Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Mike Johnson
Artist: Joe Corroney
Release Date: 28th May 2014

Having previously taken a closer look at the Assimilation² and Khan miniseries, I thought it was about time I picked up the main ongoing series.

This wasn’t an entirely difficult task as this issue kicks off the next arc of stories. From the beginning, you are fully aware of this and so long as you have a basic understanding of the current Star Trek cinematic universe, there really isn’t anywhere to get lost.

However, it wasn’t an entirely enjoyable experience as I felt that the story – or rather, this portion of it – is very slowly paced to the point where not much really happens. There is some sparse action towards the end, but of course typically Trek has been built on pondering rather than action (at least in the past) and that is true here to a certain extent as the crew’s away mission unearths a mystery hinted at in the opening page. The dialogue serves its purpose here but again never quite reaches toward something more enticing.

The art, beneath it’s glossy veneer, felt awkward at times with ‘valley of the doll’-like expressions here and there, made all the more obvious with colors that illuminate every one of these physiques.  These factors definitely made it harder to get drawn in. That isn’t to slight those involved, as It seems like Corroney and Rauch could produce quality work (for example, the alien landscapes look gloriously cosmic) but for some reason here it doesn’t flow smoothly with this particular cast of characters.

Overall, as a first-timer to the new Trek ongoing series, and having a fondness for the source material, I will just say I wasn’t offended by it but equally I wasn’t stimulated by it – it was just another book.

Rating: 2/5.

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The writer of this piece was:

Gary Kane aka (GK)
GK tweets from @Kanoclassic