Star Trek 4 (December 2011)

These comics ought to come with a fifty cents off coupon for buying the original “Star Trek” episode online.

If I’ve seen the episode, The Galileo Seven, I don’t remember it. But I do know the resolution must be somewhat different because Johnson’s finish for this issue is firmly in movie continuity.

The issue’s a failure, partially due to the awkward pacing, the rest due to Phillips’s art. Molnar is reduced to a layouts credit.

Johnson can’t make the comic, based on television pacing, exciting. Meaningful looks fail, as do the action scenes. And Phillips is so weak, any time Johnson does come up with a good moment, it flops. There’s one in particular, with Kirk spouting off regulations, where Phillips misses the humor. He’s clearly just too busy poorly tracing publicity photos of Chris Pine.

If I were reading Trek for quality, I’d give up now.

I’m not, however.

Star Trek 3 (November 2011)

Once again, Mike Johnson does well enough adapting an original “Star Trek” episode to the new movie’s continuity. Well enough means it utterly lacks any personality.

This issue Uhura gets the most “movie” personality, just because of her romance with Spock. But even with those added details, she barely makes any impression.

Instead, it’s all Spock, McCoy and the red shirts stranded on a hostile planet. No one agrees with Spock about how to proceed, but he’s in charge, yada yada. He’ll undoubtedly save the day.

The issue also introduces Yeoman Rand, who didn’t get a movie appearance, and Johnson just does it as a nod to the original series. I don’t think she has a line after her first panel.

The art’s a mess. Stephen Molnar manages to use the movie likenesses, Joe Phillips doesn’t. Neither is particularly good, Molnar just fulfills the task better.

Trek remains a curiosity.

Star Trek 2 (October 2011)

So Sally Kellerman doesn’t show up this issue either.

Johnson continues his adaptation of the show’s pilot, but it’s all of a sudden very reductive. He can’t handle a big cast–I think there’s maybe five people in the whole issue–which makes it feel less like “Star Trek.”

Molnar can’t handle the technology, which is another problem. Again he’s concentrating on the likenesses IDW has contracted instead of good art. Johnson gives him a mildly complex sequence (Kirk is being forced to kneel) and Molnar bombs it.

The emphasis this issue is on Kirk, his captain log narrates, he’s the one sitting alone thinking about the events. It doesn’t feel right, it doesn’t feel like the new movie Kirk and it doesn’t feel like the original.

The concept is starting to fall apart two issues into an ongoing series… not a good sign at all.

But it’s still readable.

Star Trek 1 (September 2011)

IDW should have put out Star Trek as double-sized issues, containing the entire episode adaptation, instead of splitting them up.

It’s a high concept series–comic book adaptations of the original series but in the new movie’s continuity, which is the only reason I was interested.

So, an issue is only as good as the original episode… I mean, Mike Johnson takes a lot of dialogue straight from the pilot episode (if I remember right) and he does a fine enough job updating to the “new” personalities. It almost seems, in some cases, he’s updating to the Star Trek movie–original cast–personalities more than the new movie’s (as the new movie didn’t have the time to fully establish characters).

As for the art, Stephen Molnar seems more concerned with likenesses than he is with doing a good job. It’s unfortunate, but Trek‘s about the concept, not the art.

CREDITS

Where No Man Has Gone Before, Part One; writer, Mike Johnson; artist, Stephen Molnar; colorist, John Rauch; letterer, Neil Uyetake; editor, Scott Dunbier; publisher, IDW Publishing.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – N-Vector 4 (November 2000)

Jeter runs out of space here a little. He’s got an exciting conclusion, but then he’s also got a big special effects conclusion (Cypress is disastrous as rendering it, unfortunately) and some more talking heads stuff.

Also–and here’s why I was confused last issue. He’s got the station commander–Major Kira (you can’t refer to “Deep Space Nine” characters and expect non-Star Trek aficionados to know them)–using the exact same dialogue the evil guy used when he was possessing people. But it’s apparently not done to raise suspicion. It’s like Jeter copied and pasted dialogue and didn’t think about the context. The editor should have caught it.

This issue is probably the least successful for the above pacing and art reasons. It also ends on a humorous note, mimicking how a television episode would end. But it doesn’t work because it’s way too slight.

The series should have run five issues.

CREDITS

Writer, K.W. Jeter; penciller, Toby Cypress; inker, Jason Martin and Mark Irwin; colorist, Bad @ss ; letterer, Naghmeh Zand; editor, Jeff Mariotte; publisher, Wildstorm.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – N-Vector 3 (October 2000)

This issue is the all action issue. Or close to it.

I think N-Vector is most useful–not to discount its success as an episode of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” it’s a fine episode of that television program–as an example of how television pacing can be adapted to comic books. The problem, of course, is the length and pricing. It takes four issues to get a single episode. All together, it would have been ten dollars for, basically, something one watches for free on television.

Also, this issue requires the reader be familiar with the show and the relationships between its principal characters. I couldn’t tell if people were acting out of character or if I’d missed something since I hadn’t seen the show or if the evil space entity had possessed them.

Jeter’s good at plotting out the dramatic moments; still a fine licensed comic read.

CREDITS

Writer, K.W. Jeter; penciller, Toby Cypress; inker, Jason Martin and Mark Irwin; colorist, Bad @ss ; letterer, Naghmeh Zand; editor, Jeff Mariotte; publisher, Wildstorm.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – N-Vector 2 (September 2000)

Did Wildstorm not get the likenesses in their “Star Trek” license or something? At first I thought it was just Cypress’s style, bringing a scratchy indie feel to a completely mainstream release, but now I’m wondering if it’s just because he couldn’t draw the actors. His artwork is a little static at times, especially for this issue, which is mostly talking heads. Then there’s the problem with him not being able to show important details–I don’t know if Quark found a dead Ferengi or Ferengi costume or a Ferengi blow-up doll.

As far as writing, this issue’s a little better than the first, as Jeter is getting into the actual situation. Even if someone isn’t familiar with the characters or ground situation, the drama’s been introduced and Jeter’s got a good A plot and a good B plot (no doubt they’ll tie together nicely).

A fine, mediocre comic.

CREDITS

Writer, K.W. Jeter; penciller, Toby Cypress; inker, Jason Martin and Mark Irwin; colorist, Bad @ss; letterer, Naghmeh Zand; editor, Jeff Mariotte; publisher, Wildstorm.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – N-Vector 1 (August 2000)

So this series is a continuation of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” I guess I’m glad I don’t care about the ending of the series being spoiled for me.

I decided to read it because of Jeter, who’s a science fiction novelist of good repute, and because I didn’t realize–on seeing it in his bibliography–N-Vector was a Star Trek comic book.

Jeter does a fine job writing the characters and matching their personalities to the show (as far as I can tell, having mostly seen the first couple seasons), but there’s zero subtext. It’s more of a television episode than a comic book. The issue breaks are the commercials.

The art is the most interesting element–for a licensed comic book, it looks nearly nothing like the norm. Cypress isn’t interested in likenesses, he’s using the art to convey emotion.

It’ll probably turn out a pointless read, but I’m on board.

CREDITS

Writer, K.W. Jeter; penciller, Toby Cypress; inker, Jason Martin and Mark Irwin; colorists, Dan Brown, Bad @ss and Wildstorm FX; letterer, Naghmeh Zand; editor, Jeff Mariotte; publisher, Wildstorm.

Star Trek (2009, J.J. Abrams)

There really isn’t anything to dislike about Star Trek. Well, maybe the music, which isn’t bad, just isn’t as good the rest of the music in the series. There’s a lot to like–Chris Pine (though the wife disagrees), J.J. Abrams’s direction is outstanding, there’s some nice little stuff (Zoe Saldana’s Uhura and her romance, Leonard Nimoy’s reaction to Pine, Karl Urban’s woefully underused McCoy). Oh, wait. What’s his name… Eric Bana? Was it Eric Bana? He was awful. Oh, and Ben Cross. He was lousy too.

The problem with the film is its uselessness. I saw it in a theater packed with college students who hooted and hollered during the Transformers sequel–Abrams isn’t exactly going for a high brow audience. The script, from Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who often really stink), isn’t bad. There are some weaker moments, but the dialogue’s solid–Pine delivers it with an unbelievable swagger, playing Kirk as a superhero, something Shatner never really recognized in his essaying of the role–and there are some neat developments. But it’s really all about Abrams’s direction. Whether it’s the–as far as I know, I haven’t seen the more recent Star Trek films–outstanding CG space shots (Abrams’s composition of these scenes is utterly unlike any other Star Trek direction I’ve seen, much more visceral… in fact, it sort of resembles the new shots from Bob Wise’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture director’s cut), amazing action scenes. Abrams, on his second film, does a fantastic job.

So Pine’s excellent, something he establishes from his first scene. Saldana’s good, playing well off Pine and Zachary Quinto. Quinto’s okay… adequate. The problem is how good Nimoy is in his scenes. His link to the original incarnation, not to mention his lovely (there really isn’t any other word for it) scenes with Pine… Quinto can’t really compete. Maybe in the next one (in this one, there’s a hint at a solid chemistry between Pine and Quinto). And, really, all Star Trek is about is waiting for the next one.

Because Karl Urban? He’s really not in this one enough. He probably gives the best performance and, even without a lot of back story, has the most interesting character.

Bruce Greenwood’s kind of useless. Abrams should have tried harder to get Tom Cruise.

Simon Pegg’s hilarious as Scotty. John Cho and Anton Yelchin are kind of useless too. They’re both all right, but there’s no part for them in the film.

The script’s got a bunch of logic holes and probably many more if one were to think about them, but one isn’t supposed to think about Star Trek. One’s supposed to enjoy the action, laugh at the jokes, get the references. And it works.

For an absolutely pointless two hour franchise “relaunch,” it’s about as good as it could be and it’s pretty good.