The Chancellor is dead and the timeline is jumbled due to interference from the future. Will Picard and his motley band of resistance fighters figure out how to set things right? Learn more in our early review of the third ‘Myriad Universe’ issue of "Star Trek: The Last Generation." Plus TrekInk has an update and new (little) preview of "Countdown" the Star Trek movie prequel comic.
REVIEW: STAR TREK – THE LAST GENERATION #3
The Resistance rises up
We left off from the second issue of The Last Generation with Robin Lefler being killed in front of young Wesley’s eyes, and Picard and Data identifying Captain Braxton as a likely source of interference in the timeline, setting them on the path they now find themselves. With the Klingons on Earth under Warlord Worf now deeming Humans unnecessary, time is running out for Picard’s resistance cell. With the information garnered from Data at the end of the second issue, the big plan is to steal a Klingon Bird-of-Prey and go back in time to fix something in the past (however there are no whales involved). During all of this, Wesley is upset that Robin was killed and that none of his compatriots seem all that interested in doing anything about it. Rene, Picard’s nephew, is more curious than anything, Guinan won’t tell her lover Picard anything about the future, and Yar and Ro exhibit a little more than general soldierly friendliness. Using intrigue and the wiles of a local Ferengi bartender (not Quark before you ask), they try to fool Worf and his security forces into leaving a museum piece unguarded so that they can steal it. Unfortunately, Wesley’s gone a bit over the edge, and is willing to do things that will jeopardize the mission. Not such a good thing. EMP and electronics don’t mix.
Doesn’t this really apply to almost any situation? (click to enlarge)
In my review of the first two issues, I said "Picard does not seem as strong and forceful as the one that we’ve come to know over the course of seven seasons, four movies, and a veritable cornucopia of novels and comics." That’s changed. In this issue, Picard is the driving force behind the resistance cell, showing occasional glimpses of vulnerability. Despite that, the man is full of drive. A scene late in the issue shows us that, without a doubt, this is not the same Picard. This one has grown up in very harsh times and is willing to do the unthinkable. The other primary focus of this issue is Wesley’s character. Writer Andrew Steven Harris has captured him as an adolescent, with only Picard as a real father figure. Filled with thoughts of revenge, he is willing to act upon them, unlike the Wesley from the television series. But, through that desire for revenge, Wesley is forced to grow and reassess his circumstances and future.
Little kids… always such a chore for those extras from The Warriors…
(click to enlarge)
There are still some issue with Gordon Purcell’s artwork on this series. Some of the characters stand out completely, but most of them seem rather generic. At least he is given some liberty to alter the look of some characters, and even gets to show some carnage, something rarely seen in Star Trek, whether on television or in the comics. As usual, his backgrounds and scenery are spectacular and well detailed, but he does not seem to really have the hang of most of the Next Generation gang. At least, not this particular strain of them. This is unfortunate, as it makes the story a bit difficult to read when you cannot identify all of the characters easily. I was looking forward to seeing Purcell’s take on the Next Generation characters, but I think that he’s much stronger with the original Enterprise crew as he showed in DC Fontana’s "Enterprise Experiment" series mid-2008.
Once again, the covers for this issue are spectacular. J.K. Woodward’s painting is stunning, and I’d love to see plain artwork for all five of his covers from this series. It would make a nice set of wall art for certain. Joe Corroney provides the other cover for this issue, and while it is a fantastic painting, it isn’t quite as good as some of the other covers he has done for the Star Trek comics for IDW, especially the Intelligence Gathering covers, which are some of the best pieces of Next Generation comic art I’ve seen in some time.
With two more issues left in the series, there are hints and suggestions as to where the story will end up, but Harris has created some interesting plot threads that will allow for some more character expansion and have already shown us some character growth. For fans of "what if?" tales, this is a good story to read.
Star Trek: The Last Generation will be in comic book stores tomorrow Wednesday Jan 14th.
Cover for "Star Trek: The Last Generation"
You can purchase (or pre-order) the Last Generation series at TFAW.com (Issue 1 is out of stock, but available at Amazon).
COUNTDOWN UPDATE
One week more
There has been a bit of confusion about the release date for the first issue of "Star Trek Countdown," the new prequel comic for the new Star Trek feature film. When IDW released the “Countdown” 5-page preview over the weekend the expectation was that it would come out on Wednesday the 14th, however IDW informs TrekMovie that the book is now slated to come out next Wednesday the 21st.
TrekMovie will have an early review of this huge comic event. While you wait, IDW have allowed us to share with you another exclusive preview panel from the issue. We have removed the dialog to keep it less spoilery.
What’s that?
Pre-order Star Trek Countdown now
Issues 1-3 are available now for pre-order at tfaw.com and the Trade Paperback is available at Amazon.
|
Star Trek Countdown |
|
|
|
$12.23 |
You can also order a subscription to all four issues at IDW.com ($15.96 or $3.99/issue).
Shame I don’t collect comics anymore. These would be cool to have.
klingons perhaps?
They look like Reman ships to me. Very reminiscent of the Scimitar
They look like space Deloreans! ahhhh!
Reman Warbirds. Anscestors of the Scimitar.
4…great scott!
Yes, they do look to be Shinzon built.
A fleet of Scimitars???
Check it out:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/USS_Enterprise_faces_of_with_the_Reman_warbird_Scimitar.jpg
6 – LOL !!!!
That’s Heavy ….
Er… what’s the point in removing the dialogue? – “Keeping it less spoilery”? – Oh c’mon…
I mean: these are TWO bubbles – even if Nero, or whoever is speaking, said “Aw, shit… it’s Harry Mudd’s butt-ugly Reman great-grandfather!” – would that really SPOIL the story?
If you’re gonna build a time machine into a starship, why not do it with some style?
TLG #5 obviously based on the movie poster for STVI:TUC.
http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/rle6n0cs50l20iv7bydi.jpg
-cs™
any update on TWOK adaptation?
#3, #5
Reman warbirds? Given what was established in Nemesis, the Remans are a subjugated race. Why and how would they then have their own fleet? Recall that Shinzon built his over a long period of time as he waited to execute his plan to assassinate the Romulan Senate (which only happened with the help of several Romulan generals). It would make more sense for these to be Romulan ships, and that one of them (or a similar class) served as a template for the Scimitar (some of Shinzon’s Romulan accomplices may have supplied him with one of these to modify and upgrade).
Possible dialogue: “Hey, you Romulans over there wouldn’t have a spare flux capacitor on you, would ya?”
Least spoilery dialogue imaginable: “OH LOOK! – Starships!”
“Greetings”, “I am Nero”
(rolls down viewscreen) “pardon me, do you have any grey poupon?”
OT: I was wondering if someone could tell me; with the Vanguard books, if I go from book 1 – Harbinger, to book 3 – Reap The Whirlwind, skipping book 2 because I can’t get it at all, will I miss anything significant? Is Vanguard a serialized story? Or is each book primarily self-contained? Please don’t reply with spoilers, I’m not quite done w/ Harbinger and will soon have Whirlwind… Just want to know if book 2 is necesary.
17 – The Remans would have their own fleet. Although Shinzon failed in the end, the Remans may still have a fleet, and they might have still broken out of slavery, with an uneasy truce between them and the Romulans.
Due to Donatra and Picard’s efforts in Nemesis, it’s possible that the Romulans opened the door for Starfleet to negotiate for peace between the Romulans and the Remans.
Nothing on screen established that the Reman fleet was destroyed, or that the Remans, known to be fierce fighters, and used as a disposable army by the Romulans, did not have their own fleet.
#23
So instead of a group of Reman slaves patching together in secret bits and pieces of donated Romulan equipmen into a single shipt, you’re suggesting they actually constructed a whole fleet? Where was it during Shinzon’s drive toward Earth? I can just about imagine plausible explanations for the absence of more Romulan ships during Shinzon’s battle with the Enterprise (absence both from Shinzon’s side and from Donatra’s). But I’m finding it much harder to explain away both the covert construction, and then the overly noticable absence, of more Reman ships. Nemesis (and post-Nemesis ST: Enterprise) already did a great job in messing up the Romulans, so this would all be just a drop in the bucket, but I still hope you’re wrong.
I just called my local comic shop to inquire about Star Trek : Countdown #1 and they said the only Star Trek comic that came with today’s run was the Myriad Universe . I’ve been looking forward to the Countdown comic since it was announced and now when it is suppossed to be there it is not , what’s up with that?
Kor’Tar
did you read the article?
23 – The Scimitar is too complex, powerful and cutting edge, and too different from Romulan Warbirds to be pieced together from Romulan parts.
It’s design implies greater capabilities. Why else would Shinzon need the support of the Romulan Military? He wanted resources to build more that one ship.
Besides, if the Remans managed to fight off the romulans from Remus, they needed more than the Scimitar to pull this off.
It is likelt that the other ships were not seen because they were kept hidden.
Ooops , Sorry Anthony . My mistake .
Maybe someone should shed some light on Romulans politics and the Remans plight according to the TNG/Titan Post-Nemesis novels.
As far as I remember, after Schinzon’s fall the Remans start a rebellion and were granted protection (or was it asylum) by the Klingon Empire. Thus, having them create a fleet of military ships seem plausible.
That’s the novels. The new movie isn’t being constrained by what’s in print. Just like all of the old movies and TV shows.
Wesley as a badass: BWA-HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!
#30:
The Badass Captain Robau laughs heartily at this travesty.
She’s a predator.
Will be interesting to see, who built those Scimitars. If it’s one of the two Romulan states, one will have gained a significant advantage. The Remans are a Klingon protectorate, so they might have built them. I doubt the Klingons would have been to happy about it, or the Federation for that matter.
In light of this picture, I am not sure the comics will have anything to do with the prime universe timeline laid out in the books.
I’m gonna nitpick here a little: Why is it that, with DVDs and sites like TrekCore with billions of screenshots from episodes & movies, comics and paperback cover artists continue to redraw over and over the most popular studio headshots of characters? They always look incredibly goofy whenever the artist either attempts to alter the facial expression (as in Purcell’s above Picard pic where he raises an eyebrow and opens the mouth) or paste the head onto a body in motion.
C’mon people. Put in a DVD and press pause. Enough of these ‘reinterpretations’ of studio shots. Even the second “Destiny” novel features yet another easily recognizable studio shot of Picard.
End of nitpicking.