Star Trek Reviews - Page 3

Star Trek: Other Realities 2001 (SC TPB) 198 pages

Written by Tony Isabella & Bob Ingersoll; K.W. Jetter; Peter David. Pencils by Aaron Lopresti; Toby Cypress; Michael Collins. Inks by Randy Emberlin; Jason Martin & Mark Irwin; David R. Roach.
Colours:/letters: various. Editor: Jeff Mariotte.

Reprinting: Star Trek: All of Me, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - N-Vector #1-4, Star Trek: New Frontier - Double Time

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Published by Wildstorm/DC Comics

There have been many Star Trek comics over the years, published by many companies. And Star Trek itself has spawned other TV series and novels. Wildstorm focused most of its efforts on Star Trek: The Next Generation projects (like Forgiveness) -- I guess it's a generational thing (presumably the Wildstorm guys gew up with that series). But it also produced a few Voyager stories, collected in Encounters With the Unknown, as well as the occasional project focusing on one of the other Treks -- most of which are collected here...

"All of Me"

Utilizing the original "Classic" Trek crew, this begins with a brawl on an Orion pirate ship, with Captain Kirk leaping about, and seems just a little too comicbooky. But once it settles down, the story enters nicely familiar Trek terrain as the Enterprise is sent to check in on one of the Federation's greatest scientists who, in true Trek fashion, it turns out has gone a little mad. It's briskly paced, and though the concept -- which I won't comment on to avoid giving too much away -- threatens to seem a little tongue- in-cheek at times, it's off-beat and reasonably entertaining.

There is an interesting quirk to the scientist in that, though arrogant to the point of megalomania, he actually respects Spock. But ultimately, the story is more focused on the adventure, rather than providing any deep character thred, or metaphor. The weakest part is the end, as an evil alien presence is revealed to be involved. The Star Trek TV series didn't tend to go for plain "evil" (even the nastiest critters they encountered still usually had a motive, even if it was only hunger). And aside from that, the ending feels "open". Perhaps writers Tony Isabella and Bob Ingersoll were hoping to do future Trek comics for Wildstorm, and to use this presence as a recurring menace (even having the characters vow "until next time"). But I'm not sure Wildstorm produced any further Classic Trek comics.

The art by Aaron Lopresti is nice, solid work. Not, perhaps, photo-realist, and not too much in the way of moody shadows or anything, but good comic book art and where the characters readily evoke the actors.

The bottom line is it's a decent enough read, though it shows its comic book origins a little too obviously in the opening and closing.

"N-Vector"

This Deep Space Nine mini-series is set after the TV series and, because the series ended (unlike most Trek shows) with a certain finality (half the characters left) it might seem a bit unrepresentaive of the show. At the same time, it's still set on DS9, and with the remaining characters (Major Kira is now in charge, while Nog -- yes, Nog! -- is acting chief of security). The story has strange things going on, involving Quark, and with evidence of sabotage that seems to point to former chief engineer O'Brien, who is dragged back to DS9 under guard. But (and we learn this early, so it's not a spoiler) the culprit is an experimental Romulan super-virus that can influence machines as well as men. In order to combat it, the characters must team up with a Romulan scientist.

N-Vector is the longest and the least successful of the stories collected here. Although, despite Ferengi characters featured on all the original covers, the story does involve most of the characters (though ferengi Quark is definitely prominant in his sub-plot). Ezri Dax is probably the most ill- served. Author K.W. Jetter wrote an early DS9 novel -- Bloodletter -- which was an O.K. read. It was early enough in the series' production that he (she?) didn't have all the characters down pat, but he did a decent job. Yet, here, individual personalities are almost non-existent. Mention is made that Bashir and O'Brien are friends...but little is depicted. There's a low-key approach to the story, in both writing and art, that never really allows it to become exciting, or particularly involving. And the whole "super virus that can infect/possess any being or object" seems a tad undeveloped, logically. There are also implausible aspects, like the Romulan informing Kira that he has information about what's going on...and she ignores him and boots him out of her office!

The art by Toby Cypress seems more suited to an alternative/independent press sort of thing -- in fact it reminded me a bit of Graham Annable (my review of Annable's Stickleback is here). The characters are rendered in crude, cartoony forms, with impassive expressions, and where, frankly, you can only tell who's who by a process of elimination (It's not O'Brien. It's not the Romulan. Why, it must be Dr. Bashir!) rather than because they look like who they're supposed to. Ironically, in the included character sketches at the back, Cypress shows he can capture a likeness when he tries, but I guess in the comic itself, he wanted to be more impressionistic. There is atmosphere to the art, particularly with the dark colours, but it's very problematic.

"Double Time"

Double Time was my first exposure to the "New Frontier" saga. What's that? you may be asking. Well, it's yet another Star Trek spin-off, featuring a whole new crew and starship (The Excalibur -- yeah, same name as the ship in TV's "Crusade"; which is why it's a good idea to avoid public domain names when naming your stuff in a story). So why have you never seen it? Because it was never a TV series, but exists only in a series of books, all written exclusively by Peter David. This comic is the New Frontier's first (and for a long time, the only) foray into a visual interpretation. Because of that, there was a certain novel appeal just off the top, seeing characters I'd never encountered before, and figuring out their relationships. At the same time, the comic doesn't fully introduce all the characters, so some of the supporting characters remain vague (I wasn't sure if there was one, or two, female Vulcans).

David (a long time comic book writer in addition to being a novelist) is well known for the wit he brings to things, and there's plenty of wisecracks and amusing banter at play, even as the basic story is serious and deals with the tried and true dilemma of power and responsibility.

Captain Calhoun is definitely the most impulsive and headstrong of Star Trek heroes (his rebel leader background making him a bit like if Major Kira, from Deep Space Nine, were given command of a starship). When the crew arrives too late to save an entire civilization from being wiped out by another species, Calhoun, wracked by guilt, decides to time travel back to a point where they can arrive in time. Of course, this raises ethical questions about interference. Writer David seems as though he's siding with Calhoun...until we get to the denouement.

The story is reasonably interesting, and gets marks for trying to tackle an ethical idea (moreso than "Double Time" or "N-Vector"). It's a story that probably couldn't have been done using any other crew (it's hard to picture Kirk, or Picard, or anyone acting so impulsively...well, except maybe Archer). Interestingly, one of the most famous episodes of the original Star Trek series, "The City on the Edge of Forever", was one conceived by Harlan Ellison where Kirk faced a similar time-interference question. It was controversial (within certain fan circles) because in the original draft, Kirk, in a moment of emotional weakness, fails to make the hard decision, but the series' makers re-wrote the script. David really liked the original concept (as evident by his writing an afterward for a re-issue of the original script in book form) and so it's interesting that he, years later, writes a story wherein a starship captain sides with emotion over logic in such matters, just as Ellison wanted Kirk to do.

Anyway, it's an interesting enough tale, nicely illustrated by Collins in a straightforward way (lots of realist poses of people standing around, talking) but with some nice mood created by inks and sombre colours. Of course, because of the emphasis on the "dilemma", the adventure-story aspect can be a bit thin in spots. As well, the problem with grappling with the question of time, interference, and paradoxes, is that it really raises a whole lot of technical problems that David just ignores. Reading it, you suspect there'll be an ironic twist in the end. And there is. Except, perhaps hoping to surprise us, David goes for an unexpected twist...but one that has little to do with their messing with the time stream!

As well, the downside to having lots of witty badinage, I've realized over the years (notably in SF shows like StarGate and Andromeda) is that, although it can make the scenes more fun...it can rob some of the reality and seriousness from the story, undermining the drama a little.

Still, Double Time is certainly a good read. It should be fun for fans of the novels to see a visual interpretation of the characters, and for those unfamiliar with the books, it certainly encourages one to try them.

Bottom line? An O.K. collection, but nothing exceptional.

Cover price: $24.95 CDN. / $14.95 USA.

Star Trek: The Next Generations - Beginnings 1995 (SC TPB) 160 pages

Written by Mike Carlin. Pencils by Pablo Marcos. Inks by Carlos Garzon, Arne Starr.
Colours: Carl Gafford. Letters: Bob Pinaha. Editor: Robert Greenberger.

Reprinting: Star Trek: The Next Generation #1-6 (1988 mini-series)

Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Additional notes: introduction Michael Okuda (Star Trek: TNG graphics designer)

Published by DC Comics

DC Comics enjoyed one of the most successful runs of Star Trek comics of any of the various comics publishers who have acquired rights to the property over the years, and its Next Generation comic was also quite successful. But before it committed to a regular series based on the, then, new and untried television property, it tested the water with a six issue Star Trek: The Next Generation mini-series. A series which was then collected as the TPB, Beginnings, some years later.

Actually, the interesting thing about the mini-series is to wonder if it was intended, originally, as only four issues. For unlike most miniseries, which tell a single story, here some of the issues are self-contained. In fact, it's not till the third issue that a multi-part story begins, stretching from #3-5, and though the sixth issue is, once more, self-contained, it is the culmination of a mission that was first assigned to the crew in issue #3. In other words, you almost wonder if #3-6 were the original mini-series, and then someone decided to expand it with a couple more, stand alone, tales just to really test the water.

Just a thought.

Anyway, I've mentioned elsewhere that I was more a fan of the original series than any of the spin-offs, which, paradoxically, might mean I'm less critical of comics based on the later series, since I don't require as much fidelity to the source. Case in point is Beginnings which, I'll admit, I reasonably enjoyed.

Oh, sure, the dialogue can be corny, fans might object to the characterization in spots (though more in the nuances than the broad strokes), the plotting can be a bit erratic...even, um, occasionally curious (issue #2 is a Christmas story wherein the crew encounters a race that looks a lot like the Grinch from Dr. Seuss, and these creatures are pursuing a strange, spirit creature -- I'm not kidding!) There is a bit of a "guilty pleasure" aspect, at times. But, overall, it kept me turning the pages. And that's the point. And the whimsy of the Christmas issue isn't as in evidence in other issues.

Taking advantage of the bigger cast, and the more colourful characters in TNG (as opposed to the original series, where most of the supporting characters were just keeping the seats warm), writer Carlin can pad things out with thought balloons and minor sub-plots utilizing the personalities. In fact, Tasha Yar (this was originally published during the series' first season) is actually explored more fully in the multi-issue story, and developed more compellingly, than I recall her ever being in the TV show itself. Following the lead of DC's classic Star Trek comic, in which a deliberate attempt was made to create its own universe by introducing original supporting characters, Carlin throws in a married couple not from the series, the Bickely's -- aptly named, as they bicker incessantly, even on the bridge. It's a one note, somewhat implausible characterization, and nothing is done with them, but it perhaps reinforces the idea, inherent in the series, that this Enterprise is populated, not just by crewmen, but by families as well.

At the same time, Carlin slips up in various ways -- dialogue doesn't always sound appropriate to the characters, relationships might seem shaded slightly different; Troi is given vague pregognative abilities, not just empathic abilities. Some claim this was partly because Carlin was writing this just as the series itself was only beginning. Though that doesn't excuse other errors, like having an admiral change name in mid-scene! And it's almost too faithful in other ways. Recurring character, Q, appears and some of the story ideas make reference to specific episodes -- which might be a bit confusing if, like me, you haven't seen those episodes in years (though I could still follow the gist). Actually a cute "in" joke is when the characters encounter a planet inhabited by various races, and one of the characters is half-black/half-white -- a reference to a race from the original series.

Pablo Marcos' art is not, perhaps, inspiring, yet he does a good job evoking the actors -- at least enough that you can always tell who's who. He tends to exaggerate the muscles a bit, making these space explorers look more like super heroes but, overall, it tells the tales adequately in a no frills, Bronze Age way.

Reasonably well-paced, so that even the talky bits -- and like the series itself, there's plenty of that -- don't seem boggy, I'll admit, I emerge, whatever its flaws and lack of polish, with generally good feelings about this book. Maybe it's partly because, in a medium dominated by super heroes, there's fun in an old fashioned, SF comic. And maybe it's because -- frankly -- I got a tattered copy of this dirt cheap as opposed to the heftier cover price! (My enjoyment of a book is often inversely proportional to how much I paid for it).

With some stand alone tales to be read in a single sitting, and a multi-part saga sandwiched inbetween, this is a decent little collection of diverse tales. Nothing classic, but enjoyable.

Original cover price: $27.95 CDN./ $19.95

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Forgiveness 2001 (HC and SC GN) 96 pages

Written by David Brin. Painted by Scott Hampton
Letters: Tracey Munsey, Albert Deschesne. Editor: Jeff Mariotte.

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Additional notes: sketchbook; author bios.

Published by Wildstorm/DC Comics

Forgiveness is probably the longest, single-story ST: TNG comic book done to date (though there may well have been longer stories serialized in the monthly comic). It's written by David Brin, a respected science fiction novelist who marks his first stab at a Star Trek story here and, I believe, his first work in the comics medium. And it's probably the first -- the only -- fully painted graphic novel featuring any of the Star Trek series. And that combines to suggest Forgiveness was intended to be something special -- even the title sounds profound.

I should mention that I'm not a huge fan of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" TV show (so far practically the only other ST: TNG comics I've read are the TPB Beginnings and the story in Star Trek: The Modala Imperative). I'm a fan of the original TV series, but have had mixed feelings about all the subsequent ones. Ironically, the Next Generation movie I enjoyed the most -- Insurrection -- seems to be one of the lesser regarded ones.

The story has the Enterprise intercepting a centuries old transporter signal. They materialize from the signal Dr. Blakeney, a 21st Century earthman. Since he's suffering from partial amnesia, Dr. Crusher suggests a radical treatment using the holodeck to help him retrieve his memories by letting him relive the days prior to his beaming. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is set to meet with the Palami, a species that has been quarantined by the Federation for decades for crimes committed generations ago. The Palami feel they've served their penance, while many in the Federation, including the hardnosed ambassador the Enterprise is escorting, are less inclined to be so forgiving.

At 90 pages, you might expect Forgiveness to be the equivalent of a movie -- but there seems barely enough here to fill a TV episode. And it seems a little like a shaggy dog story -- all build up with little pay off. Not a lot happens -- certainly not much in the way of excitement or adventure. Nor even as a drama. By beginning the story showing Blakeney commencing his ill-fated teleportation, there isn't much we're waiting to discover as the holodeck therapy peels back the curtains from his memories. In the first few pages we learn that his teleportation experiments had aroused the ire of religious fanatics and rival businesses, and that someone sabotaged his beaming. In fact, what seems like a mystery to be unravelled -- that two men went into the transporter at the beginning, but only Blakeney is materialized by the Enterprise -- turns out not to be the puzzle one might have expected (it doesn't turn out that he's a merged version of two men or anything). The encounter with the Palami, where the Enterprise encounters a menacing battlefleet, doesn't materialize into much of anything, either.

The flashback scenes have a certain readable, kitchen sink aspect, but nothing that screams gripping drama, or profound character exploration. There's an effective, suspenseful sequence where Data and Crusher discover that the holodeck has built some stuff a little too authentically...but that's only a brief part of the story.

Given the limitless scope of a comic, the story seems kind of low budget, with most of the action taking place on the Enterprise, or in the rather conventional-looking 21st Century.

The forgiveness of the title has little to do with anything demonstrated in the story or arising from the characters. It just seems tacked on for the climax, to make the story seem thoughtful.

For a Next Generation story, writer Brin seems disinterested in his heroes, focusing most of his attention on Blakeney and the flashbacks to the 21st Century, where Dr. Crusher and Cmdr. Data are little more than observers -- and even Blakeney isn't an especially well realized figure. Captain Picard has a lot of lines and scenes, as do Data and Crusher, to some extent, but not so that their characters are explored especially. At one point a character worries Crusher might develop an attachment to Blakeney...but she doesn't, so that turns out to be a non-starter. Riker, LaForge, and Troi appear, but mainly to fill up the scenes (Worf doesn't appear at all -- this is set during the Dominion War when Worf was a regular on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine").

For someone who the cover describes as having a "sure fictional hand and scientific expertise", Brin's script suffers from plausibility problems. If the story had worked better, they would've been forgiveable. But as it is, they kind of hobble it further. The story is about the Federation having quarantined a planet as a punishment for a "crime" (which was apparently an accident anyway) committed generations before. In a sci-fi context, it's an O.K. idea, but in a real world context, that'd be like throwing a son in jail for a crime committed by his father! While in another plot element, we are told Blakeney blames a rival consortium for the deaths of his family...but even when we learn how they died, it's unclear why he holds them accountable. And the idea that the Captain would authorize key crewmembers to engage in a radical experiment while he's simultaneously taking the ship into an unknown dangerous situation, seemed implausible (couldn't they have waited a few days?)

Hampton's painted art adds weight to the book, but can seem a bit stiff (perhaps because he's modelling his characters on stills of the actors, taken from other contexts), and the work's a bit spartan. It's realistic, without being of the photo-realistic variety of an Alex Ross. He does a good enough job of capturing the likenesses of most of the male actors, though the female regulars are identifiable simply by their hair colour (arguably, he makes Crusher and Troi look prettier than their real life counterparts). He captures the sets and costumes accurately, but like the script itself, it seems a bit aloof and soulless at times.

According to the bio notes, Brin had the idea for this back when he first saw the original Star Trek series in the '60s -- making this a story that's been three decades in the making. But the "concept" to which he refers, I suspect, is simply how the development of teleportation might engender the fury of conventional transportation companies and religious zealots who claim the soul would not be teleported. But that concept isn't quite enough to sustain a 90 page story without better twists and turns, particularly when that's all established in the first three pages. Besides, at the risk of being precisely the sort of person Brin is criticizing, maybe we shouldn't look at Star Trek's transporter as anything more than a convenenient plot device. Because, realistically, it would raise a lot of philosophical questions if someone were to really develop it (given that there was an episode of TNG where Picard actually died...and they simply recreated him from his pattern recorded in the transporter, raising the question of who/what is the individual).

Ultimately, this isn't horrible, but it seems a bit undeveloped, both as an adventure story, and as a human drama -- and ridiculously over-priced for what it is.

Soft cover price: $29.95 CN./ $17.95 USA

Star Trek: Voyager - Encounters with the Unknown 2001 (SC TPB) 210 pages

Written by Nathan Archer; Janine Ellen Young & Doselle Young; Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning; Kristine Kathryn Rusch & Dean Wesley Smith. Pencils by Jeffrey Moy, David Roach, Robert Teranishi. Inks by W.C. Carani, David Roach, Claude St. Aubin.
Colours/letters: various. Editor: Jeff Mariotte.

Reprinting: Star Trek: Voyager - False Colors, Star Trek: Voyager - Avalon Rising, Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force, Star Trek: Voyager - Planet Killer #1-3 (2000-2001) - with covers

Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Published by Wildstorm / DC Comics

Wildstorm's approach, when it became the umpteenth comics company to acquire the rights to the various Star Trek series, was to forgo publishing monthly series, and instead offer up various one-shots and mini-series. This TPB collects, I believe, the whole of Wildstorm's Star Trek: Voyager stories (the Voyager characters had previously seen comicbook life in a Marvel series).

An advantage to the format -- most being forty-plus pages -- is that it allows for a smoother transition from an hour long TV series into comics than does a 22 page comic. Most of these stories could comfortably make TV episodes -- plot-driven episodes, that is. What iis noticeably lacking is much human drama or character exploration. Those hoping for, say, some portrayal of the romantic relationship between Tom Paris and B'elanna Torres will be gravely disappointed. In fact, many of the characters barely appear -- Neelix has maybe a couple of lines in the whole collection; Torres doesn't fare much better; Kes doesn't appear at all (since all stories take place after she left the show).

Given that these stories were mostly written after the series came to an end (but set within the time frame of the show), one would think the writers would've had greater latitude to explore the personalities, since they wouldn't have to worry about a subsequent TV episode contradicting them.

Still, as plot-driven stories, they're mostly decent enough. Though the title -- "Encounters with the Unknown" -- is an exaggeration as some of the threats turn out to be familiar.

The best, surprisingly for me, is "Avalon Rising", writen by Janine & Doselle Young. Surprising because most of the Voyager characters barely appear in a story in which the Doctor is alone on a medieval-like planet and fans a fire of chivalry in a disillusioned squire looking for a cause to believe in. It's precisely the kind of, potentially, overly cloying story the series would do from time to time...but it works surprisingly well. Not the least because the Doctor, despite being an artificial being, was arguably the most quirky and human of the characters. The story is also well illustrated by Roach in a realist, nicely shadowed manner.

"False Colors" (written by Nathan Archer) involves the ship being trapped in a space ship graveyard and encountering some strangely atypical Borg. It's fast-paced with some nice twists and turns to the story. And there's a hint, though only a hint, of some character stuff involving Seven of Nine. It's drawn by Moy in a clean, efficient style, though his is the most comicbooky of the artists in this collection, and therefore, perhaps the least impressive. But he's the only one to work on two stories.

Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning's "Elite Force" is also drawn by Moy and the plot bears a passing similarity to a Voyager TV episode, in that the crew must battle both Borg, and another alien menace, forcing them to tentatively ally with the former. It's also inspired by a video game, and with its emphasis on the characters running through corridors, shooting it out with aliens and Borg, it kind of shows. And because the focus is on a previously unseen SWAT-like team aboard Voyager, the focal character isn't a series' regular. Though maybe because of that, there's better exploration of that character. But wouldn't it have made more sense to have given that part to one of the regulars? Still, in the end, it's a decent, suspenseful, action-adventure -- even if it doesn't really seem too Star Trek- y. And, as noted, there's actually some better character development.

The longest story at some 66 pages, the mini-series "Planet Killer", is also the weakest. There's no characterization to speak of, and the thin plot isn't developed enough to compensate. The story revists the idea from the original Star Trek series of a giant doomsday machine that destroys whole planets, and the story follows the same progression of the characters coming on a devastated system, rescuing a survivor, engaging the machine, etc. Seven pages -- seven! -- are devoted simply to retelling the Classic Trek episode, yet conspicuously they leave out any reference to the character conflicts that made the episode so memorable. Presumably they didn't want to remind the reader of what's missing from this story! Just to add a note of freshness, the characters must try a different method to destroy the thing -- but it's a method that kind of comes out of nowhere. I don't know if writers Rusch and Smith intended to insult the readers with this thin, slapdash story...but they certainly succeeded. The art by Teranishi is in many ways quite impressive, capturing the likenesses of the actors, without sacrificing mood or atmosphere.

Overall, the art is among the most consistently good I've seen on any Trek comic, in that all artists capture the likenesses of the various actors. And the brooding colours, though mayhap overly oppressive at times, inject a lot of atmosphere. All artists affect a realist style and all are quite good at drawing the accompanying corridors, ships, and outer space debris -- though Teranishi's planet killer is a little hard to get a grip on, visually. Admittedly, given the lack of deeper emotion, it's not clear how well the artists would perform were they required to capture the actors while also expressing complex emotions.

A trick that seems hardest to master, even when an artist can duplicate an actor's likeness, is capturing (in women, for instance) a genuine sensuality. In the TV series, it was freely admitted Seven of Nine (played by Jeri Ryan in a skin tight costume) was added for sex appeal...yet that isn't really evoked here (she even seems less curvaceous than Ryan did). I also had a bit of a crush on Roxann Dawson (Torres)...but that's neither here nor there.

I wasn't a huge fan of Voyager, so, of course, my review must be viewed in that light. I sometimes like comics more the less passionate I am about the source material. The stories (save "Planet Killer") are brisk, atmospheric adventures, even as the lack of characterization -- and the short-changing of significant characters, like Torres -- keeps it superficial and prevents it from becoming great. And none of the stories manage to seem like anything more ambitious than modest episodes of the series. But as a book on the shelf, to be delved into occasionally when looking for a bit of sci-fi escapism, nicely drawn and set against the vastness of deep space, it's enjoyable.

Original cover price: $32.95 CDN./ $19.95 USA.

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