Star Trek: Countdown #2 - IDW Publishing

STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN No. 2, February 2009

It would be interesting to know just how much thought Roberto Orci put into this mini-series’ storyline, considering that the “Mexican-American film and television screenwriter” apparently scribed this “official prequel” simply to appease the ever-badgering Anthony Pascale, editor of "TrekMovie.com". For whilst this particular twenty-two page long instalment contains a modicum of excitement in its inclusion of a single-panel starship battle and equally swift karate chop on board the Narada, it’s tremendously wordy narrative genuinely seems to go out of its way to re-jig the cataclysmic conclusion of the 2002 film “Star Trek: Nemesis” and hardly seems to encompass the sort of fiery pace one would expect for a plot which is based upon a planet-destroying cosmic threat…

Indeed, the comic’s declaration that the Soong-type android B-4 is the current Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise alone was probably enough to cause consternation amongst the majority of this title’s 11,357 readers, and not even the later assertion that somehow Data’s neural nets were successfully imprinted upon his predecessor’s “existing programming” can entirely overshadow the sense that the Lieutenant Commander’s noble sacrifice during the destruction of the Scimitar has been horribly disrespected. Little wonder therefore that the filmmaker would later go on and state that he was in no position to declare whether the "Countdown" comic series was canonical or not.

However, this edition’s biggest problem is that its basic premise makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. If Romulus is about to be destroyed by an “impending supernova”, why would Nero, Spock or Data waste precious time plodding across the galaxy in order to speak directly to the Vulcan Science Council? Why don’t they simply contact the agency of the Vulcan High Command via a communication channel? Surely, even if their plan to thwart the exploding Hobus Star necessitated a trip to drill for Decalithium, they could still discuss the Federation Ambassador’s plan with his home planet, and have plenty of time remaining with which to help evacuate the Star Empire’s populace? 

Disappointingly, David Messina’s lack-lustre pencilling only sadly adds to this magazine’s aura of oppressive lethargy. Whether the Italian is sketching Nero furtively searching the Enterprise’s data banks for knowledge about James Tiberius Kirk, the Imperial Science Council realising that the “senile [half] Vulcan was right”, or Ambassador Jean Luc Picard discussing the possibility of converting Decalithium into Red Matter, all the figures appear disconcertingly wooden, emotionless and two-dimensional.

Story: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman, and Writers: Mike Johnson & Tim Jones