IDW Publishing 2019
Written by Kirsten Beyer & Mike Johnson
Illustrated by Angel Hernandez
Coloured by Joana Lafuente
Lettered by Neil Uyetake
The Story So Far...
After discovering that a looming supernova threatens the entirety of the Romulan Empire, the Federation has launched an evacuation mission of unparalleled scale to rescue the inhabitants of every threatened planet in Romulan space before the supernova blows. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard travels to a Romulan colony to plan the evacuation of the 10,000 inhabitants living there, only to make a shocking discovery: the planet is home to five million native beings that the Romulans intend to leave behind to die. Before Picard can alert the Federation to this new development he is imprisoned by the Romulan colony's governor.
There is an excitement like an adrenaline rush that comes with reading this. Seeing Jean-Luc again is one of the best things ever and more so for me since we don't have to see any of his former crew. Harsh as that may seem Jean-Luc Picard is the reason I watched the show and his presence to this day remains as powerful as ever. Plus with Commander Musiker we get a fresh new look at characters that inhabit this universe as well. She's an interesting one to say the least and the way that I perceive her to be is not at all what I would have expected and that is something I love to see.
The way that this is being told is extremely well done. The story & plot development we see through the sequence of events unfolding and how the reader learns information is exquisitely done. From the verbal manoeuvring to the way the players move about the chess board the way it unfolds for us is masterfully rendered. The character development we see is utterly marvellous and how the personalities emerge and how we learn more and more about them through their dialogue and word play is sensational to see. The pacing is great and how it carries the story through the twists and turns which then creates this wonderful ebb & flow is a sheer delight.
I have to say seeing Picard as an Admiral is extremely interesting. I love the place he's gotten to in life and how he chooses to make a stand as well this don't feed me bullshit attitude. There is something about it that is incredibly alluring.
Angel is such a talented artist and storyteller in his own right. His ability and talent on display here is gorgeous as we see in the linework and how it's varying weights are utilised to bring us this level and quality of attention to detail. There is a subtlety to his work at times and you almost take for granted what those seemingly small moments are, like the lines in the columns or how spectacularly rendered these faces and facial are done that just capture the eye. I hate to say it but I want one of those chequered Romulan jackets. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The composition inside the panels with the utilisation of the backgrounds bring us this nice depth perception, scale and a strong size and scope to the book. The colour work we see is sublime and I love how we see the flesh tones and hues create further facial structure. I love the way we see shading, highlights and shadow work being rendered here as well and how the light sources affect them.
I want this to be an ongoing series. I know the show hasn't even started yet and I cannot wait for it to arrive but this, this is the kind of Star Trek book that has an untold and unlimited amount of promise to it. This creative team has found that one character that is beloved by all and have put him in a situation that is quite honestly right up his alley. More of this is what the world needs now.