IDW Publishing
Written by Mike Johnson
Illustrated by Rachael Stott
Coloured by Davide Mastrolonardo
The U.S.S. Enterprise became trapped in INTERPHASE, a dangerous condition of space within which the ship's structural integrity—and the crew's sanity—were perilously at risk. Two of the affected were Sulu and Scotty: Sulu commandeered the Bridge, while Scotty separated the main hull from the saucer section. To make things worse, an unknown enemy trapped both parts of the ship in WEBS of glowing energy…
Oh heck yeah I’m sorry but this is a helluva series! The use of characters and the characterization we get this issue finally showcases Uhura in a completely new light and kind of makes her a badass and more important to the ship than just that of a communications officer and all I can is it’s about damn time!
That we are seeing the crew here more as the younger versions instead of the seasoned ones encountering new threats, new aliens and have to scramble to find solutions to the situations they find themselves in make for excellent reading. Mike really has found how to embody what Roddenberry originally intended and bring it to us. Plus the characterization he brings while foreshadows the men and women they’ll become is still fresh and new and well makes them even more interesting.
While Kirk and Spock have their separate endeavors to work on on the bridge where Sulu has assumed command we see that not everyone has succumbed to Interphase as Uhura stuns Sulu and assumes command in his place. Meanwhile Sulu’s cohort in what’s been happening Scotty has to face off with Keenser and the results aren’t what you’d expect but the little guy who doesn’t speak much also finally gets a chance to shine. The little guy has a great mind and rather capable in his own right.
How they manage to get out of the webs and the Tholians well that’s something you’ll have to see by reading this issue but suffice it to say that it adds a lot of new potential to what could come. The fact that we see much more from characters like Uhura and Keenser is great since not every story should center around Kirk, Spock and Bones but they do tend to considering they are the triumvirate that runs this ship. Uhura’s role in all this however does go a long way to showcase how women are seen as equally capable of things including when Kirk gives her the comm when he goes to the main hull.
Rachael and Davide continue to bring this series to life beautifully. The attention to detail in the backgrounds showcasing the ship’s design is fantastically done. That we see the actors that inspire the characters is perfect and I love that they’ve been able to keep that elevated cartoon style work here and it makes me want an animated movie. Also the Tholian we see here demonstrates a nice imagination in creating a new alien species.
This is what I consider IDWs flagship title and what they’ve been able to do with is keeps me coming back month after month to regale in the ongoing adventures of the Enterprise and her crew.