Star Trek: Year Five #16 - IDW Publishing

STAR TREK: YEAR FIVE No. 16, October 2020

On paper the prospect of publishing a twenty-page periodical featuring Gary Seven and Harcourt Fenton Mudd battling James Tiberius Kirk probably looked like a sound investment of creative talent, with both Sixties-based characters still proving incredibly popular with the science fiction franchise’s fanbase to this day. But disappointingly, Jody Houser’s decision to crowbar the pair into a narrative supposedly depicting just how scintillating an election season can be, isn’t arguably the place for either of the ‘antagonists’ to demonstrate just why they still hold a place within a Trekkies’ heart some six decades after they originally appeared on the small screen.

For starters, the thought of Harry rising to the top of the Federation Presidential polls is utterly “ridiculous”, especially when such a notorious conman’s extensive criminal past is well-known to both his Andorian sponsors and the electorate. Arguably, this premise alone ruins any sense of credibility to a narrative which already heavily relies upon its readers’ willingness to suspend disbelief, and is made all the more unbelievable when the Originalist movement reveal that they were so desperate to identify a so-called “suitable candidate” before the election’s imminent deadline that they just exonerated the swindler for all his past dark deeds.

Disappointingly, Mister Seven’s involvement in this particular storyline isn’t much more convincing either with the mysterious “laddybuck” disconcertingly wanting Mudd to win the galaxy-wide election in order to help him somehow bring Starfleet to a violent end. Sadly, the writer’s room for “Star Trek: Year Five” seem intent on transforming Supervisor 194 into some sort of omnipotent busybody, who suddenly appears to be more a sworn foe of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s captain than the likes of Khan Noonien Singh ever was, and as a result Kirk’s former friend frustratingly jars in every panel in which he appears; “Let’s just say that there are… pieces in motion far larger than either you or I. It’s my job to ensure that they stay in motion. Distractions, chaos… these will serve my masters’ purposes.”

Ultimately however, this comic’s biggest anti-climax is in how Scotty thwarts Harcourt’s real plan to steal as much sensitive technological data as he can from the Andorians by simply sweet-talking the smuggler’s female robot companion into telling him the truth. Such a lack-lustre finale beggars belief and comes across as being as contrived a conclusion as Spock inexplicably appearing from inside Mudd’s small space shuttle just in the nick of time to pinch the rogue on the neck before he can depart the moon with a hostage.

Writer: Jody Houser, Artist: Silvia Califano, and Colorist: Charlie Kirchoff