Review – Star Trek #50 (IDW Publishing)

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Mike Johnson
Artist: Tony Shasteen
Release Date: 21st October, 2015

Congratulations are in order to the IDW Star Trek team for reaching their 50th issue in the ongoing series! Star Trek #50 shows just how far the series has come along since earlier issues, and is a shining example of the quality writing and artwork the comic is now currently known for.

Early on in the run IDW’s Star Trek series tackled a stand-alone, non-crossover Mirror Universe story which came across as a bit rushed and featured some occasionally questionable art. Now, as the main Enterprise crew cross over into that universe proper, the story is much more interesting and better paced, and the art has come on leaps and bounds since then. Character models are far more consistent and expressive than they once were, and background art and Enterprise “money shots” are clear and well-detailed.

When I first started reviewing Star Trek comics around the issue 30 mark, I had criticism of the series’ now longest-serving artist, Tony Shasteen, for giving us well-detailed characters often set against dark or blurred backgrounds. Now however, his art is absolutely impeccable across the board. It is always a delight to see his eye for detail brought to new scenarios and exciting confrontations, and here, in issue #50, his designs for an ‘evil’ Enterprise and an ‘evil’ crew, are on-point with the inversion themes at play.

Writer Mike Johnson also ensures that this is not merely another generic “Mirror Universe” story that simply relocates the previous story to the new universe by bringing in new twists to the formula. The colony under attack by the Terran Empire is populated by augments, led by ‘Man of Peace’ Khan Noonien Singh (who still looks like Benedict Cumberbatch, so I hope we get to see an alternate version of his betrayal by Admiral Marcus play out in this universe). Bringing back a plot-thread from the original Mirror Universe story brings a certain disgraced and presumed dead Captain back to the fray as well, meaning that this story is juggling far more moving parts than the original, and will hopefully take a few more issues to really breathe and tell a unique and interesting story.

In summary, Star Trek #50 is indicative of the incredibly high level of quality this comic has risen to, and makes an excellent milestone for the now veteran series.

Rating: 50/50.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
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