Star Trek Magazine – July 2019

revealsthata promotiontoadmiral
awaitshimat theendofthemission,
andgloomilywonderswhohe’llbe
withouttheEnterprise(a nicenod
theretoStarTrek:The MotionPicture
andStarTrekII:The Wrathof Khan).
Allthisis helpedimmenselyby
artistStephenThompson(ablyassisted
bycoloristCharlieKirchoff), whobrings
theEnterprisecrewto lifewithrestrained

hatchinganddramaticposing,managing

tomakeeventhestanding-around-

and-talkingsceneslookinteresting.

TheEnterprise, too,looksfabulous:

detailedandconvincing,despiteit

being,as Kirkputsit,“nowancient

byfleetwidestandards.”

Followingthehypergiantcrisis,

themainplotintheseinitialissues

concernstheperenniallyhostile

Tholians.TheEnterprisereceivesa

distresscallfroma Tholiancolony

onnearbyLloydZeta-9,butwhen

theshiparrives,mostof theTholians

arealreadydead.The onlysurvivoris

a Tholianchild,butwhenthelanding

partybringsthechildonboardthe

Enterprise, theshipis attackedbya

vesselfromtheTholianAssembly,

whodemandtheyhandtheirpassenger

over.It seemsit wastheTholian

Assemblyitselfthatattackedthecolony

• andit won’trestuntilit hasthechild.
  Kirk’sinsistencethatthechild
  shouldremainontheEnterprise
  becauseit wouldn’tbesafeonthe
  Tholianvesselmeetswithstiff
  resistancefromBonesandSpock,
  bothofwhomquestionthewisdom
  ofhisactions– especiallysincethe
  Tholianshavealreadykilledhalfa
  dozencrewmembers.Later,Kirk
  revealshisreasonstothecreatureitself,
  relatingtheincidentfromhisown
  childhoodonTarsusIV,whenhalfthe
  8,000-strongcolonywasmurdered
  bythegovernor.“I knowwhatit’s
  liketobebetrayedbythosewhoare
  supposedtoprotectyou,”hetellsthe
  child,promisingthathewon’tletthe
  Tholianstakeit.Evidently,forKirk,
  thisis personal.
  It’sthiskindofsolidcharacter
  work– drawingoneverythingwe’ve
  gleanedaboutKirk,Spock,Bones,
  andtherestofthecrewacrossthree
  seasonsoftheoriginalseries– that
  liftsYearFiveabovethestandardStar
  Tr e kcomicsfare.Here,themany
  callbackstoclassicepisodesand
  situations– SpockquotingKirk’s
  “Riskis ourbusiness”speechfrom
  “ReturntoTomorrow”;Kirkquoting
  Bones’“Don’tdestroytheonecalled
  Kirk”wordsfrom“BalanceofTerror”


• aren’tsimplytheretoprovidea
  joltofnostalgia:they’redeployed
  toreinforcethesenseofcharacter,
  tounderpinthereasonswhythe
  protagonistsdothethingstheydo.
  The netresultis thatStar
  Trek:YearFivefeelsincredibly
  authentic,aboutas closeas you
  cangettowatchingnewepisodes
  oftheoriginalseries.Praisefora
  StarTrekcomicdoesn’tcomemuch
  higherthanthat.Ontopofwhich,
  there’sthattantalizingfirst-pagetease
  toberesolvedat somepointdown
  theline.Brilliantstuff.

NICKJONES

01 Greg

Hildebrandt’s

cover for Year

Five #1...

02 ...and

Stephen

Thompson’s

cover for #2.

03 The first

page of Year

Five #1.

04 Stephen

Thompson’s

spectacular

take on the

Enterprise.

03

04

COMICS