three Gold Key archive stories included with 12, 13 and 14 respectively are The Brain Shockers, The Flight of the Bucanneer - with the crew bizarrely undercover as space pirates replete with cutlasses, stripey jumpers and eyepatches and lastly The Dark Traveller where in the Enterprise encounters a cross between Q and a space wizard. All a bit weird but nothing I haven't come to expect from these pulp comic stories. Whatever next...

Finally in Volume 15 we come back to the Star Trek universe as it was seen in the late 70's and early 80's after the arrival of The Motion Picture with The Newspaper Strips Volume One.

Now as with the abysmally bound The Classic UK Comics, Part One, this doesn't have the additional Gold Key story as it's rammed full of short stories based around that period of Star Trek history. We have new aliens, Klingons, the odd appearance from a classic Constitution Class starship, starbases and above all, some very impressive artwork that captures the pastels of the first movie absolutely perfectly. It's a lot less hurried and scrawled than the Marvel Comics from Volume 13 with better definition of the physical features of the crew plus some better renderings of the Klingon and Federation ships. To some degree the writing is more Star Trek centric being much less Flash Gordon/50's sci-fi off the wall and more grounded tales that have a more technical aspect to them and seem to tread more along the lines of canon. Hell, they even make reference to the Perscan belt units at one point which almost made me have an aneurysm.

Honestly these are a great read and easier to dip in and out of since half the stories aren't lost down the spine. The larger frames and cut back dialogue does work better than the squashed in text of those Marvel Comic tales and overall this is a much cleaner interpretation of Star Trek on the page than those in Volume 13. The tragedy is that these newspaper strips have been "lost" for a while since they weren't mass distributed and really need to be appreciated.

With it being a longer volume these shorter stories with their cliffhanger points every couple of pages make it very easy to digest. Frankly I just loved these with their clear affection for the core material and their presentation here is wonderfully done. These four issues offer a good range of storytelling from across the graphic eras of Star Trek. Great selection and variety.

Next month we have The Next Generation's Ghosts and another from the Kelvin Timeline with Mirrored.

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Journeying Back: The Graphic Novel Collection Issues Four and Five

Three classic stories down and we have another two with Spock: Reflections and The Next Generation: The Space Between.

First released in 2010, Spock: Reflections is an absolute stormer of a read. Collecting together a series of events from the legendary Vulcan's life stretching from his time as a youngester at home to his years under Captain Pike through to his time as commander of the USS Enterprise (circa The Wrath of Khan) plus an underlying narrative that takes Spock on a journey from Romulus to Earth.

Honestly I could not put this down.  The way in which the story unfolds, the writing, the graphics; the lot. This is an absolute must have in every way. The character of Spock is believable and the way in which the background story develops is beautifully natural. One thing that stands out is how the artists involved perform the transitional moments from the "present" to Spock's past. Each is moulded into the very fabric of the story and, just as with its development, feels wholly natural at every stage. Indeed, the flashbacks - and indeed the end of the story - touch on every significant point within the story of Spock and Star Trek across the 44 years to when this was written. 

Reflections does the seminal Star Trek character a lot of justice and I respect the writing and visuals so much I would be tempted to call it canon purely on that quality alone. Visually the tones of the different eras we bear witness to are recreated perfectly right down to movie rank insignias and mountaintop detail from the third planet in the Veridian system. It breathes a respect for the character, for Nimoy and for the franchise that I've not experienced anywhere else in these first four issues of the series and it is undeniably a story that I will come back and read again and again.  It also, as always, offers the stark contrast to the fourth issue of Gold Key Archives. 

Now I did a bit of research on this and there were over 70 issues produced so I'm thinking this is going to be the "backup" material in the collection for a while to go yet. This time's offering is The Peril of Planet Quick Change and to be fair change is the thing this doesn't. We're still firmly entrenched in the 1950's style Flash Gordon style Star Trek replete with backpacks, rocket ships, quirky dialogue and frankly, very little to associate it with the franchise bar the odd appearance of an Enterprise exterior, Spock's ears and a delta insignia. 

I'm still smiling everytime they step into the teleportation chamber and that's kind of the point with the Gold Key stuff. The story is true boys' own action once more and it is nevertheless entertaining and will fill some time in a wet and rainy afternoon. 

Issue Five presents the first IDW foray into Star Trek from a decade ago. With its initial release in January 2007, TNG: The Space Between collects together several points in the seven year TV voyages of the Enterprise-D with appearances from main cast and fan favourite recurring characters. Each of the six stories is standalone but there are a few sprinklings which do tie them loosely together by the finale. 

It is a very loose connection and even if that hadn't been there I don't think it would have loosened the enjoyment of reading this anthology. The art here is a lot more impressionistic than in the previous volumes, using a lot more texture and contrast to dark and light especially when it comes to shadows. It also comes across as a great deal more basic in its realisation, yet the stories still remain strong and involving. Unquestionably the more recent IDW works are much more strongly visualised and detailed however the strength of the tales has been there since the beginning and that's backed up very solidly with the short stories collected here. Each presents the characters from the show as close to their TV natures as possible while adding something interesting to the mix. 

What is well managed here are the different periods in which we get to explore The Next Generation further. The nuances of each season are nodded to whether it's Geordi's season one appearance on the bridge or Troi's science division uniform from the last two years, the tweaks are all included at their relevant times and that's what makes these IDW instalments ever the better - they recognise the franchise and the importance of getting it right each and every time no matter the writer or the artist. More so perhaps in The Space Between because it jumps about in the timeline plus it had the unnerving distinction of being their first release. 

Given that these are single stories, the pace of The Space Between is heck of a lot quicker than Reflections and it's noticeable how far along you can get before needing to flick back and take stock. With the Spock story it's a lot easier and more manageable to follow given the natural narrative breaks which wrap around the flashback sequences.

I loved this return to the Enterprise-D but it just can't top the brilliance of Spock: Reflections in so many ways. The Space Between is action packed, well written and a great read but Reflections just has that heart that makes it an instant classic and one you will always be drawn back to. The presentation of Spock is to a tee and I simply cannot fault the result. Magnificent. 

The fifth Gold Key archive from the late 60's this time is The Ghost Planet. In comparison to the main cover story each and every one of these has been to the same standard and same effectiveness every fortnight. The title itself says everything you really need to know, driving the Star Trek bus further into 1950's serialisations with wise-cracking dialogue and more sci-fi tropes than you can shake a Horta at. In fact I'm not sure if I can come up with much more to say about these spins on The Original Series except that they do offer a completist angle to the collection.  

Next month we have Nero charting the backstory of the Romulan from the 2009 reboot movie for issue six and as yet there is no confirmation of what will be in issue seven - certainly cutting close on that news!!!

Is Spock: Reflections going to be the high point of the collection? What stories would you have recommended?

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Boldly Go Beyond "Beyond" with IDW

Ian Kimmins gives us a look into the latest IDW offering...

Boldly Go kicks off where Star Trek Beyond ended. Sort of!!

Let me explain. Those last few minutes we see of the new Enterprise being built takes place over a few months and it's in these months that Boldly Go starts its run. 

We start off with a long shot of a very familiar looking ship & each new panel brings us closer until we realise- this isn't the Enterprise! We are on board the USS Endeavour - this is Kirk's temporary command and this is one of the most interesting part of this run-Kirk has a whole new crew to deal with as the Enterprise crew have been assigned new roles while the ship is being built. 

Chekov & McCoy do follow Kirk to the Endeavour. Spock and Uhura head to Vulcan. Sulu is assigned to a ship with a familiar face and Scotty has a teaching role at the academy where we get to see some of the characters from the Starfleet Academy series.

One thing that has been a hallmark of the old ongoing series is the character relationships and it seems Mike Johnson is continuing this in Boldly Go. 

As this issue wraps up one can only wonder what threat is big enough to bring the crew back together? 

As issue two kicks off Kirk is trying to find out what happened to the USS Concord. They only have one clue an audio recording that says "Resistance is futile" Yes; the guys at IDW have brought the Borg to the Kelvin timeline.

The Concord happens to be the ship Sulu is assigned to and its captain is none other than (The Wrath of Khan's) Terrell and it seems the good captain's lot is a bad one regardless of the timeline. 

Sulu naturally survives the Borg attack and the story is told from his point of view. The tension in the story is well played as we switch between Kirk and the rest of his old crew. As we await issue three we are left hanging wondering how this particular threat will be dealt with. 

Mike Johnson and Tony Shasteen are on point with the Boldly Go series. George Caltsoudas' covers are excellent so if you haven't picked up any of the Kelvin Timeline comics, Boldly Go is a good jumping on point. 

You might say Resistance is Futile! 

Reading Boldly Go? Do you think it's a good series? Is the arrival of the Borg a mistake?

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Another Five Years Done: IDW Issue 59 and 60

And so here we are - the final adventure of IDW's extremely successful ongoing series with Ian Kimmins taking a look at this seminal story.

Connection kicks off with both Captain Kirks waking up in their quarters. Yes it's a good old fashioned characters swapping universe stories!

Kelvin Kirk wakes up in The Original Series' Kirks quarters and vice versa. As the story progresses we get to find out a bit more why this has happened plus we get to see two more crew members swapped out. One of these is purely for fun and is excellently done. 

Mike Johnson does an absolutely awesome job with the characters voices. Both Pine and Shatner's Kirks are spot one here. Little details such as Shatner's pausing and emphasis on words brings you into the story more. 

All the other characters are very well written and there are little nods to each universe. 

Special mention must go to Tony Shasteen for this issue as he had to use a split page to tell the story but it never feels forced or squashed in. Both the Prime and Kelvin versions are very well done and it is up there with some of his best work. 

Connections, Part Two begins in the engine room of both Enterprises with Scotty, Spock and Kirk examining the probe that the starships had launched at the end of the last issue. Spock deducts from the probe that they are transferring to an alternate reality. 

But as he and Scotty try to figure out how to stop this they are transferred to the other Enterprise. Uhura is the one that figures out the anomaly is actually a trapped life form that is trying to escape and is causing both Enterprises to combine into one. The Enterprise crew realise that a matter/antimatter explosion will free the creature and allow the ship(s) to return to normal. 

Normally this is where most Star Trek stories end but we get a nice tribute as both Kirk's are able to review each others logs due to the partial merge. Here we get to see that while both Kirk's are different at the core they share the same commitment & conviction to the ongoing mission. 

As this series ends on issue 60 we get a nice symmetry with the Enterprise crew ending their five year mission (five years x 12 issues = 60). 

I can't wait for the folks at IDW to take the reigns on the next series. Until then enjoy the down time until we are ready to Boldly Go.....

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Klingon Confrontations: Manifest Destiny

When Manifest Destiny was announced there was some surprise amongst Star Trek comic fans as this spot had previously been occupied by the Countdown series leading into the movies.

Ian Kimmins returns to take us into the latest graphic novel as Beyond hits cinemas...

As a fan of both of the Countdown series plus the Nero and Khan comics I wondered if we would get any clues here in relation to Star Trek Beyond. So be prepared for SPOILERS.

As this series kicks off we get to see the Klingons conquering a planet in the name of the empire. However when Commander Sho'tokh orders all the children killed we realise these aren't just regular Klingons. 

As the Commander kills one of his subordinates for questioning him, we switch to the Enterprise where McCoy and Scotty are in the middle of assisting with a birth. As we then switch to the bridge we realise McCoy is telling the story of the birth and here we see some great interaction between Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty which harks back to The Original Series. 

We get to see Sulu take command of an away team once more. The writers receive great credit for this in my opinion as they seem to have made a conscious decision in the comics to have Sulu in command regularly. Maybe someday we will see an Excelsior/Sulu reboot spin off?

As the away team realises it's a trap, they try to contact the Enterprise but there is no response as they are occupied with a Klingon ship which has just decloaked .

As both the away team and ship are under attack it's looking bad for the crew and things take a turn for the worse when McCoy gets separated from the rest of the away team. As he manages to take down the Klingon away team after him in a way only McCoy could - the Enterprise is fairing worse - a lot worse. 

As issue two kicks off the Klingons boarding the Enterprise and as Kirk and Spock lead security teams, Chekov is left on the bridge to try to contact the away team on the surface. 

The away team is being over run and the Enterprise is being over run by Klingons and as Kirk orders the bridge to be evacuated it looks like all is lost. 

The Klingon away team has a proposal for our heroes to help the them kill their captain and in turn they will be freed. As the away team considers this, the Klingons finally take control of the Enterprise bridge. As Kirk and the crew regroup in Engineering they realise these Klingons are mercenaries and will stop at nothing in the name of conquest. 

As the crew aboard the Enterprise make their stand, the Klingon away team have returned to their ship with their Starfleet counterparts. As they plot the downfall of their captain, he is meanwhile onboard the Enterprise and has captured Kirk. 

As we launch into the final issue the Klingon captain explains that his crew are all outcasts. With the Enterprise's crew now in the brig it looks like all is lost however Spock had evaded capture and manages to free some of the crew including Kirk. As Scotty initialises a warp core breach the Klingons decide they have had enough and abandon the Enterprise. 

However Kirk gets to the shuttle before they leave and stuns all the remaining Klingons except his counterpart. Kirk overcomes the Klingon in hand to hand combat to retake his ship. 

As Scotty gets the ship up and running again, Kirk realises what has happened to the away team and that there is now a new Captain in charge-they exchange the away team for the Klingon Captain and promptly leave the area as more Klingon ships arrive.

This story ends with the crew having to deal with the deaths of some of their comrades and realise they have become more than a crew-they are a family. 

Great credit goes to Mike Johnston and Ryan Parrot who wrote this story. They are both longtime writers for the IDW run and it shows that they have such a great handle on the characters. Angel Hernandez has again got the look of the Kelvin timeline spot on with his artwork. Special mention must go to the tribute movie covers that were done for this series (see The Motion Picture one above) As the Kelvin Timeline's continuing missions are being wound down lets hope we get to see these great talents take on some more Star Trek. 

As I touched on earlier this story was a replacement for the usual Countdown "movie-intro" story. From the Beyond trailers we do get to see a slightly more weary Kirk who's feeling the pressure of being the captain of the flagship and that's seemingly carried over here as we see that losing some crew here, including recurring characters such as Lt Kai, has an effect on him. Remember in Into Darkness that Kirk told Pike he'd not lost a crewmember since taking charge of the flagship.

So while this isn't an official story related to the movie as the Countdown ones were, it does help set the mood and is one of the best stories that we have seen so far.

Read it!!!!!

Star Trek Manifest Destiny is available in all good comic book stores or in graphic novel form from the usual outlets. 

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The Legacy Continues with IDW

For anyone who regularly reads the Star Trek comics this is the one that we have been waiting for. Was the wait worth it? Read on to find out!!

Mike Johnson kicks things off in this story by bringing us back to the end of the '09 film and Spock is in a reflective mood. The story opens with Spock gazing upon the Golden Gate Bridge, which reminds him of his Vulcan.

We then get to see Prime Spock's conversation with Kelvin Spock from the end of the that same movie and as Prime Spock departs from Earth he passes the Enterprise one last time and reminisces about two old friends that he will miss as he continues towards the Vulcan colony. 

We then switch gears and head to Romulus where we meet Senators Lucian and Vicia who plan on using the remaining red matter that they now posses to rid the universe of their Vulcan brothers. How did the Romulans end up with the red matter? Check out IDW Issue Seven Vulcan Vengance to find out!

As we rejoin Spock on his journey to the Vulcan colony we get a great conversation between himself and Sarek which ends with Sarek advising Spock to avoid the Vulcan Colony. 

Spock goes anyway and learns that the planet the Vulcan elders have decided to settle on was Ceti Alpha Five. Spock warns the colonist that this planet is not the right place to settle. The elders advise Spock that his opinion is noted but that they feel his actions have caused all their problems and promptly banish him! 

As this issue ends we head to Rura Penthe and discover that two of Nero's crew are still alive and they manage to escape and head to Romulus.

Issue 56 kicks off with Spock reminiscing about how he has yet again left his people again although this time it isn't of his own doing. As Spock has one last conversation with Sarek he is even more determined to help his people. He arranges to be dropped off at a familiar space station. 

At this point we get to see the two escapees make it back to Romulus before quickly switching back to the station which turns out to be K7 (The Trouble with Tribbles). 

Here we see Spock reminiscing about himself, Uhura and Chekov and what happened that day. As the person who he was waiting for arrives we find its none other than Cyrano Jones.

We quickly switch to Romulus were the two senators we already met plan to use the last two of Nero's crew to carry out the destruction of the Vulcans. Meanwhile Spock has arrived on Romulus courtesy of Cyrano and meets up with Senator Pardek and both are promptly arrested. 

Issue 57 kicks off with another flashback - this time to unification as Spock reminisces about his work on Romulus in the Prime Timeline. Here he is on trial along with Pardek and promptly found guilty. As they are being transported to prison it transpires Pardek's sympathisers are all around and they both promptly escape. As the issue ends Sarek convinces the Vulcans to listen to the information Spock has acquired with regard to the Romulans attack. 

The final issue opens with the Romulans attacking the Vulcan colony and it's looking bad for them until Enterprise turns up with more ships on the way and Starfleet quickly turns the tide. However one ship with Nero's last two crew members has the red matter and they order the Romulans to retreat from the blast zone. As they detonate the red matter it is apparent that the plan is not to kill but seek redemption for what has transpired since the Narada has arrived.

With the battle over Spock decides to mind meld with selected elders to show them exactly why they shouldn't settle on Ceti Alpha V. As the book ends we get an awesome tribute to Spock and to reveal it here would only ruin it for anyone reading. 

Tony Shasteen's artwork on this four issue run is excellent. There are many flashbacks to Spock's life both in the Kelvin-verse and the Prime timeline. The Original Series and The Next Generation characters are excellently drawn and hopefully he gets to draw these for the upcoming IDW Wavepoint series. The story is very well done and there are some great nods to characters and places that we have seen before. The only downside I found with this story was the use of Nero's crew again. It felt a little forced but there fate was a nice twist and in keeping with the story. Was this worth the wait and the hype? You bet. I think Leonard Nimoy would be very happy with this resolution for Spock's character.

Have you been reading IDW's Legacy of Spock? Is it a fitting tribute?

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Reboot Reunion: IDW's Issues 53 and 54

In IDW's popular series we get to revisit a character we last seen in Star Trek '09 - Gaila who was played by Rachael Nichols.

The story starts 2248, 14 years before the main part of this story. An important event in Gaila and her brother Kai's life takes place when their father kidnaps his two children to prevent their mother marrying off Gaila as part of a deal for the Orion syndicate to seal a deal. The backstory to this event is well established and leaves us looking forward to seeing how the story plays out.  Just be aware there may be SPOILERS ahead!

In the present - 2262 - the USS Enterprise and the USS Tereshkova meet up for some shore leave. Gaila, now a science officer on the Tereshkova meets up with her brother who is now assigned to the Enterprise. Obviously she meets up with former Academy room-mate Uhura (as seen in the first reboot), who gives her a tour of the flagship of the fleet. I found this piece a little odd as it just looks like the two ships parallel parked and the crews went from ship to ship. No space station or outpost. It did take me out of the story a little bit. 

We get to meet Captain Campbell of the Tereshkova and she is well handled throughout the story. She admits she had issues with how Kirk got to sit in the chair but he has earned her respect. She is a good addition to the comic-verse and hopefully someone we see again. 

As this issue ends Gaila and Kai's problems are only starting as they are kidnapped from their ships and taken away by their mother who has waited all this time to fulfill her agreement with the Pacari.

Issue 54 starts off with Kirk's captains log recapping what happened in the previous issue but we spend most of the time with Gaila and her brother while they try to escape from the situation they find themselves in. 

As the Enterprise is out of commission it is up to Gaila and Kai to organise their own escape. 

As Gaila prepares for her wedding her brother is sent to become a bare-knuckle fighter for the Orion public's amusement. However the Orions don't plan for Kai's Starfleet training mixed with his Orion fighting skills and he escapes just as Gaila manages to release her shackles. They escape together but look like they may be caught - but the enterprise shows up in the nick of time!

As the story wraps up we get two references to the previous movies - Scotty says he promised the Enterprise would never be under water again(Into Darkness) and an amusing, if predictable few scenes between Kirk and Gaila over what happened in Uhura's dorm room in Star Trek '09.

While this was a good read it and was nice to see Gaila back after her appearance in Star Trek '09, it feels that this issue was a little bit of a filler as we await the next story which is the much hyped Legacy of Spock. 

There is a nice bit of continuity in this issue with a nod to the USS Tereshkova which appeared in the book The Lives of Dax It was studying a rogue comet and some of the crew died. It seems to have faired a little better here!

Once again Tony Shasteen's artwork is to be commended. Having the Orions feature in the story really makes the colours pop off the page. The Enterprise and her crew are all very well drawn. It's also fun checking out the background aliens and in this issue we get to see an Andorian crew member. 

All in all this story is worth a read but it doesn't reach the heights of some of the stories. It is a little flat and I get the feeling that the writers were already thinking of the Spock story line coming up. Another little inconsistency is that I felt the writing staff's mind was elsewhere as issue two's stardate was 2262.141 and issue 1 was 2262.335!!! 

Hopefully the team returns to form with Manifest Destiny and Legacy of Spock.

IDW's Star Trek comics are currently available from your local comic book store or the usual online digital suppliers.

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Drawn to the Story: IDW's Starfleet Academy

Welcome to Ian Kimmins from the USS Cuchulain group who joins Some Kind of Star Trek for his first solo post today!

Released by IDW over the last few months is Star Trek Starfleet Academy.

The team behind this particular five issue run are Mike Johnson, Ryan Parrot and Derek Charm. Starfleet Academy is in good hands as lead writer Mike Johnson writes the ongoing series. Be warned of spoilers as we take a quick overview and tour of this miniseries.

The story takes place in two different times; 2258 and 2261. We have the characters we all know and love from the alternate universe plus we get to see some quite interesting new ones!

The story starts off with Uhura in 2258 who is following a strange signal in a restricted sector of space and in 2261 our new characters are participating in the Academy Centennial Games.

Issue two pushes the story on and we get some good character revealing scenes for the cadets. Meanwhile Uhura and Kirk continued to investigate the strange signal. There is some good interchanges between the characters and we see the determination that is the hallmark of the future Enterprise crew. 

In issue three Uhura finally finds out where the signal is from and uncovers what happened to the USS Slayton in the Wagner 219 system. I won't go into much detail on this issue as it contains quiet a lot of spoilers there are some standout moments in here. It's also nice to see that our cadets aren't infallible.

Issue four kicks off with the cadets on the wrong end of a nasty space worm! At this stage they've so far behind in the games they decide to slingshot around an anomaly to gain time. The anomaly is located at Wagner 219 and this is where everything kicks up a notch. We get to see Spock's mentoring of Uhura and how he gets her out of a tricky situation. Admiral Marcus even pops in for an appearance!

Finally we come to issue five and the story wraps up a little to easily and the cadets end up with a medal. Although not having them win the games was a nice touch.

While this story was aimed at a slightly younger audience than normal it is a good read for all ages. The story works well even if you aren't familiar with the characters although you will get more from the story if you do. Special praise should go to Derek Charm who's art on the series gives it that lighter and brighter look compared to Tony Shasteen's work on the ongoing series. 

It is a nice alternative to the ongoing series artwork and I liked it. It did remind me a little bit of The Animated Series! While it was a little slow to get going and it was tied up very conveniently-It is worth a read and I for one hope we get to see the cadets again.

Both Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott do a good job on this series. I'm looking forward to them continuing work on the ongoing series and also the upcoming Klingon story Manifest Destiny. Hopefully we will get to see Derek Charm's art again in the comics as really adds to the enjoyment of the story.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is now available from comic book stores and is due for  release in Graphic Novel format on 4th August 2016.

Have you been reading this series? What have you thought to it?

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