Review: Star Trek The New Adventures Vol 5
Synopsis:
300 big pages gives us a lot of Star Trek. I usually start my reviews of collections with the statement that most collections in Trade Paperbacks are a bit uneven. But not this time. It helps that the same creative team worked on all of these stories, they are all well imagined. Deity is a cool Sulu tale that should keep fans happy. Reunion gives us the best look we’ve ever had on the Orion home world. Live Evil brings us a different Khan than we’ve ever seen. But I won’t lie the highlight here is Legacy of Spock. What can happen after Spock creates the Kelvin time line and witnesses the destruction of his home world? Can you really top that? Well IDW tried and succeeded. Legacy of Spock is a worthy follow-up to the First re-boot film. Connection is a clever take on the original series and the re-boot, a lot of fun.
The Creative Team:
Mike Johnson has proven to be one of the best Star Trek comic book writers since Star Trek comics first came out in 1967 (Gold Key run). Of course a lot of the credit could be given to Roberto Orci, but I think Johnson must be a long time fan as his stories seem to come from the heart. In this collection we see John Cho’s Sulu in one of his first away team commands and the difficult decisions he must make. Johnson gives him the command capabilities that will one day lead him to captain the U.S.S. Excelsior. We also spend more time on the Orion home world then we ever have before. and Khan in the Mirror universe is a man of peace. Spock not only witnesses his home world destroyed but now must face expulsion from the Vulcan community. and this volume ends on a lighter note with the Crew of Shatner’s Enterprise meeting the crew of Pine’s enterprise. Great stuff includes a satisfactory collection and Johnson guiding each story with compelling characters and suspenseful tales worthy of any of the best Star Trek writers.
Tony Shasteen seems to love both Star Trek franchises. Not only are his renderings spot on to the characters of both franchises, but he knows the proper mannerisms to display for each character and their responses are what we’d come to know and love about the actors who played them. Highlights include the Kelvin time line take on the mirror universe and the little differences between each character and how they differ from the original series mirror universe. And the visuals of Kirks enterprise meeting Pines. Actually I must say that Shasteen is probably the best artist in any Star Trek comic ever, so this creative team is the best that Star Trek comics have to offer.
In Conclusion:
Every Star Trek fan should have this collection in their library. It is a shame that a lot of Star Trek fans don’t read comics. This volume includes stories that are so well imagined, better than a lot of the TV shows and even movies that belong to the franchise. Ever since Gold Key started producing comics, the ones with the name Star Trek on them just kept getting better. Marvel’s run was better than Gold Keys, DC’s run was an improvement on all that had gone on before and then we came back to Marvel and DC (Wildstorm) again who improved on the title until we find the franchise in good hands with IDW and the tales of the starship enterprise and her crew just keep improving as time goes by. ****1/2 (9.6 rating)
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Writer – Mike Johnson, Roberto Orci
Art – Tony Shasteen
Colors – David Mastrolonardo
Letters – Neil Uyetake
Publisher – IDW
Author Profile
- Kevin Given has studied with “ Longridge Writers Group †and “ Writer’s Boot Camp †a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the “ Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter †franchise which includes novels and comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of “ Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter †# 1 and “ Files of Karl Vincent †# 1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series “ Dracula Rising †(working title) and developing “ Foul Blood †into comic book form. Don't forget to check out the YouTube show " Comics: Let's Talk " hosted by Kevin Given
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