Review: Star Trek – The Conflict TP
Since Star Trek first arrived in the 60’s it has managed to capture the imaginations of audiences world wide. These imaginations served well as the series progressed from the Next Generation, out to Deep Space and through many a voyager. Subsequent years have seen two lots of prequels as well as the re-imagined universe. Through it all, the crews have remained resolute in their duties as Star Fleet officers. But how would Worf work with Kirk: would Sisko manage to get past his hatred of Locutus and would Riker hit on Seven of Nine? One question would be how could anyone make that happen? The answer is of course simple; Q!
As Picard and the crew of the Enterprise races around the galaxy trying to put out a series of supernovas, scientific knowledge takes a backseat, leading Picard to get all “Dixon Hill” and deduce that somewhere along the line Q is involved; and so he is , sort of. It seems that all the the many “godlike” being that we have encountered in Trek, from Trelane, Q, Organians and the Iconians are having a bit of a spat. Of course, with all their power, there are over spills into our universe. Q, under the insistence of Picard, grabs the wrong of the stick and assigns various Trek crews to serve as proxy’s, but not before a Trek Draft Day occurs which serves to mix up the crews.
Veteran Trek comic writers Scott Tipton and David Tipton deliver a kind of Top Trump affair with the mish-mashed crews, that in essence encapsulates the best and the worst of Trek. For example, despite the time jaunts, nothing will affect the time lines. Amazingly, the mixed up crew manage to one together with nary a problem, with only Work having reservations with working with old school Kirk, aware of how the Klingons of Kirk’s time were considered, though to be honest Classic Trek’s Klingons didn’t meet the pie crust Klingons until the movies, and this is Classic Trek on show.  In addition, Sulu manages to fly the defiant; are you telling me that starship design hasn’t change at all! The story warps along at a fair clip though perhaps it shares its verbosity with the Next Generation vibe of “more talk, less action” than any of the other versions.
The art is provided, for the most part by, David Messina with Silvia Californa on issue 4. The art is a mixed bag. There are enough likenesses on show so you can work out who is who, but at times, there is a distinct lack of details. Some of the close ups, especially Data, Picard and Sisko work well, but when it comes to group scenes all I see are the color of the shirts and, at times, I had to take a guess. The other thing I noticed was a quirk in which the characters do not seem to be part of the environment, rather they seem to have been placed on top of it. As such, I found it hard to move away from the fact that at anytime Q could press the reset button. Inks are provided by Elisabetta D’Amico which have have served add to this aforementioned quirk rather than help resolve it. The colors by Alessandra Alexakis are a touch too bright, maybe too fake to have an impact. Letterer Neil Uyetake should get paid a double rate for this collection.
I suppose fans love these sort of crossovers, though I would be remiss in my duty if I didn’t ask why Enterprise and Discovery weren’t involved. As a huge Trek fan, I have read a range of books from a variety of writers, most notably Peter David who is a writer who I think would be able to kick this type of story into orbit, whilst keeping characters true to themselves instead of a host of them sounding like Picard. As it it, this tome has all the gravity and impact of one of Barclay’s holodeck adventures.
Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 3 Stars
Overall – 3 Stars
Written by; Scott Tipton & David Tipton
Art by; David Messina, Silvia Califano with art assists by Carola Borelli and Giorgio Spalletta
Inks by; Elisabetta D’Amico
Colors by; Alessandra Alexakis
Letters by; Neil Uyetake
Published by; IDW Publishing
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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