STAR TREK COMICS ROUNDUP
There’s been an interesting trio of Star Trek universe comics hitting our shelves this week, so lets take a look at what IDW have been up to with Gene Roddenberry’s franchise shall we?
STAR TREK YEAR FOUR #2
‘The Enterprise Experiment’ storyline continues with an issue heavy on dialogue, which surprisingly enough maintains its pace throughout the entire comic. Gordon Purcell’s pencils manage to capture the essence of the classic era characters in almost every panel, but the colours drag the art back into the realm of the early 1990s in tone and blending. Not that much of a big deal, but it does cheapen the issue a little. A fun Star Trek story, but not the best we’ve seen from the range. 6/10
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION- INTELLIGENCE GATHERING #5
David Messina’s superb stylised artwork is extremely strong here, rendering characters in thick lines that really suit the series. Data is kidnapped by the Romulans, and this final issue is capped off when the rescue party arrives and all hell breaks loose. A Star Trek story packed with giant monsters and classic characters, this is a pretty damn good representation of the mythos in comic form. 8/10
STAR TREK: NEW FRONTIER #3
This is cool. Thanks to the NF cast not having to be drawn to resemble real people, the art team are free to let rip a bit more, which makes for a much more kinetic visual style indeed. Peter David’s Turnaround story continues with its third part, and with the crew haunted by death, betrayal and a ton of intrigue, the issue holds the attention for the duration. Great stuff, but it’s gonna have the usual problem of finding an audience as it isn’t based on one of the Star Trek shows… 8/10
The new Star Trek film from JJ Abrams is starting to generate a load of fresh interest in the franchise, and it won’t be out until May 2009! Its cool that these comics are keeping the name in fans minds a bit, even if they really don’t make up for a lack of the real thing. Keep an eye our for more Star Trek news soon!