Review – Star Trek: Mirror War – Troi #1 (IDW Publishing)

Posted on September 15, 2022 in IDW Reviews

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Marieke Nijkamp
Artist: Megan Levens
Colorist: Charlie Kirchoff
Release Date: 7th September 2022

Turning the recently concluded Mirror War mini-series spotlight upon Deanna Troi and the supposedly dramatic course of events which lead to her becoming the much-feared Inquisitor aboard the I.S.S. Enterprise, this one-shot set in the Mirror Universe of The Next Generation probably didn’t please as many fans of the science fiction franchise as perhaps its publishers hoped it would. In fact, Marieke Nijkamp’s backstory arguably doesn’t make all that much sense, as the Betazed Administrator appears to double-cross everyone, including her planet’s population, just to show Jean-Luc Picard that her murderous obsession with power would make her a useful ally for his “ruthless ambition.”

Admittedly, the fact the cold-hearted killer is perfectly happy to personally disintegrate her closest confidant, Lwesi, after the ill-fated advisor is ordered to take “charge of our Plan B” by infiltrating the Stargazer’s Cargo Bay Two, certainly shows the extent to which Troi will stoop to attain the potent mix of “triumph, vengeance, [and] power” which she so greatly desires. But having repeatedly demonstrated such disloyalty, treachery and duplicity to the bald Terran Empire officer, including an attempt to have her world’s dissidents assassinate him, it seems rather unconvincing anyone would see such an untrustworthy person as being an essential piece of their own grand scheme for domination.

Furthermore, there are so many twists and turns to Nijkamp’s twenty-page plot that by the end of the comic, some within its audience may well be completely confused as to just which attacks upon Picard and his crew were planned by the titular character, and what was merely unexpected happenstance. It certainly seems likely that one of the Stargazer’s crewmen telling his captain that Lwesi and her handful of rebel fighters were actually in need of the Empire’s help came as much as a surprise to the Betazoid leader as it did Jean-Luc; “Are all your officers so weak to be easily control–”

Setting aside such quibbles as to its narrative, Megan Levens’ artwork certainly brings some enjoyable phaser-fights to eye-catching life whenever the book requires them. Indeed, there’s a palpable sense of dynamic action to the “Buffyverse” illustrator’s pencils when she first depicts the insurgents enthusiastically blazing away at their planet’s ‘honoured guests’, which helps carry any perusing bibliophile through some of the script’s more mundane, dialogue-heavy sequences.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]