Star Trek: Boldly Go #11 - IDW Publishing

STAR TREK: BOLDLY GO No. 11, August 2017

Strongly influenced by the background to the January 1969 “Star Trek” television story "Whom Gods Destroy", this first instalment of a two-parter closely follows the decorated career of starship captain Garth of Izar from his utilisation of the Cochrane Deceleration Manoeuvre at the Battle of Axanar, through to his ‘terminal’ transporter accident on the planet Antos IV. Indeed, in many ways the opening quarter to Mike Johnson’s script for Issue Eleven of “Star Trek: Boldly Go”, with perhaps the notable exception of a scene involving cadet Kirk asking to accompany the highly regarded officer aboard the U.S.S. Heisenberg “for the semester”, actually plays out as something of a visualised prelude to the classic original series episode.

Unfortunately for this book’s 6,963 readers though, once the author’s storyline stops following the exploits of “the Hero of Axanar” and veers off into unprecedented territory, the comic’s previously compelling narrative quickly unwinds into a mess of lazy coincidences, lack-lustre writing, and an intimate knowledge of this “IDW Publishing” title’s predecessor “Star Trek: Ongoing”. It certainly appears a little odd that even if “you can find out anything you want to know for the right price”, the adolescent Thalia is not only able to deduce which Federation Starfleet vessel James Kirk is currently commanding, but also learn of its precise location; “I’ll worry about leaks of classified Starfleet data later.” 

Equally as disconcerting is Johnson’s use of the Antosian custom “to [only] meet with a single representative before inviting more strangers down to their planet.” This rigid protocol inadvertently contributes to Garth’s untimely demise “three years ago”, yet is conveniently overridden by the anxious Endeavour’s captain in order to allow him and Eurydice’s daughter to transport straight down to the planet. To make the plot’s inconsistencies worse, the duo are even met on the landing podium by second chair Xegh-Ky of the Antosian Mercantile Authority, whereas the former fleet captain was apparently alone when he died, despite him actually following the alien culture’s convention to the letter.  

Unhappily, Megan Leven’s pencilling probably doesn’t help this rather poorly-penned pedantic piece either, as the advertising story-boarder’s cartoon-like style sometimes struggles to promote any sense of seriousness to the proceedings, even when it’s depicting Garth being literally stripped asunder within a teleportation beam as his bio-signature is lost. The illustrator’s clean-lined technical style is however rather more suited to the portrayal of young cheeky-faced, bright-eyed children, which considering young Thalia’s pivotal role within this comic’s second act, is presumably why she’s the edition’s artist.

Writer: Mike Johnson, Art: Megan Levens, and Colors: Marissa Louise