Star Trek: Year Five #7 - IDW Publishing

STAR TREK: YEAR FIVE No. 7, November 2019

It is arguably clear from their screenplay for Issue Seven of “Star Trek: Year Five” that Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly both enjoy “a lifelong passion” for the science fiction television programme created by Gene Roddenberry, and “take any opportunity to rewatch The Original Series.” For despite their storyline’s sheer grandeur probably having far more in common with the franchise’s big budget silver screen adventures than its syndicated Sixties escapades, this twenty page periodical’s plot still contains plenty of nostalgic nods to the show’s yesteryears; “What are ye doin’ to my ship!? Every lick of power we had has vanished, our dilithium is inert. It’s like our momentum just got consumed whole!”

In addition, the collaborative duo also seem to place far more reverence upon the character of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s skipper than some writers have in the past, portraying him as “the kind of introspective commander Kirk could be” rather than simply lampooning the Starfleet officer “as a swaggering sexy alpha male”. This sensitivity to those under the youngest Federation Captain’s command proves particularly engaging when the Constitution-class starship falls prey to a Tholian Web whilst under the control of Lieutenant Sulu, and so to restore Hikaru’s depleted confidence James not only takes the helmsman with him on a mission to explore “a second ship of unknown origin”, but assures the demoralised former physicist that he’ll never let the Iowan down by “standing by my side, as we risk out lives for strangers who may or may not already be dead.”

This intriguing team-up of Kirk and Sulu really is the highlight of this publication, especially as the pair quickly don the eye-catching environmental suits designed by William Ware Theiss and subsequently attempt a risky space-jump across to an alien vessel. Admittedly, the suggestion that a spacecraft could be populated by a race of humanoid fish-people who willingly consume their dead as an act of “survival” is debatably a little disconcerting, yet Ayal of the I’qosa, with all his rationalisations regarding “vital nutrients”, still makes for a fascinating member of this comic’s supporting cast.

Ultimately however, this book relies upon the excellent storyboards of Stephen Thompson for its moderately-sized success, with the Bayside-born illustrator’s double-splash of Tholia, the capital of the Tholian Assembly, at the start of this book really setting an impressive example of the immense proportions the “non-humanoid hermaphroditic species” can achieve if blessed with a long existence. Coupled with an excellent life-like depiction of actor William Shatner as Kirk, as well as a fantastic Andy Warhol-inspired piece of ‘pop art’ involving Spock mind-melding with Bright Eyes, this magazine is genuinely a feast for the eyes.

Writers: Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly, and Artist: Stephen Thompson