Star Trek: Countdown #3 (of 4) (IDW – Orci / Kurtzman / Johnson / Jones/ Messina / Niro)
The countdown to the motion picture event of 2009 begins here, in the exclusive comics prequel to the upcoming blockbuster STAR TREK! JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman present the origin of Nero, the mysterious Romulan who will ultimately threaten the survival of the entire universe. Don’t miss story leading up to the movie!
Sometimes, these movie prequel books really have nothing to do with the story, aren’t done by the same writers, aren’t true to the characters and to be honest are just products to fleece the hungry and sometimes short-sighted fan (Yes, X-Men The Movie prequel and Superman Returns prequel, I am looking directly at you guys).
NOT THIS ONE!
This is perhaps the best movie-tie-in comic I have ever read. It’s from the same creative team behind the new Trek movie, it ties in directly to the movie (to the point where the scuttlebutt is that if you don’t read the comic you might not have the whole story) and stays entirely true to the Trek continuum.
Spoilers below… don’t read it if you don’t want give-a-ways, but know this series is worth your well-earned geek-buck!
This penultimate issue centers around the race between the revenge-crazed Nero and the team of Picard / Spock / Data (recently also enter La Forge). Nero, with his newly “Borg”-ized mining ship is destroying anything and everyone in it’s wake, with his eyes set on the destruction of Vulcan. He has laid waste to Federation, Cardassian and Klingon ships in his focused mission. Needless to say that the issue closes with everyone’s favorite Federation-trained Klingon General with a fleet of dozens of Warbirds ready to kick Nero’s ass.
I cheered out loud!
Okay, so some of the writing feels a little stilted in that “how can we get other Trek characters in here?”, “What reason can La Forge have for being in the issue?” and the “Let’s create a situation where we can bring in Worf” way. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter. Star Trek has always had a little melodrama and bravado in it, it’s part of the Trek DNA and infrastructure. It just is, we as the fans need to deal with that.
Some of the Trekkies and Trekkers out there are getting a little self-righteous about Abrams attempt to re-vamp the Trek line… well if anyone saw Nemesis or is watching those Enterprise re-runs… they should know dang well, it’s time for a re-boot! Bring it J.J., you’re the monster and the master story-teller who can make this happen! If Countdown is any sort of prelude to what is coming in the new movie, no fan (new or old) will be disappointed!
Trust me, you will be so sad if you do not pick up this sleeper series!
Grade: A+
sidenote: Hey IDW, I love your books, but how about updating your hard-to-wrangle website?
