With Star Trek: Voyager – Seven’s Reckoning recently wrapped up, IDW’s Trek focus for the next few months will be the Star Trek: Year Five series, which tells the stories of the final year of Captain James T. Kirk’s five-year mission. With the announcement, this week of their solicits for May we have details and a first look at what’s next as this series heads towards a finale this summer. IDW has also provided TrekMovie with some more details on their updated release schedule and an exclusive first look at some of the covers for the next four issues of Year Five.
Issue #19 of the series was just released this week, wrapping up a 2-issue pandemic storyline arc. Look for the TrekMovie review of those two issues soon.
There will be six more issues for Star Trek: Year Five. According to IDW, the series will be back with issue #20 in the first week of April, with #21 coming later in the month. They are also expecting two more issues (#22 and #23) to arrive in May, which are the first two entries of the three-issue “grand finale” episode of the series. Issue #24 wraps up that finale in June. In July IDW will release issue #25, which will be an oversized epilogue written in little vignettes by the whole writing team and drawn by most of the artists as well.
See below for synopses and both covers for the next four issues.
April
Star Trek: Year Five #20 (32 pages • $3.99)
Written by Brandon Easton, art by Silvia Califano
As the crew of the Enterprise moves toward an uncertain future, one of their own will be pulled into a violent past! While investigating a mysterious structure on Vulcan, Spock vanishes. As the crew tries to find him, Spock must fight to survive as he navigates the painful past of his home planet. The final voyages of the original crew continue in this time-hoping adventure from writer Brandon Easton (Transformers: War for Cybertron, Thundercats) and artist Silvia Califano (Star Trek: Year Five, X-Files: Case Files)
Two covers: A cover by Stephen Thompson, and a retail incentive variant by J.J. Lendl.
Cover A by Stephen Thompson
Retail incentive cover by J.J. Lendl
Star Trek: Year Five #21 (32 pages • $3.99)
Written by Brandon Easton, art by Silvia Califano
With Spock still missing, the crew of the Enterprise needs to figure out where—and when—he is if they want to save the future! Meanwhile, on Vulcan, Spock is faced with a choice that won’t only change his life, but Vulcan society as he knows it! The final voyages of the original mission continue in this episode from writer Brandon Easton (Transformers: War for Cybertron, Thundercats) and artist Silvia Califano (Star Trek: Year Five, X-Files: Case Files)
Two covers: A cover by Stephen Thompson, and a retail incentive variant by J.J. Lendl.
Cover A by Stephen Thompson
Retail incentive cover by J.J. Lendl
May
Star Trek: Year Five #22 (32 pages • $3.99)
Written by Jackson Lanzing, art by Stephen Thompson
For five years, the U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew have journeyed to the edge of the known universe, tackling impossible challenges and menacing foes along the way. But the biggest challenge of all awaits them here at home… and no matter what happens, the lives of Captain Kirk and his crew will be changed forever. The grand finale of Star Trek: Year Five begins here with a new issue from showrunners Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly (Gotham City Garage, Green Arrow) and artist Stephen Thompson (Satellite Falling, Die Hard: Year One).
Two covers: A cover by Stephen Thompson, and a retail incentive variant by J.J. Lendl.
Cover A by Stephen Thompson
Retail incentive cover by J.J. Lendl
Star Trek: Year Five #23 (32 pages • $3.99)
Written by Jackson Lanzing, art by Stephen Thompson
A Tholian horde bearing down on Earth, a time-traveling madman out for blood, a rot festering within the highest levels of the Federation that’s about to explode – and that’s just where we begin! The biggest battle the Enterprise and her crew have ever faced continues in part two of the amazing three-part finale of Star Trek: Year Five from showrunners Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly (Gotham City Garage, Green Arrow) and artist Stephen Thompson (Satellite Falling, Die Hard: Year One).
Two covers: A cover by Stephen Thompson, and a retail incentive variant by J.J. Lendl.
Cover A by Stephen Thompson
Retail incentive cover by J.J. Lendl
Pre-order Year Five
You can order and pre-order individual copies of Star Trek: Year Five at TFAW. Or pick up individual digital editions at Amazon/comiXology.
The third trade paperback collection Star Trek: Year Five – Weaker Than Man which collects issues 13-19 will be released on May 25th. You can pre-order it at Amazon for $19.99, or pre-order the Kindle/comiXology version for $8.66
Keep up with all the Star Trek comics news, previews and reviews in TrekMovie’s comics category.
Spock looks positively BALEFUL in that first cover … not the way I’m used to seeing him.
He looks that way because he’s on Vulcan in the past, and must make some monumental decisions that may affect the future of Vulcan and the Federation, much like how Sisko had to make decisions about how to replace Gabriel Bell while in the mid-21st century in the Past Tense episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. What Spock must do to keep the timeline steady, and what he could do to make Vulcan be Vulcan that we all know, but somehow radically different (maybe.)
I look forward to this issue, and to the other following issues as well (and unlike others here, I have no problem with Gary Seven and the Aegis being this way-they were like this in the DC Comics Star Trek title and were also opposed by Kirk and company in one of the Star Trek novels.)
OK, I have loved the artwork and the dialogue in these comics. They really feel like TOS stories, but the whole Gary Seven being evil things just does not ring true. Unless he turns out to be the mirror universe Gary that is.But that’s the only scenario I can see that justifies his actions.
Yeah, the characterization of Gary Seven has been atrocious in this series. That’s too bad, too, because otherwise I’ve loved Year Five. But the writers have done a total botch-job of writing Gary and the Aegis, and they’ve badly contradicted every other account of the “Assignment: Earth” team. As far as I’m concerned, this isn’t really Gary Seven, she isn’t really Isis, and they really aren’t the Aegis.
I agree with you. It’s out there in left field.
To me, Gary Seven doing what is does in this comic book is in line with the view of the Aegis from the DC Comics Star Trek comics (a later story in which the Aegis is recognized by Kirk as harming the peoples of the galaxy they’re ‘protecting’ ) and of the Aegis in one of the Star Trek novels, where Kirk tries to detain Gary and Roberta Lincoln when they pop up in the 23rd century again on the Enterprise.) To be brutally frank, the Aegis is full of it now trying to destroy Earth (and by extension the Federation), especially when they could’ve had Gary Seven prevent World War III and the socioeconomic calamities that existed in the United States from the 1960’s onward that led to the creation of the Sanctuary Districts in the early-to-mid 21st century; Earth is now quite peaceful and better than it has been (and was essential in the creation of the United Federation Of Planets), yet now they want to destroy it? That shows how bogus and over-controlling the Aegis is, and that’s what makes this storyline good.
It wasn’t that long ago that IDW covered the end of the five year mission with “Mission’s End”. Now they’re doing it again, likely contradicting their own previous comic too.
I seem to recall DC comics had their own take on the end of TOS’ five year mission also. I have no idea if the novels also covered the “last” TOS mission but I’m guessing more than a few of them did.
So far, there have been more than 10 different “final mission” stories, several of them from IDW.
I love how the Enterprise is all shot to hell in that cover, but the pylons have no damage of course. LOL
I wonder if it’s intended to align with the refit of the Enterprise that takes place between the end of this story and The Motion Picture.
Any chance we can see the interior art?
I really don’t buy comics for the covers alone, and the interior art nowadays leaves a lot to be desired.
The interior art is very good, and is a heck of a lot better then when DC Comics did a post-Wrath Of Khan comic book in the early ’80’s, if you want to compare how good art is today with that of yesterday.
TOS fifth year ?Fanseries “Star Trek Continues” !
Fan film acting tends to be awful, and STC is no different. Plus, by its very nature it isn’t part of the franchise.
Yes! STAR TREK CONTINUES did a wonderful job! Vic and and cast really excellend themselves with this fan-series, and the two-part finale particularly.
I see a lot of jealousy against Vic from the fan community in some quarters, alas.
No one is “jealous” of Vic. I will never understand why fans mistake criticism for jealousy. Jealousy rarely has anything to do with it, and the claim that it does is myopic.
B.S. There is jealousy out there in some corners of Trek fandom.
I didn’t say jealousy doesn’t exist. I said it rarely has anything to do with why people criticize fan films. Recognizing that acting is bad isn’t due to jealousy.
Also, the accomplishment of Star Trek Continues that Mignogna made is now going to be colored by the revelations of his behavior at conventions with female attendees.
ALLEGED behavior….and old news as well…like 3 years old…
Hopefully they follow this up with a “lost years” series covering the 2 1/2 year gap between the first 5YM and ST:TMP…
…or a “what if” series adapting the 13 “Phase II” Scripts-Treatments – Showing us an alternate universe STAR TREK – setting up why Spock didn’t return (Didn’t they say he became the head of the Vulcan Science Academy) and putting everything in place for “In Thy Image”….
All of that has been covered multiple times already in both the comics and the novels. I’d prefer to see them cover new ground.
Not as it would have been if it was Phase II – The Books and Comics gave us a 2nd FYM in continuity of ST:TMP not Phase II – Let’s see a comic with the costumes and esthetics and the 14 stories as they would have been done in 1977!
A Kirk who didn’t take the promotion after the classic FYM, a McCoy who didn’t leave STARFLEET, Spock heading off to run the Science Academy. Easily get 2 years out of the comic – giving 3-4 issues to IN THY IMAGE – the original version – and 3-4 issues for the 2-part “Kitumba” (NOT Influenced by the future development of the Klingons in the TNG era like NV did). There’s a good couple of issues to set up whatever happened in the gap between TOS and P2 to show what happened – Spock’s choice to go to the Science Academy, Decker becoming “First”, Xon being chosen to be chief science officer fresh out of the academy.
I would love to see that episodes filmed and aired in the late 70s in an alternate universe were Phase II was realized instead of TMP!
Kirk Lost Era should be him as Chief of Starfleet Operations with Lori Cinai, a top diplomat, as his wife and Nogura the mastermind CIC. Should have been Tom Clancy’s Op Centre meets Foundation complete with diplomatic, scientific and military crises, Federation council dealings, colonization, first contacts, special operations, dilithium crystal shortages, scientific debates, etc. Kirk trying to get out into the field should open the door for us to see Starbases, other crews, Prime Teams, colonies, freighters, dilithium mines, etc. FASA had it where Starfleet was being seen as too expansionary given the starship losses of the time with Kirk drafted basically by Nogura to save Starfleet from turning inward. Add to that the Organians. Ironically both Kirk/Nogura would succeed only to be demoted as warmongers by anti-exploration forces in the UFP (unresolved since FASA lost the license after Star Trek IV). This I think is exciting stuff and I’d love to see that maybe even in a reboot.
The DC version had Kirk pausing before he left the empty bridge and taking the plaque off the wall. I thought that was a nice touch.
As did I.