First announced back in July, Star Trek: Waypoint is a new anthology-format comic from IDW that seeks to explore all the incarnations of Star Trek in its many formats.

Waypoint will be revisiting all aspects of the Prime Trek universe – including all five live-action shows along with the Animated Series era – but won’t necessarily be strictly tied to the on-screen continuity.

“Some of the Waypoint stories will be more in-continuity than others,” IDW group editor Sarah Gaydos told us at the Mission New York convention last month.

Waypoint #1 is the first of a six-issue run set for a bi-monthly release over the next year, but Gaydos is already hopeful that the anthology series will continue past 2017.

“I definitely think of this as the first six issues,” said Gaydos. “If the sales are there, it will be something that we do maybe once a year – I have enough wonderful story pitches that it could to on for a long time. I wish I could green-light them all right now!”

*   *   *

Order Waypoint #1

This premiere issue includes two of these short stories, while far from disappointing, were a bit too few to give this book the lift it needed to launch. Still, the book was enjoyable and offered a great deal of possibilities to consider for future issues.

Overall, there’s a contemplative vibe about the whole book. The first tale, Puzzles, is a story about Data and Geordi LaForge, who are teamed up in a future version of Star Trek: The Next Generation on board their own ship, crewed by a variety of holographic Datas and captained by LaForge.

Of course, with Data’s positronic matrix uploaded into the ship’s computer, it’s a very interesting and refreshing interpretation of Data’s character. The duo encounter an extremely unique lifeform and while the story offers new dimensions on the relationship between the two, it’s an excellent rendering of the partnership that would live up to fan expectations.

True to form, writer Donny Cates does a particularly fine job of capturing the friendship between these iconic characters. While he redefines them, he also doesn’t lose track of the essential dynamics of the friendship between these two but still manages to add something new for fans to appreciate.

The artwork is solid and clear. The likenesses are pretty accurate – which is particular insecurity for artists. Mack Chater accredits himself well with his penciling. However, I found that the limited use of colour palette muted the artwork somewhat and reduced its vibrancy.

Still, it was an extremely thought-provoking story that gave something new for Next Generation fans to enjoy. This creative approach to the franchise was definitely something to appreciate and think about.

Daylily, with both story and artwork by Sandra Lanz, is an Original Series story that solely focuses on everyone’s favourite communications officer, Lieutenant Uhura, placing her in a first contact situation. While the ending seemed a little vague, the story had a relaxing vibe to it that reminds us that exploration and the discovery of new life in Star Trek can also be peaceful and pleasant.

The one-sided dialogue mode is a difficult one to employ when telling a story, but it allows for a more in-depth perspective in the lead character – and what Star Trek fan doesn’t like a story about Lieutenant Uhura?

In this story Uhura encounters a new lifeform and initiates communication with it. As it is a lifeform we are treated to see a gentle and relaxing way of first communication between a new species and a crewmember of the Enterprise which is a different mode of first contact than traditional Star Trek fans are used to.