STAR TREK: YEAR FIVE #6 review – What We Have Here… (Houser, Califano, Thompson, Deer, Uyetake, IDW Publishing)

Jody Houser (Author) Silvia Califano (Artist) Stephen Thompson (Cover Artist) Thomas Deer (Colorist) Neil Uyetake (Letterer)

Thanks to IDW Publishing for the review copy!

IDW’s Star Trek: Year Five series takes place in the last year of the Enterprise’s five year mission. So far, it has done an admirable job of telling new stories but staying true to the tone, characters, and timeline of the original series. This issue is the second part of an arc in which the crew recovered some artifacts from a dead planet and immediately began having communication issues leading to conflict among the crew. Meanwhile, Uhura had a major breakthrough with Bright Eyes, the Tholian child the crew rescued that forms the overarching plot connecting the series.

I haven’t been all the way invested in the Tholian plot, but this issue really improved that thread. I found Uhura’s initial conversation with Bright Eyes very interesting.  Following issue 5, I was keenly interested in how this issue would explain the communication breakdowns. The reveal was one of the most satisfying in the series so far. In addition to being quite creative, it effectively tied the two storylines together. The situation also allows for a little humor.

As has been the case throughout the series, the dialogue fits right in with the characters and the art does a great job of depicting the famous members of the crew. As I noted with the prior issue, this story really is Uhura’s time to shine and she makes the most of it.  

This issue is a satisfying conclusion to one of the more interesting tales in the Enterprise’s final year series. While the ‘story so far’ page is excellent, I suggest reading issue 5 first. I’ll be interested to see when the series picks up the overarching threat that was introduced in issue 1.

STAR TREK: YEAR FIVE #6 is available now.

Check back soon for my thoughts on issue 7 of this series.

Have you read the issue? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.