Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Mike Johnson
Art: Claudia Balboni and Paul Shipper
Release Date: Out Now

“Star Trek: Khan” takes place after the events of Into Darkness with Khan standing trial for his numerous crimes committed during the film. Kirk and Spock are also in attendance and they ask the question that has puzzled most fans i.e. why doesn’t he look like Ricardo Montalban?

Khan promises to reveal not only why he looks different but the reasons that led him to the events of the film. We then cut to India where a young orphaned crippled boy named Noonien is kidnapped by a shadowy group of scientist’s intent on moulding children into the perfect humans using eugenics so they can use them as soldiers for their respective countries later. As the comic progresses we see Noonien turn from a cripple to a fierce warrior who inevitably overcomes his creators and leads his genetically altered brothers and sisters to freedom ending issue one.

Overall I like this first issue and I think it is a solid start to a potentially interesting story. The writing by Mike Johnson is OK and the artwork by David Messina and Claudia Blaboni is very good. My main problem with it though is that I would have preferred if more of Noonien’s past was shown like say him interacting more with the other children and building relationships with them but apart from that I would still recommend it to any Star Trek fan.

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Issue two takes off as Noonien and his “family” have infiltrated the governments of the main super powers in order to eventually take them over. After gaining control of the worlds nuclear arsenal the augments use them to wipe out Washington DC and Moscow sending an ultimatum to the world either the governments of each country surrender or they will be taken force. Some countries resist but are eventually overcome by the power of the augments. Noonien returns to his home country as he finally completes the augments conquest of earth. The issue ends with New Delhi in flames as Noonien raps his blood stained shirt into a turban as he christens himself Khan after the infamous conqueror.

In contrast to the first Issue I prefer this second one much more as the focus here is squarely on Khan and shows how smart he and the augments are – As they begin creating new weapons and war machines to use in their conquest of earth. My gripe from before that we don’t really see him bond with anyone was addressed a bit better since we see him plan out his attack with the other augments and interact with them more. Overall this was a good second issue.

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As issue three starts Khan narates the details of the conflict known as the eugenics wars as the rulers of the new world started fighting among themselves for dominance. We also see that Khans slice of the world is one of two parts that has not fallen into complete anarchy as the augment rulers become tyrants. Khan must fend off his brothers to protect his land but as he defeats his enemies and takes over their territory the humans have begun to rise up against the augments. As the conflict escalates Khan devises a plan to flee Earth with his lieutenants on board the familiar Botany Bay but must speed up his plan as the human rebels create a virus designed to target the augments unique genes. As the last augment rulers fall from the virus Khan is forced to leave the world he fought so hard to conquer as he and his crew go into deep sleep until they find a new world to inhabit.

Issue 3 was my favourite so far of the books as it shows not only how benevolent Khan can be to his people but also how ruthless the character can be, as seen when he leave one of his brothers to die from the virus.

This issue’s Khan is probably as close to the “Space Seed” version of the character we are likely to see due to the divergence in the new timeline so I am eager to see what comes next.

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Rating: N/A.

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The writer of this piece was:
Big Comic Page follower Jordan Mearns.
You can also find Jordan on Facebook.