Advance Review: Set Phasers For Inept In `Star Trek: Resurgence’ #3
by Tom Smithyman
Captains in Star Trek have a pretty uneven history. For every hero like James T. Kirk and Kathryn Janeway, there is a JT Esteban or Ronald Tracey – ship commanders who failed to live up to the promise of Starfleet and the Federation.
Unfortunately, Zachary Solano, captain of the USS Resolute, falls into that second category. Solano, one of the main characters in Star Trek: Resurgence, does the unthinkable in the latest issue of this limited series. He allows the hostile Talarians to take control of his ship and to boss his crew around. What’s worse, he turns a blind eye to his crew’s harassment at the hands of the aliens, leaving his junior officers to have to come up with an escape plan. His excuse? He’s playing the “long game.”
Throughout the first few issues of this title, writers Andrew Grant and Dan Martin have crafted an uneven story filled with characters that we’re supposed to be rooting for, but simply can’t. The first issue started off with promise, but way too much development of characters who just aren’t that interesting. Now these same characters are in a life-and-death situation, and most readers simply won’t care that much. Kind of like their captain.
Oh sure, there’s the young heroic first officer who rallies the troops. But ultimately he comes off as vanilla. The addition of Leah Brahms, a recurring guest character from The Next Generation, is more confusing than exciting. The whole adventure was set up by her kidnapping, but she barely plays a role in the story so far. Even a flashback with Jean-Luc Picard is wasted.
Artist Josh Hood provides the issue’s lone bright spots. He nails the look of Next-Gen area starships and paints the Talarians – particularly their melted-face commander – as menacing foes.
The series still has time to turn the story around, but given the title exists to support the launch of an upcoming video game, don’t get your hopes up for a satisfying resolution.
Star Trek: Resurgence #3 will be available for purchase tomorrow.
Overview
This uneven limited series sputters with a captain making very questionable decisions that endanger the lives of his crew, The artwork is good, but not enough to save this issue from the poor writing.