IDW Publishing 2016
Written by Mike Johnson & Ryan Parrott
Illustrated by Angel Hernandez
Coloured by Adam Guzowski & Mark
Lettered by Andworld
Deep in unexplored space, the U. S. S. Enterprise detects a Starfleet beacon on a desolate planet. Sulu, Uhura and Dr. McCoy lead an away team to investigate, only to be ambushed by Klingon soldiers. In orbit, a Klingon warship attacks the Federation flagship. Its ruthless captain now leads a face?to?face assault on the hull of the Enterprise…
I don’t think i’ve ever seen a more decidedly bloody and violent attack in the Star Trek franchise before. Don’t get me wrong i’m not complaining because this is how I envisioned seeing the Klingons before all the races seemed to get so kumbaya. Also the fact that among themselves there are factions of the Klingons that will always resort to personal agenda of combat and expansion regardless of what their leaders decree make this one heck of story whose ramifications will be immense.
The writing, characterization and sheer amount of death and destruction amid the counterplay and backstabbing being done in this single issue makes me thrilled that Mike and Ryan can work so well together and present this in such a way as to not feel rushed, overdone or too much. There are just enough moments to reaffirm the Enterprise Crew of what they stand for and just enough diatribe or monologuing that you have a perfect sense of who these men are. Also that Sho’Tokh is so hellbent on his own agenda that his crew sees the follies of following him and yet need the Enterprise crew to help stage their own coup well it plays out in ways that are superb.
I still can’t over how much death there is in this single issue. Finally we see real life consequences of the Klingons own code of honour and just how all this will affect Kirk is going to be something to see. I’m seriously blown away by the characterization here from all sides. With Bones and Uhura being held captive and being treated as such by the very Klingons who need their help it all just fits with what we think of when during the early days before the Klingon Empire was in dire need of the Federations help to survive.
Angel has really come a long way and the fact he seems to be getting better and better with each new issue I see with his work is astonishing. The attention to detail, the use of perspective, pages and panels not to mention backgrounds and shading make this the kind of action/adventure thriller visually that the franchise so needs. His eye for storytelling is wonderful and only keeps improving so that you feel as if this could be the basis for makeup and flow for a box office movie.
This story has the adrenaline pumping, the senses on overload and the reader on the edge of his seat wondering if by some chance any of their favourites might not survive. There’s a really palpable sense that this isn’t the franchise you remember and that absolutely anything is possible at this point in time. Makes it all the more interesting to read that’s for darn sure.