IDW Publishing 2019
Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly
Illustrated by Stephen Thompson
Coloured by Charlie Kirchoff
Lettered by Neil Uyetake
The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise left Earth four years ago. They’ve travelled to strange new worlds, defeated impossible foes, and made universe-changing decisions. But now, with the end in sight, they’ll have to face their biggest challenge yet. Step aboard the Enterprise with Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura, Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov as they begin the end of their original Five Year Mission and boldly go into an uncertain future in this new continuing Star Trek series!
Well if this opening doesn’t grab your attention then nothing will. Though we know that it is indeed something different than what it is, for Kirk however it isn’t so to see this from this perspective is really well done! The second opening the one that brings us back to the events that lead up to what we just saw, wow I feel like that’s a mouthful, is equally as impressive by how it makes the reader feel. Over the years we have been inundated with series after series in the Star Trek Universe and they’ve all been wonderful for what they were and are but for me this crew holds a very special place in my heart. The first, the original, these folks set the standard for everything else to come. So that the boys know this, respect this and embrace it the way they are doing here is alright by me.
I love the way that this is being done, the structure is sensational and the way the book flows it feels exactly like an episode of the series would be. Also the characterisation here is utterly brilliant to see. The characters act and feel like their counterparts so that the entire time you read this you feel like this not a comic but rather the beginning of the best episode they’ve made to date. I miss Nimoy, may he rest in peace, playing Spock and the way he delivered his lines and here I hear his voice in my head as I read his dialogue and it makes me feel like a kid again. Listening to him explain and reiterate what his position means like he’s some kind of robot is delightful and it made eager to see the rest of the issue.
Stephen has a really impressive resume to his credit and to be honest it feels like this is him bursting on the scene in a blaze of glory. I love his work on Aliens and Hellraiser which really allowed to stretch his skills but what I am seeing here is bloody brilliant! The linework is crazy good and the faces, facial expression and even eye-rolls are masterfully done. Plus we get backgrounds of the ship all over the place so that each panel seems to be fleshed to create this level of familiarity that’s off the charts. The attention to detail too is scary to me and from the hair on the back of a hand to the way a uniform fits it’s all there. The utilisation of the page layouts and the way we see the angles and perspective in the panels show his master class eye for storytelling. Then there is the colour work here which is equally as good. From the use of colours and gradation in space, in the uniforms or on the planet below this is the kind of quality work people dream of accomplishing.
This may just turn out to be the best Star Trek series I have had the pleasure to read. From Kirk’s musings to Bones, to the away teams encounter and to the exclamation of Bones, “I’m a Doctor not a….” everything we see, read and understand here conspires to prove my initial thoughts. Trusting my gut instinct says this is this years hottest new series and the competition for that is fierce!