Review: Star Trek Year 5 #1

Synopsis:

Finally! IDW has brought us back to the original five-year mission. I enjoy most Star Trek comics, but my fondness is for the one that started it all! This issue opens with a dramatic scene. Kirk is recording what appears to be a final entry in his captains log. His tone is desperate, his situation dire. His entry states that there’s a seven hundred million to one chance that this entry will be dust, along with him, which means that no one will ever hear it. Then a mysterious hand points a phaser at his head! Cut to flashback.

The Creative Team:

Jackson Lansing and Collin Kelley bring is in to a mission the Enterprise is about to embark on called “Operation Ouroboros” The conversation among the bridge crew is that this one is going to be dangerous, but the consensus is that they should go because risk is part of the job. Then we cut to McCoy entering Kirk’s quarters with a fifth of Brandy. You know when that happens there’s going to be some contemplation and McCoy’s words of wisdom to Kirk. The good Captain reveals that he’s going to be promoted to Admiral. What keeps us reading is the attention to detail over these characters motivations. This team proves that they know their Star Trek as the characters behave exactly as we would expect them to. Yet there’s still a lot of originality in this tale. The apparent antagonist is one we recognize from the original series. One gripe I usually have with star Trek comics is that they keep revisiting characters and situations we’ve already been exposed to, instead of giving us a new alien or characters for our heroes to encounter. Having said that, however, this antagonist is extremely well done and peaks our curiosity and we learn something new about these aliens and their motivation. Looks like we’ve got another TOS classic on our hands! Great stuff includes how Kirk takes down an enemy who’s immune to phaser blasts and Spock’s telling Mr. Scott how much weight he’s gained since the first year of the mission, and that he’ll have a struggle with obesity. Little touches like that give me a chuckle. When you consider how James Doohan (Scotty, for those who are not familiar with Star Trek) encountered his battle of the bulge. Little attentions to detail like that let me know that the writers are familiar with the characters they are writing.

Stephen Thompson gets everything down pat. You can tell he’s a huge fan of the series by his attention to detail, both in the cast and technical aspects of the show. There have been a lot of Star Trek artists through the years that might get the characters to look like the actors that portrayed them. But the renderings would be stiff and not show range in their facial expressions. They were obviously just copying pictures from publicity stills. But Thompson brings these characters to life. When Kirk is feeling helpless, you know, not just because the panel or dialog tells us, but because you can see it in his face. One of the best art jobs for original series characters, if not the best, that I’ve seen from any comic book company. A great way to send our heroes off on one of their final adventures in the original five-year mission. Highlights include the battle with the alien and the renditions of the home world of the alien.

In Conclusion:

With all the attention to current Trek, such as Discovery and the Kelvin time line, and the multitudes of Trek series that IDW has to choose from, I was beginning to wonder if they would ever revisit the original series with the iconic cast and characters again. I’m so glad that they’re giving us this series and it’s a great intro to what could be one of the best Trek stories ever told in comics. The ending has a great cliff hanger and I can’t wait for the next issue. I grew up with this series and now the original cast is aging and, regrettably, starting to die off. First Deforest Kelley, than James Doohan, also Leonard Nimoy. They will play these characters no more. William Shatner is almost 90 years old. The original cast will never put together any shows or movies ever again. The only way us fans can get original stories now is through Novels and comics. God bless IDW and Titan Books for continuing the legacy and giving us original stories. ****1/2 (9.4 rating)

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Writer – Jackson Lansing, Collin Kelley
Art: Stephen Thompson
Colors: Charlie Kirchhoff
Letters: Neil Uyetake

Author Profile

Kevin Given

Kevin Given has studied with â€œ Longridge Writers Group â€ and â€œ Writerâ€™s Boot Camp â€ a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the â€œ Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter â€ franchise which includes novels and comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of â€œ Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter â€ # 1 and â€œ Files of Karl Vincent â€ # 1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series â€œ Dracula Rising â€ (working title) and developing â€œ Foul Blood â€ into comic book form. Don't forget to check out the YouTube show " Comics: Let's Talk " hosted by Kevin Given