IDW Publishing
Mike Johnson, writer
Erfan Fajar, Hendri Prasetyo and Miralti Firmansyah, artists
After a couple completely original tales, we're back to exploring concepts from the original series as they now exist in the rebooted movie universe for this two-parter called "Mirrored." But Johnson takes a different twist this time out as the "events" in these two issues may not actually have occurred; they are presented as mere hypotheticals.
The first issue opens with McCoy and Scotty in the mess hall. Scotty is trying to explain the concept of alternate universes and timelines to the good doctor, who is just not getting it. I find it interesting that this entire discussion is prompted by McCoy's inability to understand how "old Spock" changed the timeline he was familiar with by his actions in the 2009 movie, resulting in this rebooted universe. I didn't realize that the timeline being altered and the existence of "old Spock" was common knowledge. Kirk knows because he met "old Spock" face to face. I guess Scotty knows because he was there when Kirk met "old Spock" in the film. And Spock met his older, alternate timeline self at the end of the 2009 film. I wouldn't expect anyone else to know about the changes in the timeline, and I wouldn't expect the three who do to talk openly about them. In fact, "old Spock" warns both Kirk and Spock against that very thing.
Setting that aside however, this entire storyline is Scotty and McCoy talking about anything that ever could happen has happened somewhere in the cosmos of infinite alternate realities. McCoy confesses that the idea of an infinite number of alternate realities doesn't bother him so much as the smaller concept of an infinite number of variations of himself out there in all of those possible alternate universes. Scotty acknowledges that McCoy has a fair point, mentioning the possibility of universes where each of them has followed different career paths, one in particular where Scotty might've been a poet.
McCoy jokingly responds with, "Now that's a terrifying concept."
And Scotty replies, "Oh, come on, Doctor, surely that's not the worst timeline you can imagine?"
And from that germ, we see a nightmare alternate universe scenario play out.
In the original series episode, "Mirror, Mirror," a freak transporter accident during an ion storm transports Kirk, Scotty, McCoy and Uhura to an alternate reality where their counterparts are members of an imperial fleet bent on conquering the known universe, as opposed to the United Federation of Planets' more benign purpose of exploration and outreach. The Enterprise crew members in this alternate universe are vicious, advancing in rank through assassination and betrayal. Almost all of the subsequent Trek franchises have returned to the Mirror Universe concept either in televised episodes or novelizations. So it was only natural that this incarnation of Star Trek would revisit the concept. But in almost all of those other instances, someone from one universe actually crosses over and interacts with the people of the other. Sometimes our folks go to the Mirror Universe; sometimes someone from there comes here.
What is different this time out is there is no direct interaction between universes. We are merely given a glimpse into a more aggressive, malicious, imperialistic version of the familiar characters we know. And things here progress in a drastically different way than they did in the original series episode.
As far as the art in these two issues, this new art team does a good job. Comics based on live-action properties often put an emphasis on making the characters in the book genuinely look like the actors who play the roles on screen; this title is no exception. The few references to "old Spock" Leonard Nimoy in this issue are joined by "appearances" by James Doohan and DeForest Kelley, the original actors to portray Scotty and McCoy, respectively. Oddly enough, the likenesses of the classic actors are more spot-on than the likenesses of the newer actors filling the Trek roles. But even the newer guys' likenesses aren't bad. What variations exist could be written off to the slightly different appearance of someone having lived a much rougher life.
All in all, two very well done issues of a series I am enjoying a great deal!
No comments:
Post a Comment