Comic Review: Star Trek Countdown #4

This is the final chapter of Star Trek: Countdown, the official prequel to the new movie! If you need to get caught up, check out my reviews of issue 1, issue 2, and issue 3. If not, proceed directly to the review below!


Plot
When we last left our heroes, Nero was going on a rampage, pwning whoever stood in his way. The fleet of General Worf of the Klingon Empire intercepted Nero's ship, the Narada.

In this issue, the Klingons open up on the Narada to no effect. The Narada cloaks itself and to Worf's surprise, opens fire on the Klingon fleet while still cloaked. Worf's fleet is decimated, and Nero demands Worf's surrender. Worf is to hop on a shuttle and come over to the Narada. (Why not have him beam over?) Worf has other plans, though. His crew jump out of the shuttle before the Narada's airlock and cut through the hull for a surprise attack.

Cut to Vulcan where Spock leaves for the Hobus star (which he plans to implode with a black hole created from red matter) piloting the Jellyfish. The Enterprise leaves Vulcan to assist Worf in combating Nero.

Worf infiltrates the bridge of the Narada looking to lay the smack down on Nero personally. Nero has a trick up his sleeve though, and he uses a tail-like weapon of dubious function on his bridge to impale Worf through his back.

The Enterprise arrives on the scene and witnesses the carnage. Nero offers to beam over Worf, who is still holding on to life, if the Enterprise lowers her shields. Captain Data accesses the risks and consents. The Narada does beam over Worf but also opens fire on the Enterprise. The Enterprise restores her shields, but not before the warp engines go offline. Nero gives up the attack (for some reason) and instead plots a course to intercept Spock's Jellyfish. (Wasn't he going to destroy Vulcan?)

Cut to Spock's Jellyfish. Spock shoots red matter into the Hobus star, which then creates a black hole that engulfs the star as planned. Nero arrives on the scene, infuriated that Spock saved the Vulcans but not the Romulans. But they both are trapped in the singularity, which pulls the two ships into a vortex.

The Enterprise arrives on the scene. Picard laments the loss of Spock, but since the Hobus star is no more and the Narada was pulled into the black hole, he believes that the crisis is over. To be continued... in the movies!

What does this tell us about the movie?
We now know that Nero's motive is naked revenge. He blames the Federation and the Vulcans for what happened to his people and wants to cause as much damage to them as possible. We also know that the Jellyfish and the Narada were pulled through a vortex created by the singularity designed to implode the Hobus star, a vortex that will likely propel them both backward through time.

As a side note, I've heard from numerous sources that the rumors of TNG cast being in the new movie have been debunked. Oh well.

Overall: 3.5/5
This issue was pretty cool. There were plot holes large enough to fly a Galaxy-class starship through, but the comic did connect some important dots that lead up to the movie. The whole purpose of prequel comics is to hype up a movie and generate interest, both of which this series did well. Only a little over a month to go! And I think the action figures will be out soon!