By GustavoLeao / 00:40, 19 March 2009 / Trek Books

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Star Trek: Crew #1

Review by Patrick Hayes aka PatBorg

The covers: John Byrne is doing another Trek series, and as a Trek fan, the world is much happier place for its existance.  The "regular" cover has an Enterprise silhouette with Number One under phaser attack by an unknown assailant.  It gets your attention and tells you what to expect from this book.  The "Retailer Incentive Sketch" cover is the same, but uncolored, so that you can see Byrne's pencils.  It's okay.  It's Byrne art, and the closest I'll come to having pencil work by him, so how could anyone complain?  I will.  With the recent passing of Majel Barrett Roddenberry, I had hoped that this issue would have a photo cover of her from "The Cage."  Okay, it might have been too soon to publication to schedule it, but maybe as a possible option by the final issue?  Overall grade: Regular A+ and RIS A.

The story: "Shakedown" is written by John Byrne.  The best compliment I can give to this book is that it made me want to watch its source material as soon as I was done.  This feels like original Trek.  I found myself smiling at a comic book, happy at what I and the characters were going through.  It makes you want to rewatch those early episodes.  And I'm going to watch "The Cage" after I'm done with this review.  The "nameless" Number One goes on board the Enterprise for the first time, and I smiled as much as she did.  Page 1 has dialogue that takes you back forty years to the future.  I'll talk about Pages 2 and 3 in the art review.  Page 4 brings the return (entrance ?) of Dr. Boyce.  He's got that McCoy gruff without the southern charm.  Page 5 has a nice "throwaway" bit of dialogue that came back to haunt me for not paying attention: I love when this happens in a comic.  Not that I value being proven an unobservant reader, but that the story has no excess or fluff in it--everything is stated for a reason.  That's the sign of a good writer!  So, not spoiling the remainder of the book: Page 6 had a nickname that made me beam!  Page 7 has, again, no excess or fluff--so pay attention!  Page 8 a creative, and disturbing, discovery.  The hazards of this technology aren't brought up enough in TOS, so this was great to see.  Page 9 finally got me to go, "Why isn't anyone listening?"  Page 10 has a medical autopsy that left me cringing!  And when Page 11 kicked the story into high gear I was completely on board.  The speed at which the action progresses on Pages 12 and 13 was frightening, and it made me guess as to who was responsible.  Page 14 confirmed my guesses, and, now, giggling at the story's possibilities.  Page 15 was graphic enough to stop my glee, yet familiar enough to think Star Trek VI.  Pages 17 and 1 8 confirmed for me why certain individuals gain rank in Starfleet.  The final page, 22, had me thinking, "It's going to happen!  It's finally going to be stated!"  But, no, Byrne, you tease, it wasn't coming.  Was I disappointed in that?  Yeah.  Did it detract from the comic?  Not at all.  This is a complete story that will tell you what forthcoming issues will be like.  It's different from other Trek series in that it's not (at least I'm assuming) a five issue story.  You can jump in or out whenever you like.  But how would any fan not want to continue this ride?  If you like Trek, you're really going to be really pleased.  Overall grade: A+ 

The art: Byrne again.  Every panel works.  Even size-wise.  Look at Page 1: an introduction to the setting, then an introduction to the rookies, a focus on our protagonist, a shot of some veterans, a ship in flight that focuses setting, a return to the rookies, and then a look of joy on Number One.  And what is that joy?  Pages 2 and 3.  Those pages make love to that ship like Robert Wise did in The Motion Picture.  A tour of the ship commences from several angles, with a focus on Sick Bay.  Page 6 has the old speaking to the new, again reminding me a film--Wrath of Khan.  Page 7, Byrne loves the Enterprise.  I could hear the music.  And Engineering!  That's the shot that was always in the show!  I missed Scotty being there, but it's before his time.  Enterprise loving continues on Pages 9 and 10.  I also want to jump about a bit and say h ow much I like the "tiny" shots of the Enterprise in space, such as at the bottom of 9 and the middle of 16.  Notice how on Page 11 the image on the screen parallels the reality below it--great setup!  Pages 12 and 13 become tilted to match the action taking place.  And I know those aliens on 14 only looked that way for three years, but, dammit!, that's how I first think of them whenever their name comes up!  And when they're screaming at the bottom of Page 20 I felt the urgency!  All that was missing was a Kirby finger pointing at me, though actually at the monitor.  And that final panel on 22...you could have put the credits at the end of it (Maybe Chris Ryall's name over Balok's picture, rather than Herbert F. Solow's).  The way the art was executed just made the story feel even more like a lost episode.  Overall grade: A+

The colors: Mario Boon lights this issue up fantastically.  It's not a dark story, so it's not as dark as Star Trek: Countdown, until things start to go bad.  Everything is bright until the conspiracy is revealed, and then the harsh colors of phaser fire and explosions take over.  And when the Enterprise is damaged and all goes Red Alert, it all goes red!  I loved the red--it increased the tension, and highlighted sections of the ship that Number One goes to that have no power.  And when that phaser is used on Page 19, I felt like I was watching an episode, yet again!  Boon compliments the story and the art well.  Overall grade: A+

The letters: Neil Uyetake doing nothing but dialogue, and doing it well.  I'll whine briefly: no sound effects on Enterprise in space, phasers, or space battles, blah, blah, blah.  Overall grade: A

Overall grade: I felt like I did when I first discovered Star Trek in the early 1970s.  If you like the orginal series, you're going to like this.  Thank you, John Byrne and everyone else!  Overall grade: A+