TrekInk: Review of Star Trek Movie Adaptation #3

Three years instead of four? Is it feasible? Green girls, apple eating cockiness, a trial, and two Spocks. It’s obviously time for the third issue of the 2009 Star Trek movie adaptation. Kirk and Spock finally meet, and it’s a total hate-on from the get-go! Read on for the review of the third issue of IDW’s adaptation of Star Trek.

STAR TREK: THE MOVIE ADAPTATION #3 REVIEW

Following on from the second issue last month, the third issue of IDW’s Star Trek adaptation picks up the story soon after and covers the Starfleet Academy years of young Kirk. Things start with the first meeting of McCoy and Kirk, where McCoy regales Kirk with tales of doom and woe. A quick interlude to Spock’s arrival lets the story jump forward to Kirk’s Kobayashi Maru test.

Unlike the first two issues of the series, this one does not include any scene extensions, and in fact, skips the deleted scene from the movie dealing with Gaila being tricked by Kirk to defeat Spock’s test. It also glosses over the arrival of the Prime Spock and Nero’s whereabouts since the Kelvin incident that started the story. These were covered in much more detail in the accompanying "Star Trek: Nero" series, written by the same authors, Mike Johnson and Tim Jones.

Johnson and Jones mimic the movie point for point in this issue, much more so than the prior two. This portion of the story is heavy on exposition and dialogue, and the comic reflects that, spending a lot of time on the character interactions. David Messina’s art uses the full page, at times presenting page-wide panels with the characters on either end, and at times using close-up focused images.

It’s hard to say what’s making McCoy sick… might be the proximity to Kirk, or the unfinished Enterprise… (click to enlarge)

Messina and Gaetano Carlucci (the inker) continue to present a number of the images based off what was seen on screen, which is not a bad thing, but it would also be nice to see their take on some differing angles now and then. The big reveal of the Enterprise is spread over two pages and looks good, but feels almost a bit too cartoonish when looked at closely. This is more obvious when comparing it to the other ships show in the issue, all of which look much more realistic and detailed.

Giovanna Niro’s coloring continues to evoke the film’s palette, especially the earthy tones used at Starfleet Academy and the blues out in space. Her colors when the various starships are jumping to warp speed gives them an eerie ghostly glow, suggesting that their presence is altered.

Apparently three years at the Academy cures you of throwing up… or causes you to begin… (click to enlarge)

This third issue is a lot heavier on the exposition than the first two were and begins setting the scene for the battle of Vulcan. No deleted scenes expand the story here, as it is essentially a by the numbers portion of the adaptation. The comic is not quite as strong as the first two, but does leave things on an excellent cliffhanger, one that will be resolved early in the fourth issue. The story is now at the halfway point, and yet it feels like there’s a lot more to come. The pacing of the last issues should be interesting, and it remains to be seen how much Johnson and Jones will be allowed to expand on events.

The series continues to be enjoyable, and, assuming the quality keeps up, it will make an excellent companion piece to the "Star Trek: Countdown", "Star Trek: Nero" and "Spock: Reflections" series from last year, in addition to being a fitting signoff for artist David Messina, who has moved on to work on IDW’s True Blood comics.

Covers for "Star Trek: The Movie Adaptation" issue 3
(click to enlarge)

Star Trek: The Movie Adaptation issue 3 is available in comic stores now. You can order it from TFAW.

And if you want to get the full series together, you can pre-order the trade paperback which comes out in October.