Review: Star Trek: The Mirror War #0

Setting itself as a prequel of sorts, this zero issue bridges the gap between the last adventures of the ISS Enterprise before moving warp speed into the full series in October. I have said it before, but serendipity must be a universal constant; how else can you explain yet another book featuring yet another universe, separated from an original one? All humour aside, bearing in mind that Trek is know for “boldly going where no-one has gone before”, I can’t help but wonder why IDW keep plundering the same mine?

The Empire lies in tatters. A few remaining starships are still loyal to the idea of Earth being at the centre of the universe. One of those ships is the mighty Enterprise D under the command of a malicious Captain Jean-Luc Picard who has crew he can’t trust. Now minus one Reginald Barclay, Picard is on the verge of losing all that he holds dear. However, with one focus of an inter-dimension viewer Picard has one last chance at glory for himself, his ship and his Empire!

Scott and David Tipton are back at the helm. and ops respectively as they chart a story that we have seen snippets of before. At first glance, it is fun to see our favourite character acting, well, out of character. The problem is that we have seen it so often it no longer comes as a surprise, especially if you are someone like me who has read the impressive Dark Mirror novel by Diane Duane from. Pocket Books. Much like the Next Generation show itself, this book is wordy, with every action and equal and opposite reaction being explained. Being set in the Mirror universe, I can’t say that these character sound like themselves; I will say then that they sound as you would expect.

Carlos Neito provides the art in style that tries hard to come up to muster, mister. However, it seems that Neito takes an aspect of a character and uses that to demonstrate who they are; Picard is bald, Riker has a beard and Geordi has green eyes. By utilising these very obvious elements of the character, he doesn’t need to worry too much about likeness, which may suit him but leave a lot to be desired for the reader. But hey, at least we get Deanna “Domme” Troi! For a darker environment, colorist DC Alonso aims for darker hues but still feels too bright. I would have like to see a scheme reminiscent of the episode Yesterdays Enterprise! Neil Uyetake should get double the latinum for the sheer amount of words he has to deal with, doing in a manner that doesn’t negatively impact the already inconsistent art. There are a fleet of covers to choose from; at this stage, whichever cover you choose doesn’t have an impact on the actual story.

Fans of the Mirror universe may well continue to feast upon the voyages of this Enterprise. For me, you know what you get for breaking a mirror?

Writing – 2.5 Stars
Art – 2 Stars
Colors – 3 Stars

Overall – 2.5 Stars

Written by; Scott & David Tipton
Art by; Carlos Neitko
Colors by; DC Alonso
Letters by; Neil Uyetake
Published by; IDW Publishing

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

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