Our Trek Comics editor Patrick Hayes is back with a review of this month’s issue of IDW Publishing’s Star Trek comic series: the fifth chapter of “The Q Gambit,” an ongoing six-part saga.
Order Star Trek #59
- Interior artist Tony Shasteen created the regular cover with Sisko and Kirk before Q. Kirk has his fists clenched, ready for action, while Sisko is just behind him with arms folded, wondering if this legend is strong enough to assist him. The gigantic Q behind the pair looks hauntingly beyond the men, colored a ghostly blue with a starfield filling in the dark portions of his body. Excellent cover that hints at things without spoiling.
- The photo cover is a standard shot of Deep Space 9 with the wormhole opening behind it. I would have liked to have seen the rebooted Enterprise or the Defiant in the same shot, but this is fine.
This penultimate chapter of “The Q Gambit” moves along at a really quick clip. The Defiant, piloted by Keiko O’Brien, arrives at resistance outpost Paradise only to find it smoldering from a Dominion attack. Kirk, Sisko, Odo, and Keiko beam down and are greeted by the bodies of the dead.
Thankfully, Sisko’s son Jake and Jadzia Dax are alive. They share information and the story then moves to Terok Nor where a Pah-wraith has possessed Gul Dukat before Kira, Spock, and McCoy. A moment of hope on Page 7 is destroyed on 8, leading to a not so unexpected turn on 11.
Writer Mike Johnson, manages to keep surprises popping up on every page starting on 13, as someone is going somewhere, 14’s death, 15’s reuniting, 16’s escape–I could go on. Page 22 has Q’s second appearance in this issue and he reveals whey Kirk and his crew have been sent tumbling into the future. This was a sensational justification for this epic and is completely reasonable.
Q always has a reason for needing humans’ help, and this is no exception. I’m sure the crew will come out of this just fine, but I’m dying to see what becomes of the surviving future Trek characters. It’s going to be a long 30 days.
The visuals are again provided by Tony Shasteen, but they don’t seem to be as photo referenced as they have been in previous issues. Does the art suffer because of this? Not at all!
The beam down scene on 3 looks great with a destroyed structure and the Defiant behind our heroes. Sisko’s expression at the bottom of that page carries a lot of emotional weight as he turns. Gul Dukat looks tremendous on Page 6, with Kira looking rightfully terrified. The action on Page 8 is superb and the last panel is downright demonic. Sisko again gets the spotlight, this time on 11, looking pained.
Minor glitches do occur — McCoy on 8 and 9 (What is it with Karl Urban’s likeness that proves to be troublesome for so many artists?) and Q on 10 and 22. The other 99% of this book looks great, but when everything looks so good these moments do stick out.
Beautiful coloring on this book from Davide Mastrolonardo. His lighting effects are really accomplished well, such as in the first panel on Page 1, the beaming effect on 3, and the energy effects on two key individuals. These same two characters are illustrated without pupils to allow the colors to denote their new existence, and Mastrolonardo makes both equally powerful.
Rather than resort to the dark overpowering browns and blues of the this dystopian future, Mastronolonardo mixes in some bright colors for backgrounds to break up the page, which he does exceptionally well on Page 17.
Scene setting and dialogue (the same font) and a few key sounds are provided by Neil Uyetake. The sound effects are very inconsistent on this issue; for example, a phaser shot is seen and heard on Page 20, but when a shoot out follows the battle is oddly silent.
There was more than enough space on Page 21 to include the phaser blasts, but the scene is sadly mute. What gives?