Advance Review: Exploring The Kelvin Timeline In ‘Star Trek Library Collection’ Vol. 1
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
This first library collection from IDW collects stories around the 2009 Star Trek film. The stories do a nice job of filling in the blanks around and within the movie. But the visuals are uneven at best, which seems inexcusable given that the publisher has had plenty of time to update them.
Overall
8/10It’s difficult to believe that the JJ Abrams’ Star Trek film debuted 14 years ago. Since then, Trek has lived long and prospered on the small screen with the help of Paramount+ and the newer spinoffs including Discovery, Picard and Strange New Worlds.
The current owner of the Trek comics publishing right, IDW, is releasing three of its tie-ins to that first movie of the Kelvin Timeline with its Star Trek Library Collection. The nearly 300-page tome reprints three stories that give some valuable background and help to fill in missing pieces of the film’s story, which saw Romulan Nero seeking vengeance again Vulcan and the Federation after the destruction of his home planet.
The first tale, Countdown, fleshes out the story that Spock relates to a young Jim Kirk in the film. We learn greater detail about the origins of the supernova that destroys Romulus as well as the role played by Spock and several Next Generation characters, including Picard and Worf. (Unfortunately for the creative team, Star Trek: Picard has placed this once-canon story into the realm of fiction on several fronts, not the least of which is success of the android B4 in replacing his “brother” Data.)
Apart from that unforeseeable conflict, the story is as compelling as it is plausible. It’s fascinating learn the reason behind the Romulan’s tattoos, the real story behind their homeworld’s destruction and how their mining ship, the Narada, became a vessel of war.
Countdown is written by Mike Johnson and Tim Jones, based on a script by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. David Messina illustrates the tale with mixed results. Nero’s ship, the Nerada is menacing, and some larger panels are strong. But other panels are rushed – literally to the point of not drawing faces on some characters. It’s shocking it wasn’t corrected for this collection.
In Spock – Reflections, writers Scott and David Tipton use an extended trip taken by the Vulcan to explore his long backstory. In it, we see Spock’s first mission on the Enterprise, under Captain Pike, as well as several other adventures earlier in his life. They are interesting tidbits, though they ultimately don’t add up to much from a story perspective. As with the first story, the art is uneven. Messina provided the layouts with inks from Elena Casagrande, Arianna Florean and Federica Manfredi, who was also responsible for finishes.
The third story, Nero, is a direct sequel to Countdown, and relays the untold story of the time between the destruction of the USS Kelvin and the implosion of Vulcan in the movie. The story is good and is told by the same creative team as Countdown. This time, though, Messina’s illustrations are a bit crisper.
Star Trek Library Collection Vol. 1 will be available for purchase on June 14, 2023.
