Jackson Lanzing (Author) Collin Kelly (Author) Stephen Thompson (Artist, Cover Artist) Charlie Kirchoff (Colorist) Neil Uyetake (Letterer)
Thanks to IDW Publishing for the review copy!
IDW’s Star Trek: Year Five series fills in the last year of the Enterprise’s five year mission (because the show was cancelled before they made it that far). Issue one displayed skill in crafting authentic feeling dialogue for the beloved original Enterprise crew with the ability to capture the look of the characters. All that remains to see is if the series can tell a compelling Star Trek story. Unlike the TV show, which had standalone episodes, this series tells a continuing story across issues. In the first, Captain Kirk was bummed out because the Enterprise was headed home and he was being promoted (which fits nicely given the movies). On the way back, the crew received a distress signal and ended up on a Tholian settlement where they rescued a child. This issue picks up the story there, with the Enterprise facing consequences for doing so.
If you like Star Trek, you will appreciate that this series is basically a new episode of the show. The dialogue fits the well known characters. There’s plenty of ‘science’ to solve problems as opposed to fighting, which is often the case in Star Trek. In true Star Trek fashion, the science skews towards vaguely techie buzz words that make enough sense for you not to need to dwell on them (neutron blasts, particle shields, stasis beams are all named dropped). This issue effectively gives every core member of the crew time to shine, and it is great to see them work together as a team to solve problems.
Art wise, this issue does a better job of putting the child Tholian into context, as one panel in particular shows its size relative to Kirk. Prior to that, I was wondering how they knew it was younger, since it didn’t say anything.
The conflict and resolution of this issue are tied to the first, so I do recommend reading that one first. Otherwise, you will likely be lost regarding the plot. Two issues in, this series seems to be a worthy entrant into the Star Trek universe.
STAR TREK: YEAR FIVE #2 is available now.
Check back soon for my thoughts on issue 3 of this series.
Have you read the issue? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
