An ongoing discussion of how the comics provide prequels, sequels, and tie-ins to the Star Trek episodes and films, soon to be a book from BearManor Media. Click here to view an archive of this article series.
114: IDW Publishing, 2015
When IDW began charting new adventures for J.J. Abrams’ version of the Enterprise crew, portrayed by Chris Pine, Zoe Saldaña, and other impossibly attractive people, the idea was to create a new five-year mission for James T. Kirk and company that would differ from—but often resemble—the 1960s television show. To paraphrase The Firm’s 1987 hit “Star Trekkin’”… it’s Trek, Jim, but not as we know it.
With only a few exceptions, most issues of the ongoing comic, simply titled Star Trek, were scripted by Mike Johnson, with a rotating ballpen of artists covering individual story arcs, some of which reimagined classic episodes. Starting with issue #42, the comic was renamed Star Trek: 5-Year Mission. This week, we’ll examine how issues #41–47 of the renamed reimagining provided prequels, sequels, and tie-ins to onscreen lore.
In the first story arc, illustrated by Cat Staggs, the Enterprise renders aid to a damaged spacecraft piloted by an alien called the Hunter, whose homeworld was murdered by a star-eating organism it calls “Behemoth.” When the entity attacks both ships, Kirk brings the Hunter aboard the Enterprise. The creature engulfs the starship and drains its dilithium, so the Hunter steals a shuttle and destroys Behemoth with antimatter, stranding the starship in unexplored space—all the way in the Delta Quadrant.
Well… maybe it’s the Delta Quadrant. It could be even farther. There’s some confusion on that point, for issue #43 claims the ship ends up there, whereas #44 and 45 amend the destination to the Andromeda Galaxy, then the action moves back to Delta in #46. It’s unclear what behind-the-scenes scenario might have caused this inconsistency, but the Delta Quadrant is in the Milky Way, not Andromeda. It’s all moot anyway, because neither destination seems overly plausible, given that the ship arrives instantaneously despite the enormous distance involved.
Star Trek: Voyager made it clear the Delta Quadrant is 70 years’ travel from Federation space in the 24th century, while “By Any Other Name” established that it would take thousands of years to reach Andromeda via Federation tech in the 23rd, or three centuries with Kelvan modifications (that’s “Kelvan,” as in the empire, not “Kelvin,” like the timeline). Technology in the Kelvin (not Kelvan) reality is more advanced than in the prime universe, yes, but it’s not magic (even if does sometimes seem that way). The idea that a starship could reach the Delta Quadrant or [gasp!] Andromeda within seconds, without a boost from the Traveler, the Caretaker, the Q, a wormhole, a spore drive, a quantum slipstream, or some other form of deus ex warpina, is difficult to swallow.
Be that as it may, the “Behemoth” storyline is otherwise a strong read, and the spaceborne entity recalls a classic tale even though the arc is not presented as an episode reimagining. Behemoth resembles the space amoeba (“The Immunity Syndrome”) in both form and function, other than the fact that it feeds on stars rather than planets, and in the end it is destroyed with an antimatter blast, just like the amoeba was. This may indicate Johnson was drawing a subtle parallel to that episode.
The Kelvin timeline’s Irina Galliulin (“The Way to Eden”) joins the Enterprise crew in issue #41. She and Pavel Chekov had met briefly at the Academy but do not appear to be close, whereas they were ex-lovers in the episode. Here, they become friendly aboard ship, though Irina only appears in two issues before vanishing without further mention. It’s unknown whether a romance blossoms between the two in this reality, but at least this Irina didn’t drop out of the Academy to join space hippies and go around rudely calling people “Herbert.”
Johnson takes the opportunity to develop the Kelvin analogue of Carol Marcus, who is said to have gone into weapons research because she’d considered that field a “boy’s club” she’d wanted to crash (a subtle dig, perhaps, at how Star Trek Into Darkness treated Carol like a sex object for the male gaze). Following her father’s death in Into Darkness, she now considers pursuing her Academy sub-specialty, xenobiology, which she describes as “the genesis and evolution of alien species”—a clever nod at the fact that when we met Carol in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, she was a terraformer with Project: Genesis.
The second arc, illustrated by Claudia Balboni and Tony Shasteen, with Joe Corroney on covers, sees the Enterprise so dilithium-depleted—thanks to Behemoth having scarfed it down like candy—that the journey home will take centuries. A space vessel approaches, and a scavenger, Eurydice, tows the starship to a dilithium source. She secretly plans to betray them, though, because she’s a friendly, helpful space traveler, and that’s what friendly, helpful space travelers do in Star Trek. (Oddly, one cover features Deep Space Nine’s Jadzia Dax, who has no connection to the story.)
Eurydice leads the Enterprise to the Dark Market, a gorgeously rendered galactic trading center on a large asteroid, which would feel right at home in Star Trek: Discovery’s third-season setting, or in Marvel Comics’ Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica spinoffs. She pretends to help Kirk’s crew, but instead sells them to an alien syndicate as payment for her enslaved daughter Thalia. Thankfully, this scavenger has a conscience, unlike most, and she helps them escape, bidding Kirk farewell with a kiss. The Eurydice arc is among the title’s most enjoyable, though it contains no direct episode tie-ins, so there’s not much else to say for the purpose of this column.
Contrasting that is the third arc, which reimagined “The Tholian Web.” Rachael Stott provided interior artwork, while Corroney and Derek Charm contributed covers. This story retools the Tholians for the Kelvin timeline, updating the design of their vessels and energy webs. Commander Loskene commands a Tholian fleet, as on TV, and this time he declares the Assembly and the Federation to be in a state of war. Whereas the reimagined Gorns proved lackluster in prior chapters and in the video game, the Kelvin Tholians are effectively menacing, so it’s a shame little has been done with them outside this storyline.
The Enterprise enters an interphase pocket, a phenomenon depicted in “The Tholian Web” and its Star Trek: Enterprise sequel/prequel, “In a Mirror, Darkly,” in which parallel universes overlap due to a breakdown in the fabric of space. A resultant loss of molecular cohesion causes the crew to act irrationally, mirroring Chekov’s crazed screaming in the episode. As a result, Montgomery Scott and Hikaru Sulu commandeer the ship and separate its primary and saucer sections, recalling Kevin Riley’s actions in “The Naked Time” and Wesley Crusher’s in “The Naked Now.”
Due to interphase sickness, Lieutenant O’Neill (“The Return of the Archons” and “The Tholian Web”) goes insane and accuses Kirk of not having what it takes to command a starship. As with issues #9–10, the character’s name is here misspelled with two L’s, a confusion of two similarly named crewmembers from The Original Series (the two-L’d O’Neill died in “The Galileo Seven”). Since O’Neil (one L) appeared in “The Tholian Web,” this is clearly meant to be that character, despite the spelling. It’s a minor point, granted, but that’s how Star Trek fans roll. So do Stargate fans.
Keenser, Scotty’s diminutive assistant in the Abrams films, gets some of the best scenes, as he knocks Scotty unconscious with a wrench when the chief engineer separates the ship, then works with Nyota Uhura to save everyone. Later, the quiet Roylan and Kirk share refreshments in the mess hall, where Keenser is amusingly silent as his captain fumbles awkwardly to make small talk. The scene may not be very William Shatner-like, but it absolutely befits Chris Pine’s take on the character, and it’s funny.
The Kelvin timeline has dominated recent columns, and next week will be no different. We’ll explore the publisher’s Starfleet Academy miniseries, one of Mike Johnson’s most engaging tales in that reality, bringing us up to 2016—and that means we’re about to catch up with Star Trek: Beyond. Like Krall, I’m counting on it.
Looking for more information about Star Trek comics? Check out these resources:
- My ongoing column for Titan Books’ Star Trek Explorer magazine
- The Complete Star Trek Comics Index, curated by yours truly
- The Star Trek Comics Checklist, by Mark Martinez
- The Wixiban Star Trek Collectables Portal, by Colin Merry
- New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, by Joseph F. Berenato (Sequart, 2014)
- Star Trek: A Comics History, by Alan J. Porter (Hermes Press, 2009)
- The Star Trek Comics Weekly page on Facebook
Rich Handley has written, co-written, co-edited, or contributed to dozens of books, both fiction and non-fiction, about Planet of the Apes, Watchmen, Back to the Future, Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Stargate, Dark Shadows, The X-Files, Twin Peaks, Red Dwarf, Blade Runner, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman, the Joker, classic monsters, and more. He has also been a magazine writer and editor for nearly three decades. Rich edited Eaglemoss’s Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection, and he currently writes articles for Titan’s Star Trek Explorer magazine, as well as books for an as-yet-unannounced role-playing game. Learn more about Rich and his work at richhandley.com.
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