Early Review: Star Trek Countdown #1 – Prequel Comic To Star Trek Movie

The wait is (almost) over. The first issue of "Star Trek Countdown," the four-part Star Trek movie prequel series, hits comic book stores on Wednesday. Who is Nero? What is Spock’s agenda? What’s going to happen with that star? How exactly does the new movie tie into the TNG era? Well you came to the right place as TrekMovie has the first review of "Star Trek Countdown" Issue #1.

[Article discusses SPOILERS for comic and Star Trek movie]

REVIEW: STAR TREK COUNTDOWN #1
Spock and Nero, together at last

Mike Johnson and Tim Jones have been tasked with what is likely the biggest and highest profile Star Trek comic book in decades, possibly ever. This comic, like IDW’s Transformers movie prequel comics before it, is bound to make something of a crossover to those Star Trek fans out there who are not comic book fans but will them pick it up, if only for a sneak peek into world of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. This is especially true being that the comic is officially ‘presented’ by Abrams and has a story written by the Star Trek screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto ‘ask me about quantum theory’ Orci. In a previous interview, Orci has stated that this comic series will show "how you connect" the Next Generation to the new movie’s continuity. So ironically, even though this is a prequel to a movie mostly set in the era of young Kirk and crew, this prequel comic actually doubles as a sequel to the Next Gen era.

The comic starts simply enough, as see in the previously released 5-page preview. It is Stardate 64333.4 (eight years after Star Trek Nemesis), somewhere in the Romulan Empire. We’re aboard a small mining vessel, captained by a young loyal Romulan by the name of Nero. Smooth of brow, clean of visage, we soon learn in the subsequent pages that this young Romulan is not known to the Senate, but represents the Mining Guild there.

Spock’s influence with the Romulans has changed since "Unification"
(click to enlarge)

Starting on page six "Countdown" takes us into what could be seen as a follow-up story to the Next Generation’s "Unification" two-parter, which established that eleven years before Nemesis (and nineteen years before the comic) Spock was on Romulus covertly trying to bring together the Romulans and the Vulcans. Now in the post-Nemesis era, Spock has finally become an official resident of Romulus, serving as Federation Ambassador to the Empire, and sitting in on their Senate meetings. He has recently discovered some disturbing information about the Hobus star which seems moving toward becoming a massive supernova. In a scene very akin to Jor El’s warnings in Superman The Movie, the scientists of Romulus shoot down Spock’s theory, especially when Spock reveals that he may have a plan, but it involves taking a rare and valuable Romulan mineral to, of all places, Vulcan. Understandably, this does not go over well, but Nero steps up to support Spock’s claims, having seen an explosion at the star firsthand. This leads to the start of what looks to be a friendship between the two, and an offer that Spock finds impossible to refuse. Hey, wait a minute — isn’t Nero supposed to be the villain in the Star Trek movie? In a classic Orci/Kurtzman twist, there appears much more than meets the eye for this Nero.

Unfortunately, the decades haven’t helped Spock’s sense of humor
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Working off of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman’s story, Jones and Johnson do a fair job of bringing that story to the comic genre. Taking into account that this is a first, and thus introductory issue, pushing the Star Trek story forward to some eight years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis, it would be expected that a lot of the pages would be dedicated to detailing the new characters and situations that we find ourselves in. Contrary to that, Jones and Johnson throw us into the middle of the story, showing us what we need to know, and introducing us to characters bit by bit.

This may seem reminiscent of Star Trek VI and Praxus, but an exploding star is way bigger than an exploding moon… (click to enlarge)

This approach by the writers works reasonably well, even if some of the dialogue may seem a bit off kilter and unexpected from Romulans. Of course, that may also be the intent, trying to show us that Nero, one of the main characters in the upcoming movie, is not the traditional Romulan we are used to. Indeed, Nero’s actions throughout the story presented in Countdown are not at all what we might expect. Here he is sympathetic, and shows all the characteristics of a classic Trek hero, including sacrifice, selflessness and compassion…all of which leads the reader to wonder if events in this comic series are going to turn him evil, or if there is going to be something else going on in the upcoming film.

Even though the story is full of expectation-bending, there is also quite a bit of referencing to Star Trek continuity, including the last entry in Trek’s canon, Star Trek Nemesis. The issue also introduces us to some new ‘Treknobabble,’ including ‘red matter’ which we know will play a role in the Star Trek feature film.

Nero, family man

David Messina has been tapped to provide the artwork for this series, and he doesn’t stop there. In addition to the pencils and inks, he also is the primary colorist for the issue, working with two other members of his studio. His artwork is exactly what I’d expected, especially as he’s worked on several Trek series before this, including Blood Will Tell, Mirror Images, and Intelligence Gathering. His style for Countdown is no different, and is heavily reliant on shading. Now, his portrait of Spock does not always look like Leonard Nimoy, but it is still always recognizable. The other characters he shows us do look exactly like who they purport to be. The look of Romulus is also a  nice nod to continuity, as can been seen above in the image of Spock addressing the Romulan Senate.

The biggest quibble is that Countdown #1 is too short. The issue is an excellent, but too brief, start to the comic miniseries — full of surprises. And the comic is a promising look at where the new movie might take us. I’ve got my guesses, but seeing how the first issue has already shook things up, they are probably off. From the  looks of it, readers of "Star Trek Countdown" will certainly get a rich back-story to the feature film, especially for those who want to see how this ties into where Star Trek left off with the last film. This becomes especially evident with [SUPER SPOILER ALERT – HIGHLIGHT INVISO-TEXT AHEAD AT OWN RISK BUT YOU SHOULDN’T REALLY] the appearance of three Reman warships, and the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Data. That alone was enough to make me eagerly want to know what happens in the next issue!

Regular and dealer incentive photo cover for Countdown #1
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Star Trek Countdown available this week
Star Trek Countdown #1 will be available in comic stores starting Wednesday January 21st.

You can order Countdown #1 (and #2 & #3) at TFAW.com, discounted to $3.19 each. You can also get a subscription to all four issues at IDW.com  ($15.96 or $3.99/issue). Or you can wait until April and pick up the trade paperback, available for pre-order at Amazon for $12.23.