Review: Mirror Burnham Faces Her Destiny In Star Trek: Discovery – Succession #4

Review: Star Trek: Discovery: Succession #4

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Written by: Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson
Art by: Angel Hernandez with colors by Mark Roberts

Cover A by Angel Hernandez

Speaking at STLV18, writer Mike Johnson described the story of Succession as a power vacuum that gets very “Game of Thrones-y,” with all of the characters left following the events in the Mirror Universe in the first season of Discovery, vying for the throne of the Terran Empire. Now that we’ve come to the end of what I called the “tie-in we never thought we needed”, I’d say Mike had that pretty spot on. He was also right when he said “It’s pretty bloodthirsty. That’s why the mirror universe is great.”

While the Mirror Universe can sometimes be dismissed as a place populated with “evil twins,” where everything is just the opposite of what we are used to, this series throws that theory out of the airlock because these characters have depth. For example, in Succession L’Rell is an idealistic revolutionary and Mudd is the benevolent champion of the poor and powerless. Johnson and Beyer also find room to play with and develop characters that barely get any exploration on the TV series, such as the bridge crew, although now it appears that we’ll be learning more about their prime counterparts in season two.

Johnson and Beyer’s Mirror Universe sets the stakes high and everyone is fair game. That’s why this story is so exciting to read. Of course, it makes sense that the Mirror Universe would be like Game of Thrones. If the best way to move up in rank is to kill your superior officer, the infighting would be endless.

This is a minor spoilers only review, but if you’re “dying” to know how it ends, check out our earlier preview of this issue with spoilers about the ending you’ll never see coming. IDW editor Chase Marotz said it best, “it’s one of the best endings to a mini-series we’ve ever done.”  It’s rare that you can shock an audience these days because most people have seen pretty much everything. In the case of Succession, you will genuinely be surprised.

It’s going to be really interesting to see how this all unfolds. Is the new Emperor at the end of this series the same one in “Mirror, Mirror?” Will that be addressed? I will say that with so many twists and turns, this is easily one of the best Trek series in years. As long as Johnson and Beyer are at the helm, Discovery comics are in good hands.

5-page preview

Click thumbnails to enlarge

Issue #4 Available now, collection in November

Star Trek: Discovery: Succession #4 was released Wednesday, August 1st. It retails for $3.99. You can order it at TFAW with a discount, including 2 different variant covers.

IDW announced at STLV18 that the trade paperback collection with all four issues of Succession will be out in November. You can pre-order it at Amazon for $19.99.

Find Star Trek comics, toys, statues, and collectibles at TFAW.com!

Keep up with all the latest inked Star Trek in TrekMovie’s Comics Category.

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“Bow to your Emperor!!!” Yeah, I’m really learning a lot about myself and the human condition with that kind of gimmick TV. SMH.

You realize this was just a fun comic…right? Right?!

Okay… I was genuinely pleased by the plot twist near the end of the comic. Genuinely pleased, but also not too surprise. I wonder what the aftermath will be like.