Written by Chris Roberson
Illustrated by Jeffrey and Phillip MoyThe epic IDW/DC Comics crossover continues. Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise have returned to Earth, but discover that it isn’t the Earth they remember. And a group of Legionnaires stranded in the 23rd century find that history has changed around them. But can either team uncover what’s gone wrong in time? And what will happen when they encounter each other?
The cross over you never thought was necessary (and probably still don’t) is here! In fact, it first appeared last month, and I was just as surprised then as I was when I saw it on the shelves this month! Picture this: Captain Kirk flirting with Saturn Girl! Spock and Brainiac 5 trying to out-logic each other! Bones is cranky! It’s destined to be amazing, right? Right?
Well, check the jump for more on this momentous book! As a note, mild spoilers are discussed
In case you’re wondering, this book really IS just as ridiculous as it sounds. There really couldn’t have been any clamor for a book like this, except for That One Guy you see at every Comics Convention who obsesses over two disparate properties like they go together. It’s not like these haven’t happened before (I read a Star Trek: TNG/X-Men crossover novel before, the 11 year old me loved it!), but this book doesn’t even deliver on the promises it gave in the solicit, let alone as a serious book.
You see how, in the solicit, they ask:
And what will happen when they encounter each other?
Well, we still don’t know! Spoiler alert: they don’t meet until the last page, and even then, they’re a good 50 yards apart when they do! Second, if they did meet, the captain and his crew would be stupidly overmatched, and wouldn’t have a shot, right? Right. However, we know this will be fought to a standstill until they figure out that working together will be mutually beneficial to their getting home, blah, blah, blah. Then, while under attack from the Almost!Mirrorverse, they’ll figure out a way to get home, and there will be mutual respect for all. Yay!
Meh.
To his credit, Chris Roberson took something that’s been done before, and tweaked in such a way to make it more interesting than your basic mirror universe. There have been references to The Dominion (which didn’t even make the Deep Space Nine-Era Mirror Universe, mind you) along with The Borg. There are even references to the DC Universe races, such as Chameleon Boy’s race The Durla as well as the war-like Khund. The aforementioned Borg have merged with Tyr and his mobile planet Tyrroz, which is a cool, nearly Amalgam Universe mashup. They likely won’t factor heavily into the story, but it’s nice to see little tidbits that reward long-time fans of either franchise.
The universe building on Roberson’s part is quite enjoyable as well. Instead of being a completely different time line like the mirror Universe (according to the comic, anyway), the time lines are identical until the Roman Empire. Instead of falling apart under its own weight, the Roman Empire flourished until it inevitably reached the stars and expanded from there.
But while the canvas is nice, the painting itself is taking too long to come together, if you get my meaning. It’s been two issues out of the planned six, and they haven’t even officially met yet? How can that be allowed? It’s decompression at its worst. I would have gladly given up the universe building if they had cut the first two issues into one. It probably would have been a lot better of a read for that matter. But two issues and $7.98 later, I just feel a bit…cheated?
Perhaps, most disappointingly, the art isn’t even anything special. The Moy brothers, god bless them, aren’t terrible by any stretch of the imagination, and I think they would even do well on an exclusively Legion title (and they have!), don’t feel like a good fit with the Star Trek Universe. While they are fans of the franchise, their superhero sensibilities seem to clash with such a property, and while they are very talented and even outstanding on a technical basis, the work just doesn’t mesh with what feels like a grim and gritty urban area (which might bring up questions why an empire would expand if they can’t even afford a street sweeper, but conquering armies have done worse with less). It just doesn’t work out.
This book is something that was exclusively made for crossover fans, but that was obvious. But what isn’t as obvious is that the book succeeds on the unnecessary and fails on the necessary, which doesn’t make for an entertaining comic.
Final Verdict: 5.0 — “I’m a Browser, not a Buyer, Jim!”
