IDW Publishing Forums

[8of5]

This weeks new releases, what do we think?

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I'm very pleased to say I loved both of them.

The final issue of Blood Will Tell was a fabulous end to a wonderful series. A most satisfying conclusion to the story of Kahnrah and K'ahlynn, superbly woven into the story of The Undiscovered Country. And a really cool levitating train to boot! Bring on more Tiptons I say!

Mr Tischman is really starting to shine in Year Four, it still suffers from the "Star Trek: Lite" problem, but the story all made sense, didn't jump all over the place and made a most excellent parallel to the current US/Iraq/oil/insurgency situations. As the last issue sort of dealt with genetic engineering and there's one coming up about reality TV I'm getting the feeling you're really going for the TOS take on current issues thing - Which I think is a wonderful idea, this issue really shone for doing that.

And interesting to see Trek comic veteran Gordon Purcell will be doing the art for the next issue, cool!

Just one complaint really: No titles again! dear dear dear.

(ok to print)
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Numerically challenged drone
8of5's Star Trek blog -- Updated October 14.

[indianatrekker27]

that is great news to hear! Gordon Purcell has always been my favorite trek artist. It will be great to see some new artwork from him.

[Scott Tipton]

[8of5]

[GustavoLeao]

Gordon Purcell ? Great ! He is one of my favorites since I saw his work in the Trek DC Comics from the 80s. Thanks for the info !

Gustavo Leao
TrekWeb Editor
gustavo@trekweb.com

[Ro-Dan]

I picked up both Star Trek titles today but have only read KLINGONS: BLOOD WILL TELL #5 so far. Daaaaaaaang...that was a sweet issue. I'm now a huge fan of Kahnrah's. This issue was an excellent ending to a wonderful series. It's amazing how well the TOS and Movie-era Klingons mesh. Seeing both these types of Klingons together you realize how very little the differences between them really are. I've absolutely loved this 5-month journey I've been taken on. The Tiptons and Messina should be given a standing ovation.

I'll be back later on with my thoughts on YEAR FOUR #2.
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[Ro-Dan]

I was a little confused by Year Four #2. Can anyone tell me why Marat, Aarak's ruler, turned against Kirk and the Federation? I thought he was all for the technology-for-dilithium trade.

Also, I felt that a few Enterprise in orbit establishing shots would've helped the transitions between scenes on Aarak and on the ship. On one page Kirk is on the Enterprise, the next on the planet's surface. Plus, those orbital shots would've helped capture the feel of the series. Other than the inside cover, there wasn't a single frame of the Enterprise in this issue.

It was cool seeing some quality "screen time" for Scotty. His scene with the Aarakian Princess in engineering was well written. Also, the debate between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy about the Prime Directive was engaging. Spock's comment about McCoy always having a point was a nice touch too.

Other than my confusion with the ending, not a bad effort. I really do love the "one-and-done" format and hopefully that won't change. And how about those spectacular covers by Joe Corroney? I love this man's art!

Also, congrats to 8of5 for getting his post published in the "Hailing Frequencies" lettercol this issue!
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[8of5]

Lol, woo, go me!

I think the Aarakian royals planned attack on the Enterprise was meant to implicate the insurgents and bring the Federation into the conflict to crush the royal's opponents. Though that's never really explicitly explained so yup, that was a bit confusing.
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Numerically challenged drone
8of5's Star Trek blog -- Updated October 14.

[Ryall]

[8of5]

Hmm, will issues 3 and 4 be in-keeping with the style of the rest of the series then or will they be notably different?
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Numerically challenged drone
8of5's Star Trek blog -- Updated October 14.

[Murloch of House Torak]

***ok to print****

Probably missed the deadline on this, since I was TDY away from home, but wanted to weigh in on how much I truly enjoyed "Blood will Tell". The whole series was well executed, fun expansions on existings stories. Great reads the whole lot, give us more!!
What adventures did Kahnrah's house have at the Khitomer Accords or during the Klingon civil war (TNG season 4 into 5), or Dominion War. It would be nice to know. Please give us more!!

As for Year 4 #2 it was good. Fun art with a solid story, though it came across a little rushed.
I read #2 & 3 back to back and both times the stories were a little rushed, yet I agree with the tempo. Keeping it faster paced keeps a certain TOS feel but the one issue isn't quite long enough to develope yet the stories themselves don't require two issues. Maybe 2 extra pages would remedy the situation? Just a thought.

Keep up the good work and give us more Klingon Empire stories (yes I'm biased ).

[Ro-Dan]

[GustavoLeao]

Please, Chris, post the cover to the next Tiptons/Messina TNG project. Please, please, please. (or send it to me hehehe)

Gustavo Leao
Editor TrekWeb.com
gustavo@trekweb.com

[Samy]

Just got around to reading these two.

BLOOD WILL TELL #5

Three thought bubbles in three pages? Come ON! I can understand trying to establish mood, but there's a limit! Pages 2-3 could easily have been compressed to less than a page, with smaller panels. Blowing them up like that was just a lot of space wasting, a problem endemic to the Trek books which are already struggling with having too little space to tell full stories. However, this was made up for later, with as much as 7 panels a page during the train fight. That latter kind of pacing should be used more, especially in a book where you have to cram a 45 minute episode into 22 pages.

Messina's art was serviceable, but like Conley's, it does not "wow" me, and I feel it is more of an "indy" quality than full-blown "big two" quality. This is in contrast to the likes of Corroney's amazing covers and Purcell in Year Four #3 which feel like they can pull their weight against Marvel and DC in this hard marketplace. With Conley and Messina, I feel like I am "settling" for a lower quality of art than I would at the big two (though not bad by any means, just not *good enough*) just to have a Star Trek book.

I enjoyed how the story added a dimension to Star Trek VI, and I especially enjoyed how neither side was portrayed as "evil" per se, both having good reasons for what they were doing and no real malice towards each other. That's mature storytelling to entertain an adult reader. Conflicting interests, but no "bwa-ha-ha" cardboard evil. Kudos for that.

In short, I felt this was a good story, but that it felt more like a 12-pager than a 22-pager, a little too scarce with meat on its bones. The interior art could have been taken up a notch, but the continuity/canon ties were excellent.

Cons:
* too light on story
* art not outright bad but a little weak

Pros:
* good use of canon
* mature writing for adults
* amazing Corroney cover

STAR TREK: YEAR FOUR #2

I'm starting to go crazy with the four wide panels per page arrangement. Seeing that it persists across different artists, I think it's a reasonable conclusion to imagine that it's an edict coming from the writer or the editor -- whichever it is, I hope they change their mind! Confining yourself to a *maximum* of 4 panels per page is a lot of wasted space! A lot of the scenes in the book could have taken up a lot less space if there were more panels per page. Imagine, if the standard was six per page, it'd be a 50% increase -- like having 33 pages of room to tell your story! I've over and over mentioned how the Trek books need more room to tell their story, and the same stands here. The story had to be uncomfortably compressed because it wastes space on the panels. Seriously now, 25% of an entire page spent on Spock saying "I will explain on the way" or focusing on a flashing danger readout? C'mon!!

The space wasting contributes to having to rush at other points, providing us with very few explanations for why the two Aarakian sides are doing what they're doing. Why *did* the rebels attack when Kirk and the others were in the palace? Because they wanted to get captured? What kind of rebel wants to get captured? Why *did* the rulers betray Kirk? As other posters have noted, it was never satisfactorily explained. The story had to rush and leave out critical exposition because a) the page count is too low and/or b) the art wastes a lot of space.

The real gem hidden within the issue was pages 9-11 where Kirk, Spock and McCoy debate the Prime Directive. This was where the conflict really crystallized and the point of the story became clear (though it deteriorated in later pages as everybody started pointlessly shooting everybody). It would have been interesting to see what decision Kirk would have made in the end, if the issue hadn't been solved for him. Having to actually make that decision would have been an intellectually far more interesting avenue for the story to explore than just having everybody start shooting at everybody.

It would also have been nice to have seen the Scotty "romance" explored further and given a bit more detail. It's so rare to see somebody other than Kirk getting some action, I felt it was an unusual enough plot that it deserved more screen time.

By and large, the characters felt *right*, from Kirk's lecherous little "I enjoy ALL of Aarak's natural resources" while looking at the servant girl, to McCoy's "I'm a doctor, not a grenadier". Tischman's pacing is weak, but his characterization is strong.

Cons:
* shallow "everybody shooting at everybody" ending
* art not outright bad but a little weak
* a lot of wasted space by art
* critical exposition missing

Pros:
* good basic idea for Kirk's dilemma, even if the execution failed
* amazing Corroney cover
* great dialogue gems and characterization