Star Trek: Boldly Go volume
1 collects the first six issues of IDW's new Kelvin timeline series.
Although there's no particular reason this series couldn't have
simply carried on from the previous ongoing series, Boldly
Go specifically continues the
story of Kirk and crew after the main events of Star Trek
Beyond, leading up to the launch
of the new USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A
seen at the very end of that movie. In this respect, it's similar to
how DC published strips in the 1980s that showed events between The
Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock and
The Voyage Home, where
Kirk took command of the Excelsior.
Like this, Boldly Go may
find itself contradicted and rendered irrevocably apocryphal if, and
when, a fourth Abramsverse movie is released.
Issues
1 - 4
Issue
1 sees Kirk taking temporary command of the USS Endeavour
on a year-long mission of exploration. Bones is there too, having
taken a role reduction to assistant chief medical officer so that he
can continue to serve under his friend, and Chekov is manning
engineering and the transporter bay. The remaining core crew have
gone in separate directions, which is entirely plausible. Sulu has
been promoted to commander and is first officer aboard the USS
Concord, while Scotty
is lecturing at Starfleet Academy. Meanwhile, Spock and Uhura have
taken a sabbatical, in order to assist Sarek with the founding of the
new Vulcan Science Academy on New Vulcan.
The
first four issues comprise a single story, which sees the Concord
encounter an alien threat that Starfleet is unprepared to meet.
Although it's delivered as a big shocking cliffhanger, it's no big
surprise who the aliens are, but if you have managed to avoid this
reveal and want to remain unspoiled, stop reading now. Needless to
say, the Concord is
carved up by the aggressor, the bulk of its crew captured, including
Sulu's husband and daughter, giving him a particularly personal stake
in the story. Also captured is the commanding officer of the Concord,
Captain Terrell, who, twenty years later in another reality, commands
the Reliant on The
Wrath of Khan. Terrell, it
seems, is not a lucky captain in any timeline.
So,
without beating about the bush any further, the aggressors are the
Borg, somewhat beefed up but immediately recognisable and reliably
insisting that resistance really is rather futile. If anything, it's
a surprise that the Borg took so long to turn up in the Kelvin
timeline comics; indeed, I wondered if they were being held back for
a movie appearance. While it's another example of recycling older
ideas for the new timeline, seeing Kirk and crew take on the Borg is
irresistible. Spock and Uhura are brought back in in order to analyse
the Borg and their language, something that's slightly contrived
considering the Borg have never had any trouble making themselves
understood before. However, it works, and the story builds in
intensity with each chapter, as the Borg make way to Romulus, putting
Kirk in a very dangerous position politically. For those wondering
why Romulus is high on the Borg's agenda, it has to do with the
Narada, and the
revelations about its nature that IDW previously established in the
Countdown and Nero
miniseries.
Although
this is a story that relies heavily on established elements, it also
introduces one fascinating new character. Commander Valas, first
officer of the Endeavour,
is a Romulan, raised on Earth by dissidents who fled the Empire.
She's an intriguing character, coming across as a more impulsive yet
still emotionally restrained officer than Spock, and her presence
adds another complication to the interactions with the Star Empire.
Mike
Johnson provides a strong, gripping story that promises repurcussions
in future issues, and Tony Shasteen's artwork is excellent, with some
fine likeness of the actors and dynamic space action. The Borg Sphere
looks especially imposing as it carves up ships and outposts in
pursuit of its mission. There are some nice character touches – the
head of the Vulcan Academy appears to be played by Judi Dench! -
although there's one notable slip-up by the colourists that make it
appear, at one point, that Spock has red blood. The story also
displays the same flaw as the Enterprise episode
“Regeneration,” in that, even in this more advanced timeline,
it's hard to credit how rapidly an earlier ship is able to take down
a Borg vessel.
Issues
5 & 6
Issue
5 continues with the same creative team, but tells a much slighter,
although effective story. The issue is given over entirely to the
character of Jaylah, currently studying at Starfleet Academy. It's a
very dialogue-light story, but uses an unusual storytelling style,
playing events in reverse as we explore the alien woman's backstory,
on Altamid and before. The story seems a little detached in this
volume, but sets up further appearances of Jaylah in future comics.
Issue
6 follows on from the Borg story, with Sulu recovering from the near
loss of his family and ready to take on another posting. The Kelvin
timeline's version of the Babel Conference is in its planning stages,
here involving the Romulans and held in response to the Borg
incursion. However, the storyline is mostly a standalone adventure in
which the Endeavour encounters
a white hole, a previously unverified phenomenon with unknown and
unpredictable effects. What follows sees two junior crewmembers
acting against the ship for reasons that become clear. It's a brief
but effective story that relies on that old Star Trek
staple, the godlike alien race
who decide to observe a primitive human crew. This issue is written
by Ryan Parrott, and has artwork by Chris Mooneyham, who provides a
fairly old-fashioned, perhaps classic style of comics art that makes
the crew look especially dashing. It's a strong closing story that
gives hints to future events in a series that has some considerable
promise.
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