By
GustavoLeao /
11:02, 21 January 2012 /
Trek Books
Star Trek Ongoing #5
Reviewed by Patrick Hayes
The covers: I cannot praise Tim Bradstreet enough
for the wonderful covers he's been doing for this series. Even though
they're "Regular" on the Cover Checklist, I'd say they've been more
"Extraordinary." This cover, with colors provided by Grant Goleash, are
another excellent job. Kirk in the delta shield, McCoy to the left, and
...something with filaments to his right. Below is the Enterprise.
I've lavished over the art, but Goleash's contributions should also be
recognized: The yellows make each tendril of those filaments extra eerie
against the black of space, and above is a red mist descending to
envelope all. The only source of light or hope? The Enterprise below, naturally! (Dear Editor Scott Duniber, please make the covers, all of them,
available as a set of prints!) Cover RI A is Bradstreet's efforts
without Goleash. I haven't really been wowed by these covers, until they
finally started trickling into my local comic book store. Now that I've
seen them, in person, I'm snatching them up every chance I get. Have
you been thinking that these covers are the work of a photoscanned
"lazy" artist? Find one, take a look at the wonder of it all, and then
quickly pick your jaw off the floor. They, too, are fantastic! This
issue is Kirk-centric, so the RI B Photo Cover is a perfect choice: Kirk
in the Big Chair waiting for information. Sweet! Ladies and Gentlemen,
this was a very good month in covers. Overall grades: All A+
The story: "Operation: Annihilate, Part 1" comes
from writer Mike Johnson, based on the original teleplay "Operation:
Annihilate" by Oliver Crawford and Steven W. Carabatsos, with Roberto
Orci as Creative Consultant. When I first heard this story would be
ReTreked I thought, "Flying pancakes!" It's a great story with a nifty
antagonist (antagonists?), but when they go flying, admit it, you wish
there was outtake footage with audio. What could possibly be the new
spin on this outing? Two words: Iowa. Before. A missing sequence from
the new film shows the ramifications of Kirk's unsuccessful trip with
his uncle's car. Page 2's scene between Kirk and his mother has the best
line not found in the film: Regarding why his older brother George left, James responds, "He said he couldn't be a Kirk in
this house." It's only Page 2 and that line sent a shiver down my
spine. Mom's response, "...You need to stay in your room," finds the
sullen child staring at the night sky, prompting him to climb out his
bedroom window (located on the second story of the house) and sit on the
roof to gaze at the twinkling beyond. George has escaped horizontally,
James will go vertically. Page 4 brings the reader to "Now." A Denevan
shuttle is heading into its sun, after Spock has found that a pattern of
mass insanity has been progressing systematically through several
systems, with Deneva its newest focus. After the conclusion of the
shuttle's trip, a five man crew beams down to Deneva to investigate.
Their arrival elicits an odd meeting, to say the least, and an encounter
with a woman intensifies the impending threat. Page 15 reveals the
source of everyone's ills, and Page 16 introduces the problem that Part 2
of this story will have to solve. So, you ask, nothing else new under
the Denevan sun to this ReTrek? Page 22 will have you cursing the gods
that you have to wait 30 days for the conclusion. I want to buy everyone
a drink for this story. Absolutely awesome! Overall grade: A+
The art: I went into this issue biased to the work
of Joe Corroney. I have liked his covers for years, but hadn't seem
much of his interior work. With this book I have learned that Corroney
is not just a canvas artist, but can masterfully produce the interiors.
The Iowa pages are winners (and try not to titter in glee as you
recognize the final ship on the mobile in his room), though I would have
loved to see the uncle drawn as Greg Grunberg, since he was that
character in the film (in voice only) and is J.J.'s "lucky charm". The
layout for Page 3 in perfect, and the transition to Page 4 only enhances
it, with the contrast of Kirk looking at the stars on 3 and then being in
them on 4--Brilliant!. Page 5, panel one, rings of the Shat's posturing
on the bridge--Heck, yeah! Page 7 has a transporter effect similar to
that of the film--Hooray! The return of the away team belts--Yes! And
the detail Corroney provides--Yee Gods! No panels, scanners, viewers,
buttons, toggles, or bolts seem to be missing on the bridge or the
planet's surface. Page 14, panel four, made me pause at the wonderful
emotion conveyed. And the "problem" that occurs to one of the crew
members on Page 16, it's new, yet looks so Wally Wood/EC Comics cool, I
fell in love with this tweak. And Page 22--Darn! I don't know how long
it took Corroney to draw this book, but it was worth it! Any chance of
dropping covers to do only interiors, Joe? Overall grade: A+
The colors: This story starts at a low point for
James Kirk, and the colors are reflective of that and the sunset: Pale
browns, peaches, and ambers. The brightly multicolored stars provide the
only hope for the future starship captain, until the bright coloring of
those stars, blues, whites, and oranges, surround him in the "Now",
showing that he's achieved his dreams. Once on the planet and a threat
appears, the colors get darker and dimmer: Browns, greys, and blacks.
The enemy of the story is a brightly colored menace, unaware or
indifferent, of its effects on others. John Rauch, thank you, so much,
for your efforts! Overall grade: A+
The letters: I've picked on many letterers for
lack of sound effects: One of the perks that comics have is their
ability to create sounds for the readers. In fact, I often wish that
letterers would take it upon themselves to be Onomatopoeiasts instead.
Neil Uyetake goes there, because once we're one Deneva every phaser
blast had a sound like an arrow to my heart! And this makes, by no
means, little of the excellent dialogue, transporters, hydrospray,
yells, screams, or cans (you'll just have to get to Page 20 to
understand that last one). Thank you, Neil. Overall grade: A+
The final line: I can see someone new to Trek
reading this and then asking a Trek know-it-all, "I didn't know that
Kirk had a _______. What happened to ___?" And the Trek know-it-all has
to respond, "I don't know. This is new to me, too." No one is
excluded from this story by the overwhelming history of Star Trek. We're
all in this one, together. Newbie or Trek know-it-all, you haven't seen
this before, but you'll really want to. The final grade: A+
