Review: Star Trek Finds Its Perfect Soulmate In The Legion Of Super-Heroes

DC and IDW Comics’ crossover of two properties is a match made in a hopeful heaven.

Disappointed that there is no new Star Trek comic on shelves today? Don’t be, as the DC Comics App has released the Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover from 2011. Each issue, which had already been available on the IDW App, is $1.99 and is yet another fantastic testament to Gene Roddenberry’s vision for humanity and a better tomorrow.

Penned by Chris Roberson (Vertigo Comics, Superman) and illustrated by the twin-brother duo of Jeffrey and Philip Moy, who have previously drawn Legion of Super-Heroes for DC Comics, the crossover should leave fans of both franchises extremely pleased with all of its references and background images. The story combines some of the very best story elements from both universes to truly tell a tale of where no one has gone before.

Opening on a familiar backdrop of space with what appears to be a Starfleet ship with the accustomed text, “Space …”, accompanying the images, readers are in for a surprise when turning to page two as all hell breaks loose. Turns out this is not any Federation that has been established previously in either series, although Star Trek fans may quickly assume they actually know what is happening, which would be a mistake.

Time travel at its heart allows storytellers to depict a “what if” tale that would not happen under normal circumstances. Some of the best Star Trek episodes and films have relied on this trope, to great success. In order to bring both universes together, the Legion time bubble and Star Trek’s transporter both appear to have simultaneous malfunctions that land them in what appears to be an alternate reality, in the same time and same place. However, be careful, as this story is unpredictable and all is not as it seems.

ST LOSH 1 (2)

Five issues forced Roberson to limit his participants, which meant sadly, Scotty was not a member of the main tale. In addition to well known Legion members, the author also included the Talok Shadow Lass to round out the DC five. Jeffrey Moy’s likenesses were excellent for both sets of characters, as was Roberson’s writing of most of the character’s personalities. Unfortunately, Roberson’s portrayal of Captain Kirk leaned towards the player and sometimes creepier aspect, which actually could detract from a Star Trek fan’s enjoyment but plays into the stereotype for casual fans.

Speaking of fan enjoyment, Roberson expertly introduces the worlds of both universes to readers via two-page spreads when they first meet, giving readers a quick overview to understand the character motivations. Turns out both believe in a better tomorrow where humanity worked together for the betterment of everyone. Roddenberry himself would most likely have been proud of Roberson’s clever script.

Astute readers will catch all the references adroitly littered throughout the pages, including images of races from both universes, as well as shout outs to a certain Russian navigator and communications officer from the Enterprise. In fact, one of Chekov’s lines will have viewers of the latest film, Star Trek Beyond, wondering if Simon Pegg and Doug Jung had read the story themselves.

“… I finally realized that tomorrow could be better than today.” Roddenberry could not have written the words better himself. Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes is still available in print for those fans and readers who have yet to embrace digital technology or still prefer to hold stories in their own hands.

Readers who enjoy this crossover might also want to check out some of the other more popular Star Trek comic crossover events, such as Star Trek/Green Lantern: Spectrum War, set in the Kelvin Timeline; the TOS era Planet of the Apes miniseries and X-Men one shot, as well as The Next Generation’s Doctor Who event and X-Men one shot.

7 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

…our ongoing mission: to boldly go where no transporter malfunction has taken us before!

Ummm…no.

Enjoyed this quite a bit when it first came out in a trade hard cover. It’s a bit of a one-off, fannish, wish-fulfillment tale… it’s not going for any redefinition of continuity or bold statements that would unify the franchises for future storytelling. To me, it’s the equivalent of a summer popcorn movie — it’s not pretending to be incredibly meaningful… just entertain you for a while. And that’s okay.

Just got the digital version last month from the 2nd Humble Bundle Star Trek Comics sale… Forgive the plug, but if you’re a digital comics fan, you should really keep your eyes out for these bundles, Star Trek or not. This last bundle alone included (for about $15.00) this huge selection of Star Trek comics, including many from past publishers of the franchise (DC, Wildstorm, Gold Key) as well as IDW originals:

Star Trek Archives: Vol. 1-5
Star Trek Classics: Vol. 1-5
Star Trek TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation Vol. 1-2
Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War
Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive
Star Trek: Assignment Earth
Star Trek: Best of Klingons
Star Trek: Countdown
Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Fool’s Gold
Star Trek: Gold Key Archives: Vol. 1-5
Star Trek: Harlan Ellison’s City on the Edge of Forever
Star Trek: Khan
Star Trek: Legion of Super-Heroes
Star Trek (2009): Movie Adaptation
Star Trek: Nero
Star Trek: New Visions: Vol. 1-3
Star Trek: Next Generation – Ghosts
Star Trek: Spock Reflections
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Hive
Star Trek: Vol. 1-11 (IDW)
Star Trek: Year Four
Star Trek: Year Four – The Enterprise Experiment

This was one of the worst Star Trek comics IDW has ever published. Poorly conceived, weakly written and entirely pointless. I recommend avoiding it.

Perfect Soulmate? Chalk and cheese in my opinion.

Both are set up as idealistic alt.future/space opera series. One as an example where we might have gone from the late 1960’s at the time TOS aired, the other from a possible 30th/31st Century of some of the worlds where the Justice Leagues of our day had gone before. I can see where they might be spiritual kin of some sort.

Yeah, it’s godawful. I wish IDW would stop with all these crossovers and get back to telling Star Trek tales. It’s what they’re best at.