IDW Publishing 2014
Photoplay by John Byrne
Well I have to tell you while I’ve enjoyed seeing all these issues by John this one is by far my favorite so far. It takes elements of a previous stories and blends them into something new and original. Once again we see the Guardian and Kirk has to travel back through time to save the universe he knows. So it’s back to 1971 for Kirk thanks to the Guardians help and there he has to team up with an old acquaintance in Seven, no not Seven of Nine. The original series has all sorts of goodness to it that was groundbreaking, fun and full of surprises.
It’s kind of amazing that John can go through and pick and choose which images of the characters are going to work in each situation and use some photo manipulations to create the right atmosphere, see swirling smoke, or holding the right prop or even creating a new species of alien that can be shown in ways the show never could. It’s a fun medium to work in and it’s come a very long way since it was done back in the day where it just took stills of the show and put them into print with the television script as dialogue now they can take those same stills reuse them and create new and interesting stories never seem before.
In this issue Ambassador Xaho of the Dhoraxi comes on board the Enterprise as they head to a conference to finalize a treaty to officially end the war they are engaged in. Once onboard we see the circumstances that lead Kirk off the ship and how this solo adventure begins. It’s done beautifully John knows how to tell a story and he’s managed to come up with one that feels like it could/should have very well fit into the original series run. That we get to see a new alien species, the return of the Guardian and seeing Seven again make this one hell of a fun, original story pieced together using from anywhere in the series run.
Once Kirk catches Seven up to date on how he managed to get to him, his knowledge of the Guardian which comes as a surprise to him a delightful exchange really and what he knows happens in the year 1971 convinces Seven that he must aid Kirk and save the timeline as they know it happens. So how do they do, well that’s inside this issue so you’ll have to read it to find out for yourself. Suffice it to say that it’s one hell of a good story and if you’re a fan of the original crew of the Enterprise then you’ll love this.
So what happened to the Enterprise after Kirk left? We see that in this issue too as the backup story. This is how Xaho goes back in time to his people to change history and remove the threat of Starfleet should he be successful. I love this one cause it’s got Spock and a cranky Scotty get the spotlight until such a time as the Guardian is able to reunite Kirk and his crew. The explanation of how all the events unfold pretty darn well done. It’s no wonder John is considered a living legend in the industry and no matter what he hasn’t lost his storytelling edge in the slightest as this very issue demonstrates. Oh and the ending yeah that makes me happy too and gives me hope that at some point in time John will once again use Seven as a guest star in this series.
This is sheer brilliance, fun and a completely perfect look at the original crew and their adventures.