Review: Star Trek Year Five #20

Star Trek Year Five continues its wonderful classic take on the franchise filled with high concepts, strong characterization and outstanding art. The writing by Brandon Easton feels like a genuine Trek episode, filled with nuanced character moments, scientific wonders and unexplained phenomenon and massive stakes as time and space itself are being altered around the crew.

The Enterprise arrives at Vulcan at the direction of a Tholian named Bright Eyes. They follow a vibrational signal to the surface before finding an anomaly which throws Spock back in time to the era of Surak at the time where the Vulcans and eventual Romulans are first at war. Spock is witness to the many injustices being enforced by Surak as he tries to battle the separatist through harsh indoctrination camps and suppression. Spock begins to build a kinship with the Rebels rather than the famed Vulcan commander.

As the Enterprise crew searches for the tower sending a signal to them across time they are attacked by a massive fleet which represents a temporal anomaly, appearing to be an amalgam of the Vulcans and Romulans. In fact the Federation itself does not seem to exist. Something Spock has done in the past is changing the future around them.

The rebels talk with Spock of their cause, Surak’s philosophy of repression they defy and their desire for love and open emotion. They take Spock to seek the critical psionic weapon called the Stone of Gol. Surak and his forces await the rebels in the Temple, which should be a neutral space. Spock argues against Surak’s policies and philosophy. After Surak’s trickery results in a rebel leader Zhat’s death, Spock risks it all, changing the timeline itself by taking down Surak.

The art by Silvia Califano is excellent, especially in the battle sequences and the scenes on Vulcan. The characters have strong personalities and the visuals are key to conveying the difference between the emotion filled rebels and the more stoic Vulcan rulers. The sequences on the Enterprise are a bit too cheerful given the stakes here but it certainly matches the tone of the original series. This issue has massive consequences and given how great this creative team is, the final part of the five year journey promises to be a massive treat.

Writing: 4.7 of 5 stars
Art: 4.0 of 5 stars
Colors: 3.8 of 5 stars

Overall: 4.2 of 5 stars

Writer: Brandon Easton
Art: Silvia Califano
Colors: DC Alonso
Publisher: IDW Publishing

Author Profile

M.R. Jafri

M.R. Jafri was born and raised in Niagara Falls New York and now lives with his family in Detroit Michigan. He's a talkative introvert and argumentative geek. His loves include Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Transformers, GI Joe, Films, Comics, TV Shows, Action Figures and Twizzlers.