There’s a lot of awe in this book.

Written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, the scripting in Star Trek Year Five #1 is thoroughly meaty. Lots of description and dialogue that is not only substantially in its detail but also does well in communicating a true sense of the characters.

In the last year of Captain Kirk’s famous five-year mission aboard the original Enterprise, we are shown a crew who is not only familiar with the challenges and discoveries of space exploration but who are also thoroughly well-known to each other.

Kirk and crew are coming to the end of their mission and are about to be recalled. Their last scientific mission is interrupted by a distress call. Meanwhile, while all of this is happening, Kirk is pondering being offered an Admiral’s posting when he returns home. Of course, the major dilemma is this: he doesn’t want to go home.

This is a seasoned captain and crew. They are no longer surprised by the infinite diversity of space – they welcome it; they are used to it and each other. However, they are not tired of it or each other – they simply know their jobs and they do it very well.

In one panel, we see Chekov’s youthful excitement over the Enterprise’s final mission: to safely contain the energy of a collapsing hypergiant and save over 10,000 planets within its immediate explosive vicinity. This is the Chekov we know and in response to this exuberance, we are treated to a lengthy and overly rational diatribe from Spock who describes the danger of the situation and chastising the young ensign for his description of it being “fun.” Chekov’s muttered response is not only entertaining but also an authentic one well in tune with the character.

The beginning of the story is very sinister, however and lends itself to a great deal of curiosity. A shadowy figure is holding a pistol to a beleaguered Captain Kirk’s head, who is recording his final log and that opens the story by describing the aforementioned mission.

It’s also the mood that has been expertly captured in this story. It’s present in McCoy’s surliness, Sulu and Chekov’s banter, Spock’s elongated, overly logical statements and Kirk’s private, deeply brooding moments. Lanzing and Kelly’s dialogue precisely portrays the right dynamics among the characters and even their decision-making process is well-reflected.

There’s a lot happening in this story; a great multitude of different minor plotlines in this book that not only tease us with the promise of different pathways of exploration for the reader but also real concerns the characters have that are situated in their eventual canonical career choices. Lanzing and Kelly provide us with a script that is phenomenally rich in the texture and content that would be expected from a Star Trek episode script in the last of its five-year mission. It’s a difficult thing to surprise us with canon, but Lanzing and Kelly have accomplished that, and that is a truly awesome thing.

Of course, the scintillating artwork from Stephen Thompson is a true pleasure to discover as well. Thompson gives us his idea of rich texture in terms of expression, body language, camera angles of view and a tremendous amount of detail as well. When Kirk and McCoy are discussing the possibility of being an Admiral, we are treated to a real work of sequential storytelling that make this a true candidate for one of those missing fifth year mission stories.

This comic is a sheer work of genius art in that it collects the essence of the matured third-season Star Trek that made it such a memorable show.

When a comic boasts five variant covers and three out of the five covers are versions of the same design by the legendary Greg Hildebrandt, then that’s a definite signal from IDW that they are really taking this particular Trek title seriously.

• The regular cover is simply remarkable. Anyone who grew up in the eighties and read fantasy titles would know both Greg and Tim Hildebrandt’s work. It’s iconic and so unmistakable. Both Greg and Tim’s works were labours of love. They were characterized by emotional intensity and action. On this cover is a combination of sequential and stylistic art.
   
  The crew, led by Doctor McCoy are in the middle of beaming down to a planet on the bottom half of the page, while the top half is a stylistic image of Kirk and Spock, accompanied by the Enterprise on the left-hand side of the cover, surrounded by shooting stars and stellar phenomenon. It’s a tricky combination of aspects but an absolutely incredible experience to enjoy.
   
• Hildebrandt’s artwork also adorns the retailer-incentive cover ‘B’ as well as the convention-exclusive cover variant — a rough pencil image, and a finished pencil variant.
   
• The retailer-incentive cover ‘A’ is by J.J. Lendl. I’m not very familiar with Lendl’s work but this is a really enjoyable piece of work as well. A stylized design that sees a split page of side portraits of Kirk and Spock with a rising Enterprise dividing the page. A litter of cameo portraits dot the top side of the page featuring various members of the crew. It’s quite a striking design and very intricate.
   
• Finally, the Diamond retailer summit exclusive cover is a photocover featuring the all-familiar portrait of Uhura, Kirk, Spock and McCoy that fans will easily recognize. I’m not a photocover fan, but I understand the appeal.

Star Trek Year Five is a thick and juicy Trek story that begins with an event that clearly is at the end of this story arc. Given that this is a regular series and not an abbreviated mini-series, it’s a book that holds a great deal of promise for fans of this franchise.

I’d recommend that you adjust your orders wherever you purchase your comics for this one and prepare to go to Awe Factor 8!