OK, I'll Bite

Star Trek 35
IDW Publishing
Mike Johnson, writer
Tony Shasteen, artist

This issue is the first of a six-part story arc called "The Q Gambit," and I was nervous going into this issue. For starters, this would be the longest story arc so far attempted by this incarnation of Star Trek; most arcs were smaller two-issues tales, with an occasional four-issue miniseries tied to the two J.J. Abrams movies. Did this story really need to be six issues long?

And an even more basic questions was, should this story even be told at all? I like the character of Q, first introduced in "The Next Generation" continuity of "Star Trek," but a little Q goes a long way. He is a character that very easily could be overused or used incorrectly. Do we really need to impose him on the rebooted Trek universe, and if so, why at such an early point in time, as we humans measure it?

This creative team does an excellent job in this first installment answering those exact questions: why is Q in the rebooted universe and why is he showing up earlier in that universe than he did in the reality that preceded it?

It all goes back to the Trek fact that Vulcans live much longer than humans, and that Spock is still around and kicking during much of "The Next Generation" time span. Spock appeared in a number of TNG episodes, so it is canon that Spock and Q are contemporaries. I don't recall an instance where the two characters met in any TNG episode — or even in any of the licensed novels based on the Trek universe. But Spock and Q do meet and have a philosophical debate in the Alien Voices production of Star Trek: Spock Vs. Q. I'm not entirely sure if that audio-drama is considered canon or not, but as contemporaries, it is possible that Spock and Q could have met, even if said meeting has yet to be depicted.

So this series starts out in the original TNG continuity with Q popping onto the Enterprise to speak with now-Ambassador Jean-Luc Picard about their mutual acquaintance, Spock, in the aftermath of the events told in the first Abrams Trek film. To any of the contemporary people of the original Trek universe, Spock is presumed dead after he went back into the past in that film because he never returns to that timeline. But Q, being omniscient, knows all about the new timeline created by Spock's actions, along with the fact that Spock is alive and well in that altered timeline. Also, Q knows of some universe-ending event that will destroy that altered timeline. Q's visit to the Enterprise is to let Picard know that the Spock Picard knows is alive and well, but not for long, and to ask Picard's advice on whether or not he — Q — should intervene in this universe-ending event that threatens that other timeline. Picard, of course, comes down on the side of Q not interfering with any natural order of events, and Q, naturally, takes that as a challenge to do exactly what he wants anyway.

Thus, Q thrusts himself into the altered Trek timeline for perfectly valid reasons, at least as far as Q is concerned. And I would have to agree that his actions herein are quite consistent with his established character.

Mike Johnson is a regular on the IDW Trek titles and handles his duties with the usual spot-on characterizations and intelligent, griping writing that this series is known for. Tony Shasteen is a newcomer to the IDW Trek franchise and is praised in the back of the book in the newly launched letters page for his ability to capture the likenesses of the actors who portray the Trek characters on both big and small screens. The art on this Star Trek Ongoing series has been mostly good from the beginning with a variety of artists handling the illustration chores and handing in mostly good character likenesses. Shasteen's art in this issue seems a bit darker than is typical for this series; everyone's faces, clothing and backgrounds have a lot more shadowing than readers are used to. That in and of itself isn't a bad thing, but I wouldn't want to see the palette permanently shifted to such a degree when Trek is known for its generally positive, brighter future than other science fiction franchises portray. Some of Shasteen's panels also seem to sport pretty stiff characters as if he is relying too much on photo reference to capture those likenesses. Not every panel suffers in this way, but some that particuarly seem to scream for action do depict stiff figures at odd angles. It was enough to pull me out of the story a time or two.

Mostly though, I feel this story is in capable hands, and I'm anxious to see it play out over the next five issues.

Now That's An Identity Crisis

Star Trek 21-23
IDW Publishing
Mike Johnson, writer
Erfan Fajar, artist

These three issues represent what is best about this ongoing comic series set in the rebooted Trek movie universe -- it's acknowledgement of what has gone before in the previous incarnation of the series without slavishly adhering to every single detail of that canon. What we get here is a rehash of the events of the original series episode "Amok Time," and yet, this is a brand new, fresh story that takes the ideas introduced in that episode and creates a brand new tapestry from them.

The story arc presented here is called "After Darkness" and is meant to follow immediately after the events of the latest Trek film, "Star Trek Into Darkness." But the arc picks up threads from both films to create a story that affects the Enterprise crew right now and also introduces a longer-term subplot that will affect the entire universe in the future.

The bulk of the issues deal with the Enterprise being sidetracked to the New Vulcan colony when Spock begins feeling the effects of Pon Farr, a Vulcan mating ritual that affects males every seven years beginning in puberty. Spock naturally assumed his human half dulled the effects of Pon Farr in his own system as he has never before dealt with the madness that accompanies the symptoms.

Instead of getting better, however, Spock seems to grow worse, losing more and more of his emotional control upon arriving at the New Vulcan colony. The crew learns that since the colony was founded, several Vulcans have fallen to the uncontrollable effects of Pon Farr and have wandered off into the wilderness of their new planet. Once gone, they are referred to as "sasaud," Vulcan for vanished. Naturally, the Enterprise crew refuses to abandon Cmdr. Spock and manages to find a solution to the new Pon Farr problem, and writer Mike Johnson does a wonderful job of making both the problem and the eventual solution seem scientifically plausible.

As for the longer term subplot introduced here for future development, after the events of "Into Darkness," Captain Kirk has been declared a public enemy of the Klingon race for his unprovoked invasion of their space. While the Klingons prepare for war with the Federation, the remnants of the mysterious Section 31 division of Starfleet from the film conspire with the Romulan Empire to hold off the Klingons. Of course, both the Section 31 members and the Romulans are already plotting to betray this fledgling alliance for their own goals.

This is a very good story that also sets in motion some future developments. In fact, my only complaint is the return of something I didn't understand the first time it surfaced in this series: the apparent common knowledge of the existence of "old Spock" in this new rebooted reality. Again, my understanding from the first film is that three people know of the existence of "old Spock": Jim Kirk, whose life "old Spock" saves; Montgomery Scott, who meets "old Spock" when he and Kirk come to the lithium cracking station Scott is stationed at; and current Spock at the end of that first film. Every time "old Spock" meets one of these three people, he cautions them about not revealing who he really is. Yet, here, for a second time in this comic series, the existence of "old Spock" is discussed generally among the crew of the Enterprise as if it is common knowledge. But then, I guess I have to let go of my belief that this is an error; "old Spock" also made a cameo appearance in "Into Darkness" and in that scene, Kirk contacts him and speaks to him openly on the bridge of the Enterprise where anyone on the bridge can overhear. I guess that must mean that the existence of "old Spock" in this universe and the fact that to him, all of this has happened before, must be common knowledge, at the very least, to those aboard the Enterprise.