Star Trek: The Mirror War #2 - IDW Publishing

STAR TREK: THE MIRROR WAR No. 2, November 2021

Featuring various short-lived interludes concerning the Klingon Regent Worf, almost the entire cast of Deep Space Nine, Ro Laren and even “the obnoxious Okona”, David and Scott Tipton’s narrative for Issue Two of “Star Trek: The Mirror War” could arguably be criticised in places for seeming a little too choppy in its storytelling. But whilst this comic’s twenty-page plot certainly does leap about quite a bit, the book’s basic premise of Captain Picard ruthlessly recovering one of his recently stolen secret supply caches still provides plenty of fun, action-packed antics both in outer space as well as planet-side. 

Indeed, Jean-Luc’s no-nonsense quest to track down the hideout of Thadiun amidst the Chandler Asteroid Belt offers this publication’s authors the perfect opportunity to showcase just how markedly different the crew of the I.S.S. Enterprise-D actually are from their small screen counter-parts in our universe. Foremost of these disconcerting dissimilarities is the increasingly tense relationship demonstrated between Riker and Troi, who despite secretly plotting to take the Galaxy-class starship’s captaincy for themselves, are quickly at one another’s throats when the Commander demands the Inquisitor to “do your job” and teach a troubled Data to process the android’s shock at being betrayed by his supposed friend Reginald Barclay.

Equally as intriguing though, is this comic’s depiction of the sovereign of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. The sudden appearance of Worf’s flagship, the Negh’Var, in orbit around Tyraeus 2 just as the Enterprise is about to depart is debatably one of this book’s many highlights, and not only shows just how powerfully brief space battles can be in this alternate 24th century timeline. But also illustrates just how prickly the bond between Barclay and Data has become, and how catastrophic such intense quarrelling can be in a life or death situation for the rest of the starship’s crew; “If you’ll just listen to me, damn it! Try rerouting around the damaged components --” 

Also adding enormously to the storytelling are Gavin Smith’s layouts, which do a simply splendid job of illustrating just how aggressively violent the Mirror Universe actually is. The likes of Picard and Riker seem to be forever snarling at their subordinates whenever the slightest happenstance goes against their wishes, and this makes even the somewhat sedentary sequences set upon the bridge positively bubble with potential volatility.

Writers: Scott & David Tipton, Artist: Gavin Smith, and Colorist: Charlie Kirchoff