Comic Book Review: Star Trek Countdown #1

Big movie events these days often have a comic series that serves as a prequel (read: teaser) for the movie. Such was the case with Transformers, and with the new Star Trek movie set to be released in May, we now have this Star Trek: Countdown series.  This comic is apparently an attempt to form a connection between the time period of The Next Generation and that of the new movie.   Beware... spoilers follow!


Art: 3/5
I'm pretty harsh on Star Trek artists because the art should be directly representative of the actual Star Trek actors. The artist of this book, David Messina, does an okay job. There are a few frames that are particularly nice, but a few are overly simplistic and flat. Not a bad job, and better than average when it comes to IDW Star Trek artists, but not quite what it should be.

Dialog: 2.5/5
The dialog is clunky in parts, with cheesy, uncharacteristic slang. One Romulan tells another, "Get your ass up here!". Hm... not very Star Trek if you ask me.

Plot: 4/5
Okay, this is the most important category because the whole reason to read this comic is to glean some useful information about the movie.

The plot of the comic takes place some years after TNG. The totalitarian government of Romulus has eased, and Spock is now a legal and public resident working towards peace between Romulus and Vulcan (remember the Unification storyline?). But alas, Star Trek just isn't Star Trek without space anomalies, and this time there's a weird star adjacent to Romulus that's about to blow. The kick is that this anomaly is powerful enough to destroy the entire Romulan Empire. Spock comes up with a solution: create a black hole to engulf the anomaly (which seems like a supremely bad idea that would create more problems than it would solve to me, but I'll work with it). The Romulan Senate doesn't trust Spock and balks at the idea. Nero (the villain in the new movie) has seen the star in action and is determined to help, even if it means leaving behind his pregnant wife.  He takes Spock with him aboard his mining vessel to get the materials required to make the black hole. But Remans (of Nemesis fame) attack!  In the end, the Enterprise E suddenly appears to save the day... captained by Data himself!

The story moves along pretty well and has a pretty good Star Trek-esque MacGuffin in the star anomaly.  I like the inclusion of the Remans, too:  they're a species that I always wanted to learn more about.  But Data's return from the dead (remember, he died in Nemesis) needs explaining.  And any explanation will most likely suck.  Regardless, it was a pretty cool storyline and I'm eager to read more.

So what clues does this comic give us about the movie?
Usually prequel comics are as non-comittal as possible, so most of this comic will probably have no bearing on the movie.  I suspect the MacGuffin will stay the same:  the star will probably destroy either the Romulan Empire or Nero's wife (or both), driving him to try to stop the formation of the star in the past.  But Spock's on to him and realizes he has to stop him.  Or, maybe Spock's insane black hole plan is what destroys the Empire, and Nero tries to kill him in the past so that Spock will never implement the plan in the first place.

Beyond that is anyone's guess.  But keep in mind that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who wrote the movie, also wrote this comic. So maybe there's more relevance in it than I think.

Overall: 3.5/5
This was a good start to the upcoming Star Trek fanaticism. Pick up Star Trek: Countdown #1 at your local comic shop soon... it looks like they're selling like hotcakes!