I gotta tell you, I couldn't decide what comic book material I should review next. Surely, I have already reviewed Maximum Carnage in all it's glory and judging by the heading on the main website, I may have a look at some of the Marvel Star Wars comics, but for now, I'm gonna go Trekkie. I have to be quite honest, I am not the hugest Trekkie out there, I mean don't get me wrong, I love Star Trek (particularly the Original and Next Generation), but I just never really got into it has much as I did Star Wars or Marvel Comics. But Star Trek is awesome, and in my book is perhaps the greatest science fiction television series ever conceived, Dr. Who coming in at a close tie.
My all time favorite episode of Star Trek is probably Balance of Terror, for it was the first time the Enterprise ever encountered Romulans and had a plot very similar to the 1957 film, The Enemy Below. My all time favorite character in Star Trek is hands down Spock. I love Spock, and Leonard Nimoy portrays him so pragmatically that it seems like he is Spock, in both the show and in real life. And who can forget the line "Annihilation, Jim. Total, complete, absolute, annihilation." I think it's also interesting how Spock becomes more and more human in each unfolding Star Trek chapter, which brings me to the comic we are going to talk about today.
The 2009 Star Trek film by J.J. Abrams was incredible. The casting was perfect, the character development was well thought out and for a reboot/prequel to the most well known science fiction series in history, it got the job done fluently. But I will admit, when I first saw the movie, I was a bit baffled at the story and plot of the film, for like other Star Trek films and science fiction films in general, it dealt with time travel and the formation of alternate realities. Luckily, the folks over at IDW Publishing were able to make comic series to explain what occurred in the 24th century that led to the formation of an alternate reality and the destiny adverting of several TOS characters. And I gotta say, for what it was, it was pretty fascinating. I mean, it was nothing groundbreakingly awesome and it didn't make my eyes bleed, but I enjoyed it and really thought it was a great way to further tie the original Star Trek with Star Trek: The Next Generation.
As you can tell by the cover above, many of The Next Generation characters appear in this comic series. According to many sources, the events in this comic take place about 8 years after the film Star Trek: Nemesis. As you may recall in that film, Data programmed his memory into the B-4 prototype shortly before he died saving the Enterprise-E from destruction at the hands of Shinzon. It is revealed in this comic that Data's memory overwrote B-4's programming and in fact resurrected Data, who has become the captain of the Enterprise-E. I was shocked to see this and was very happy, for he is one of my all time favorite characters. I guess they were trying to mirror the resurrection of Spock in Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock. Interesting to note, that the Starfleet uniforms Data and the other crew members are wearin in the comics are the same suits that the crew members wear in Star Trek: Online. Jean-Luc Picard and Geordi La Forge also make appearances, Geordi revealed to be the one who built the Jellyfish, the ship Spock traveled back in time with, and the ship that carries red matter, a powerful substance capable of creating artificial blackholes. But the comic focuses primarily on two characters. Ambassador Spock, who has been the Ambassador of Romulus for some time by that point, and the Romulan miner Nero, captain of the mining vessel, the Narada. Gee, I love that name. Just say it, Narada!
A dying star is about to become a supernova, and Ambassador Spock makes a deal with Nero to use the Jellyfish to implant red matter into the dying star so an artificial blackhole with eat away the star before the supernova wipes away all surrounding planets, including Romulus. Of course, as explaining in the 2009 film, Spock is unsuccessful with stopping the star, and it destroys Romulus, deeply infuriating Nero, who's wife and unborn child were on the planet at the time of it's destruction. Of course, Nero goes ape-crazy, shaves his head, gets tattooed and goes killing people who get in his way as he vows vengeance on not only Spock, but the entire United Federation of Planets. I think it was interesting to see Nero's evolution throughout the comics. He starts out as a typical Romulan miner who loves his wife and is very kind to Spock, but as Spock fails at saving his homeworld, he looses his mind and takes pride in the suffering and pain of others. Spock is also very well developed in the comics. Although he failed in saving Romulus, he knew he made a terrible mistake, and tried with all his might to make sure it didn't happen again.
This eventually leads him to finally stopping the supernova right before it wipes away Spock's own homeworld, Vulcan, which as we all know in the 2009 film was destroyed by Nero. It's ironic if you think about it. Spock caused the destruction of Nero's homeworld, and Nero caused the destruction of Spock's homeworld in the alternate reality. That's almost the same as the plot in Tim Burton's Batman, Jack Napier causing Bruce Wayne to become the Batman, and Batman fails at saving Napier, causing to fall in a pool of chemicals, turning into the Joker. Anyway, Nero is very angry at Spock, stating that he was able to save his homeworld at the cost of his. Nero then goes to destroy Spock, but just as he does, Spock enters the artificial blackhole, Nero following him, which as we all know leads to the events portraying in the 2009 film, such as the destruction of USS Kelvin and the death of James T. Kirk's father. By the way, the original Shatner Kirk actually makes an appearance in one of the comics, but to find out where he fits in, why not try reading the comics.
Overall, Countdown was an incendiary string of comics, carefully setting up the events of the new movie and the sequels that will follow. I personally am looking forward to the sequels Abrams will be putting out in the next couple of years. If they are anything like the first film, we are in for a wild ride. Maybe, if we are lucky, we will be able to see the resurrection of Shatner's Captain Kirk, or the return of Khan, or maybe a reboot of The Next Generation. How awesome would that be? Maybe James McEvoy or Tom Hardy could play young Jean-Luc Picard. Nevertheless, Countdown is a great for all Trekkies who are looking for a new adventure to enjoy, for Star Trek is filled with many odds and ends to entertain many people for generations to come. There's mirror universes, holographic simulations, vulcan nerve pinches, dilithium crystals, head scratching technobabble, there is a lot to discover in the worlds Gene Roddenbery has has worked so hard to incept. Live long and prosper!
My all time favorite episode of Star Trek is probably Balance of Terror, for it was the first time the Enterprise ever encountered Romulans and had a plot very similar to the 1957 film, The Enemy Below. My all time favorite character in Star Trek is hands down Spock. I love Spock, and Leonard Nimoy portrays him so pragmatically that it seems like he is Spock, in both the show and in real life. And who can forget the line "Annihilation, Jim. Total, complete, absolute, annihilation." I think it's also interesting how Spock becomes more and more human in each unfolding Star Trek chapter, which brings me to the comic we are going to talk about today.
The 2009 Star Trek film by J.J. Abrams was incredible. The casting was perfect, the character development was well thought out and for a reboot/prequel to the most well known science fiction series in history, it got the job done fluently. But I will admit, when I first saw the movie, I was a bit baffled at the story and plot of the film, for like other Star Trek films and science fiction films in general, it dealt with time travel and the formation of alternate realities. Luckily, the folks over at IDW Publishing were able to make comic series to explain what occurred in the 24th century that led to the formation of an alternate reality and the destiny adverting of several TOS characters. And I gotta say, for what it was, it was pretty fascinating. I mean, it was nothing groundbreakingly awesome and it didn't make my eyes bleed, but I enjoyed it and really thought it was a great way to further tie the original Star Trek with Star Trek: The Next Generation.
As you can tell by the cover above, many of The Next Generation characters appear in this comic series. According to many sources, the events in this comic take place about 8 years after the film Star Trek: Nemesis. As you may recall in that film, Data programmed his memory into the B-4 prototype shortly before he died saving the Enterprise-E from destruction at the hands of Shinzon. It is revealed in this comic that Data's memory overwrote B-4's programming and in fact resurrected Data, who has become the captain of the Enterprise-E. I was shocked to see this and was very happy, for he is one of my all time favorite characters. I guess they were trying to mirror the resurrection of Spock in Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock. Interesting to note, that the Starfleet uniforms Data and the other crew members are wearin in the comics are the same suits that the crew members wear in Star Trek: Online. Jean-Luc Picard and Geordi La Forge also make appearances, Geordi revealed to be the one who built the Jellyfish, the ship Spock traveled back in time with, and the ship that carries red matter, a powerful substance capable of creating artificial blackholes. But the comic focuses primarily on two characters. Ambassador Spock, who has been the Ambassador of Romulus for some time by that point, and the Romulan miner Nero, captain of the mining vessel, the Narada. Gee, I love that name. Just say it, Narada!
A dying star is about to become a supernova, and Ambassador Spock makes a deal with Nero to use the Jellyfish to implant red matter into the dying star so an artificial blackhole with eat away the star before the supernova wipes away all surrounding planets, including Romulus. Of course, as explaining in the 2009 film, Spock is unsuccessful with stopping the star, and it destroys Romulus, deeply infuriating Nero, who's wife and unborn child were on the planet at the time of it's destruction. Of course, Nero goes ape-crazy, shaves his head, gets tattooed and goes killing people who get in his way as he vows vengeance on not only Spock, but the entire United Federation of Planets. I think it was interesting to see Nero's evolution throughout the comics. He starts out as a typical Romulan miner who loves his wife and is very kind to Spock, but as Spock fails at saving his homeworld, he looses his mind and takes pride in the suffering and pain of others. Spock is also very well developed in the comics. Although he failed in saving Romulus, he knew he made a terrible mistake, and tried with all his might to make sure it didn't happen again.
This eventually leads him to finally stopping the supernova right before it wipes away Spock's own homeworld, Vulcan, which as we all know in the 2009 film was destroyed by Nero. It's ironic if you think about it. Spock caused the destruction of Nero's homeworld, and Nero caused the destruction of Spock's homeworld in the alternate reality. That's almost the same as the plot in Tim Burton's Batman, Jack Napier causing Bruce Wayne to become the Batman, and Batman fails at saving Napier, causing to fall in a pool of chemicals, turning into the Joker. Anyway, Nero is very angry at Spock, stating that he was able to save his homeworld at the cost of his. Nero then goes to destroy Spock, but just as he does, Spock enters the artificial blackhole, Nero following him, which as we all know leads to the events portraying in the 2009 film, such as the destruction of USS Kelvin and the death of James T. Kirk's father. By the way, the original Shatner Kirk actually makes an appearance in one of the comics, but to find out where he fits in, why not try reading the comics.
Overall, Countdown was an incendiary string of comics, carefully setting up the events of the new movie and the sequels that will follow. I personally am looking forward to the sequels Abrams will be putting out in the next couple of years. If they are anything like the first film, we are in for a wild ride. Maybe, if we are lucky, we will be able to see the resurrection of Shatner's Captain Kirk, or the return of Khan, or maybe a reboot of The Next Generation. How awesome would that be? Maybe James McEvoy or Tom Hardy could play young Jean-Luc Picard. Nevertheless, Countdown is a great for all Trekkies who are looking for a new adventure to enjoy, for Star Trek is filled with many odds and ends to entertain many people for generations to come. There's mirror universes, holographic simulations, vulcan nerve pinches, dilithium crystals, head scratching technobabble, there is a lot to discover in the worlds Gene Roddenbery has has worked so hard to incept. Live long and prosper!
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