By GustavoLeao / 19:32, 16 April 2008 / Trek Books

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Star Trek Year Four: Enterprise Experiment #1  

Review by Patrick Hayes aka PatBorg  

The cover(s): Thank goodness for the Covers Checklist inside the front cover of this issue!  My comic book store had already sold out of this issue, and I wouldn't have known what the others looked like!  The "A" and "B" covers are both by the Sharp Brothers, and they are wowsers.  "A" is Kirk facing forward, armed with a phaser, with Arex behind him, back to the reader.  A small Enterprise is coming over his right shoulder.  It's really nice.  "B" has Spock in front of an oversized Trek insignia, flashing the Vulcan salute.  It's tiny in the Covers Checklist, but from what I can make of it, I'll have to track this one down.  "C" is a photocover of Kirk Romulanized from "The Enterprise Incident."  How can you not like that photo?  Only complaint is that there's a "D.C. FONTANA"S first comics work!" on the covers.  Can't the creative credits be placed on the cover elsewhere?  However...Overall grade: A+ for all three.  

The story: I didn't know (or had never stopped to read the fine print in all of IDW's press releases) that the story was by D.C. Fontana AND Derek Chester.  Umm...okay.  Story by Fontana and script by Chester?  Or is it the other way around?  Yes, I'm that type of person who wants it spelled out for me.  I'd like to assign the praise, or blame, in any story to the right person.  I'm pretty sure that the Tipton Brothers are pretty fifty-fifty on their stories, but that's only because they've done so many Treks, so far for IDW.  That said, this is a good story.  Again, no spoilers after page 4 from me.  The opening page will put any Trek fan into the perfect state to begin this story.  It's a nice little summary of where Kirk has been, and, with that final panel at the bottom of the page, where he, and the series, is going.  Pages 2 and 3 have great Kirk-Spock dialogue that will recall the best of TOS.  As I was reading it I thought at first it was "filler" before the story began, but it's not, as our Captain is not in the best of moods.  Then two specific individuals are mentioned are page 3, and all is made clear!  Page 4 has the story set completely in motion, as the Enterprise has been testing the stolen Romulan Cloak from "The Enterprise Incident" and something has--wait for it!--gone wrong!  What follows has Kirk and Spock trying to figure out what went wrong, encountering Arex (as seen on the cover -- I'm not spoiling nuthin'!) who gives a flashback of what happened...or so he thinks.  Some of favorite moments include the change of costumes on page 7: I'm a sucker for those outfits; the solution on page 10, very logical and true to the series; the choice of infected crewmembers on 12; the countdown begun on 19; and the money shot on the last page.  If that last panel doesn't get you to want more, nothing will.  That, my friends, is how you do a cliffhanger.  I'm hoping that this comic will lead, in some way, to TNG's "The Next Phase," but that could be saying too much! No complaints from me?  Well, there's one, but it's my problem, probably not yours.  I really, really do not care for Arex.  Having him as a major character makes me think "animation" and not TOS which was "live."  I know, it's a cheesy distinction, but he bugs me.  Even when TAS was originally on TV (yes, I'm that old) I remember thinking, 'Where's Chekov?'  Arex took me out of the story every time he appeared, and he appears often.  As I was reading the story I was forcing myself to just "go" with the flow.  And if I'm going to run with this minor/major bug, I don't know why he was used over Chekov.  When I finished the comic I had to think long and hard about him bothering other readers.  The answer is probably not.  Overall grade: A  

The art: Pencils are by Gordon Purcell, with inks by Terry Pallot and Purcell.  I like Purcell's art.  It's what I remember from the DC Trek days, and he makes me remember my high school trips to the comic book store.  Panel 1, page 1: great start.  I like that Kirk isn't seen until later -- great way to set the tone.  Bottom panel of page 1, I didn't see coming and loved!  The future is coming Kirk!  All the interior Galileo shots are great, but the one that really captures Kirk's mood is the exterior shot on 3.  And the pairs' hunched over panel 4 on page 3, that's old school Trek posing and it rocks!  I'm not a fan of page 4.  Yes, I know what it contributes to the story, but all I can think is "Computer shot!"  Those costumes on page 7, that's like sugar for a diabetic, watching those two stroll the ship in those outfits.  Thank you Gordon and D.C. for having it!  Maybe part of my problems with Arex is that he's drawn like his cartoon likeness (like there's any other?) and he doesn't have the detail in his face that Kirk and Spock have.  For example, look at the lines used to denote shading on the humans around Arex, while he doesn't have any.  Is his face really that smooth?  I did like the point of view of panel 3 on page 16 -- very nice!  Panel 3 on page 17 threw me for a moment: I thought that character had stabbed himself, but I realized that's what I'm supposed to think.  I liked the look of resignation on that character's face in the next panel.  The bottom of page 20 returns my beloved costumes, and they are drawn beautifully!  The bottom panel is great, and I have a copy of Spock in the same pose and outfit on my desk at work, so Purcell is using photo references, occasionally.  And the last panel couldn't be drawn any better! I'd also like to point out that this is the first time I've seen in any IDW Trek comic so much of the Enterprise being covered!  We see just about every major location within the Enterprise and it's drawn perfectly.  Kudos to Purcell and Pallot for the detail that doesn't let down.  I know, I shouldn't be looking at the backgrounds, I should be looking at the characters, but I caught myself a few times going, 'Wow, it looks just like that on TV!' I also caught myself thinking, 'Nomad!' but that's being true to the design of TOS. I also want to point out how nice it was to have a Trek comic not laid out in a rigid format as in the past (three horizontal panels per page).  Important scenes demanded bigger pictures, and smaller scenes got smaller panels.  Thank you, Gordon! Overall grade: A  

The colors: Mario Boon is nice fit to Purcell's pencils.  I prefer TOS to be colored like one of the episodes, no matter how neon it looks.  I loved when there was a close up of a character and the space behind them was pink or a soft lime green.  I'm so retro!  Even space isn't black, it's blue and it looks good!  It looked inviting, rather than scary, but then that's the way the story should make it.  Enterprise interiors were silver for the most part and looked great.  This book didn't have an "in-your-face" coloring job, and it shouldn't have.  It fit the book well. Overall grade: A+  

The lettering: Go-to Chris Mowry does his usual good job, with only dialogue (okay, one computer speaking scene) to do.  And there's lots of dialogue to do!  There wasn't a need for sound effects in this issue, but I have a feeling that the end of the issue, as well as the cover for issue #2 will have some sounds.  Overall grade: A+  

The final line: Will TOS fan want this?  Oh yeah.  Will a non-Trek fan understand it.  No problem.  It's not an action oriented issue (that looks to be next month), but it will keep your attention and really want you craving for more.  Overall grade: A