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.
118: IDW Publishing, 2015–2016
IDW’s Star Trek line has frequently returned to the mirror universe, a reality parallel to the main one, introduced in the episode “Mirror, Mirror.” IDW’s earliest stops in that reality occurred in its New Frontier miniseries, followed by issues of both Mirror Images and New Visions. More recently, the company has explored that realm in Mirror Broken, Through the Mirror, Terra Incognita, Succession, Mirrors and Smoke, Hell’s Mirror, and The Mirror War, all of which will be covered in the coming months. No publisher has come close to IDW in terms of comics reflecting on the mirror universe.
Star Trek is a multiverse of infinite realities, and director J.J. Abrams introduced another one in his 2009 film. That reality has come to be called the Kelvin timeline, with the main universe dubbed the prime timeline—and both have been well-mined by IDW. All three realities were featured in issue #30 of IDW’s ongoing Star Trek series (retitled Star Trek: 5-Year Mission), in which the mirror counterpart of the prime James T. Kirk showed up in the Kelvin timeline. Another “evil” reality was introduced in issue #15 of that series: the mirror variation of the Kelvin universe. Every universe, it seems, is mirrored by a darker twin whose denizens flaunt their evil by sporting stylish beards.
This week, we’ll examine another batch of 5-Year Mission, featuring a trio of storylines from writer Mike Johnson and artist Tony Shasteen, including a return to the Kelvin timeline’s mirror reflection. The covers to these seven issues, contributed by Shasteen, Rachael Stott, Lorelei Bunjes, Dan Parent, and Cat Staggs, contained some amusingly out-of-the-box design choices, including a tribute to Archie Comics, along with artwork paying homage to children’s Valentine’s Day cards.
“Deity,” from issues #48–49, is a Prime Directive tale in which Hikaru Sulu violates General Order 1 while leading an away team to study an uncontacted species, using invisibility tech created by Montgomery Scott. The team discovers a peaceful society worshipping an alien spacecraft as a deity, and when an electrical storm interferes with the Starfleet holo-blind, Hikaru and his team are rendered visible at a rather inopportune moment, thereby revealing the existence of extraterrestrials to the natives.
The orbiting deity is not happy about this, as expected, and attacks the Enterprise for interfering with its pets. If this sounds like a familiar setup, that’s understandable, as the plot recalls elements of multiple episodes, including The Animated Series’ “Bem” and The Next Generation’s “Justice” (angry alien deities), as well as “Who Watches the Watchers” and Star Trek: Insurrection (holo-blinds gone awry). That’s not to say the two-parter’s derivative nature is to its detriment, as Johnson is a skilled storyteller and Shasteen’s illustrations are quite striking. But it is a story fans had seen before.
The “Mirror, Mirror” tie-in occurs in issues #50–52, “Live Evil,” in which an ion storm in the Kelvin timeline propels the Enterprise to that reality’s mirror universe. That same phenomenon had caused the prime starship’s personnel to swap places with their mirror counterparts in the episode, making “Live Evil,” in effect, a reimagining of “Mirror, Mirror.” The title has a double meaning, describing the Kelvin crew’s malevolent counterparts, while visually showing the word “live” spelled backwards. This mirror reality, however, is noticeably different from the one on TV, with starship designs and actor likenesses based on those from the 2009 film.
Nyota Uhura sports a pixie haircut. Pavel Chekov sports a Mohawk hairstyle, and he assassinates Sulu and Scotty so he can rise up in the ranks. Leonard McCoy has only one eye, with a horrific scar in place of the missing orb. And Scotty has a mustache, as he did starting in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Meanwhile, Kirk plots with Harcourt Fenton Mudd (“Mudd’s Women”) to retake the Enterprise and murder Spock—whom he shoots right in the face. Oh, and Science Officer 0718 has red eyes instead of blue, because if there’s one thing evil beings like more than beards, it’s red eyes. If a red-eyed being ever grew a beard, the universe would be majorly screwed.
Spock’s mother, Amanda Grayson, has been executed for aiding a resistance movement, with Sarek narrowly avoiding her fate. The comic features a cameo by the counterpart of the Vulcan Science Council’s chief minister, dubbed Orsak in the Star Trek: Rivals collectible card game, who’d insulted Amanda onscreen when Spock had applied to the Vulcan Science Academy. The planet still exists in this reality, though the Terran Empire has terraformed it to replace its deserts with an Earth-like biosphere. That’s unfortunate for the Vulcans… but given Star Trek: Discovery’s revelations about Imperial cuisine, they’re lucky not to be on the dinner menu.
On Ceti Alpha V, where Khan Noonien Singh’s people were exiled in “Space Seed” and rediscovered in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Kelvin crew meets Khan’s mirror counterpart. A man of peace, this Khan leads a benevolent Augment colony and calls himself Singh. This makes sense, as Singh is a Sikh and Punjabi name meaning “brave,” “hero,” or “lion,” and thus would not befit a tyrannical dictator. These Augments have separated themselves from the Empire, wishing to avoid bloodshed and violence, and they keep the Botany Bay hidden in a shielded cave. Despite Kirk’s stubborn refusal to accept Singh as a good man, the latter sacrifices his himself to help the Starfleet crew return to their own reality.
Such personality divergences are what make mirror-universe lore so fascinating. No explanation is provided for why the Augments are all awake and living on Ceti Alpha V without the episode having happened. But Singh looks like Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek: Into Darkness) instead of Ricardo Montalbán (“Space Seed”), so one can assume the events of IDW’s Khan miniseries must have occurred here as well, since that story revealed the Kelvin Khan to have originally looked the same as he did on TV before receiving a newer, whiter face from Section 31’s scientists.
“Live Evil” is the only comic to feature the Kelvin doppelgänger of Harry Mudd (or, at least, his mirror Kelvin alternate), though Mudd’s daughter did show up in Countdown to Darkness, smuggling weapons for a treasonous Robert April. Kirk had confiscated her vessel in that miniseries, and the ship had appeared onscreen in Into Darkness. According to “Live Evil,” Mudd’s mirror Kelvin analogue has an identical ship, which ends up in mirror Kelvin Kirk’s hands when he murders the smuggler after employing his services. No matter the reality, it seems poor Harry’s plans will always end up muddled.
The third arc in this batch is “Reunion,” in issues #53–54. This two-parter provides a background for Gaila, Uhura’s Academy roommate (and Kirk’s manipulated lover) in the 2009 movie, whose brother Kai serves in the Enterprise crew. According to this story, Gaila’s mother Vila leads the Orion Syndicate’s Hexis-Kryse crime family, while her father Kazek, now deceased, had wanted his children to live free of slavery. When Vila had tried to force young Gaila to marry an alien monarch, Kazek had helped the two escape, then had raised them on Earth to protect them from the Syndicate. Tying in with Star Trek: Enterprise’s “Bound,” Kazek had opposed Gaila joining Starfleet out of concern that her female pheromones might overwhelm human males.
Vila finds her offspring fourteen years later. The comic implies Orions in Starfleet to be an oddity, though it should be noted that Orions serve aboard the Enterprise in all three Abrams films, while IDW’s Starfleet Academy miniseries featured numerous Orion cadets as well. As such, finding Orions in Starfleet does not appear to be unusual—at least, not in the Kelvin timeline. Star Trek: Lower Decks has proven that to be true in the prime reality as well, with the stereotype-diverting introduction of D’ Vana Tendi.
This column’s examination of comics set in the Kelvin timeline is nearing its end, with only six more issues of 5-Year Mission to discuss, along with Star Trek: Boldly Go; the rest of IDW’s offerings involve either the prime- or mirror-universe casts. Next week, we’ll look back at one of the publisher’s most intriguing titles set in the prime reality: Star Trek: Waypoint.
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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