Getting to 500 issues in the modern comic industry, especially when titles are relaunched/canceled/rebooted on a whim, is no mean feat. But it’s a feat that IDW Publishing has pulled off with its Star Trek title, which hits its 500th issue this week. Star Trek #500 takes a page from the previous milestone Star Trek #400 and has a collection of stories, each one set in a different era of Trek history.
The first story is “I Knew You Were Tribble When You Walked In”, which takes place during the classic Star Trek episode “The Trouble With Tribbles”…only from the POV of a Tribble! If you’re asking how that works, ask Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt – they manage to dive into the Tribble’s inner thoughts which contain some…rather forward thoughts about Captain Kirk. (Because would it really be an Original Series episode if an alien wasn’t attracted to Kirk?) Yet it takes a whimsical tone toward the end, a sign of how Blum and Oswalt can balance the funny with the heartbreaking. Leonard Kirk’s artwork perfectly replicates scenes from “The Trouble with Tribbles”, and a full page is dedicated to the “greatest hits” of the original series.
The next two stories, “Yesterday’s Shadows” and “The Unexpected Mentor”, take different turns but are perhaps some of the best stories contained within this narrative. “Yesterday’s Shadows”, by Jody Houser, Vernon Smith & Charlie Kirchoff, takes place after the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, as La’an Noonien Singh struggles to cope with her memories of the timeline she was thrust into. La’an is my favorite character on Strange New Worlds and Houser’s script perfectly captures the grief she’s dealing with, and how she’s trying to live with it. Smith takes a unique approach to the art, drawing moments from “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” that are juxtaposed with the present day and colored in sepia tone by Kirchoff to hammer in the time difference.
IDW Publishing
“The Unexpected Mentor” is a tale set in the Star Trek: Discovery era by Stephanie Williams, Tench, and JP Jordan that follows Michael Burnham on a rescue mission. True to its title, it shows her rescuing – and even inspiring – an alien child. Williams’s script is a showcase for how different eras of Trek can inspire people differently; I grew up on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, so who’s to say someone won’t grow up inspired by Discovery? Tench’s artwork not only captures the 32nd century in all its glory, but also gives life to a new alien race in the process.
The other standout stories would have to be “What’s A Q To You?” by Morgan Hampton, Megan Levens and Kirchoff which focuses on Q Junior, or “QJ”, from Sons of Star Trek and shows what happens when a Q gets sick. The answer: the fourth wall takes a beating that would make Deadpool blush. “The Final Masterpiece” by current Star Trek writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, Star Trek: Defiant‘s Christopher Cantwell, Davide Tinto and Lee Loughridge serves as prelude to an upcoming Star Trek comic event – but the villain it focuses on is definitely a surprise.
Star Trek #500 is not perfect. While I liked “Go See Cal!” by Magdalene Visaggio and Megan Huang, it’s definitely tailored toward fans of Star Trek: Lower Decks so readers’ tastes may vary. Likewise, “Latinum Glove” by Mike Chen, Angel Hernandez and Nick Filardi will probably only make sense if you read the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Dog of War one-shot. But that’s the beauty of Star Trek: it’s a series that’s had multiple incarnations, and something that’s appealed to fans across the world. That appeal could probably carry it for 500 more issues, if IDW keeps up this streak.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login