Villordsutch Reviews Star Trek #41…
“Behemoth,” part 1 of 2: In the wake of their century-spanning encounter with Q, the crew of the U.S.S Enterprise leaves explored space behind to embark on a new five-year mission of discovery! Beyond the reach of Starfleet communications, they can only rely on each other when faced with their first encounter in uncharted territory—and it might be their last! Don’t miss this perfect jumping-on point for new readers, produced in association with STAR TREK writer-producer Roberto Orci!
After our Q Universe episodes over the past few months, normal service is now resumed and as you can read – with the blurb above – the crew are far away from the Federation and now off into their five-year mission. So here begins our new set of adventures and straight away we’re introduced to a new crew member, and a possible love interest for Chekov called Irina. Not only this, but the story quickly glances over Carol Marcus with an off-duty Jim Kirk, a quick and brief spat with Spock and Uhura, and an introduction to the skills of Officer 0718; if you’re new to the Star Trek comic book universe this is the issue to start at.
It’s after these fast introductions have passed by the real story begins. In a true Trek tradition it’s a proper beauty of a beast as well – in the art department it occupies two whole pages it’s that massive, a Sun eater no less. As Kirk & Co. initially attempt to assist a crippled unknown vessel it quickly becomes clear that the only survivor wasn’t sending out a cry for help, more of a warning to get away from this part of the galaxy. It’s quite an exciting opening to this new adventure from Mike Johnson following on from the rather brilliant Q Gambit. He could have stumbling into a “Second Album” problem but he hasn’t; he’s given both barrels of an exciting Star Trek opener here.
As for the art from Cat Staggs on the opening few pages I wasn’t overly keen on what I was seeing as the characters looked a bit flat and emotionless (slightly Odo in appearance), but as the comic moved on, life began to arrive into the scenes which had been missed on the initial opener and I began to appreciate it a lot more.
Star Trek #41 is a true piece of sci-fi and a true piece of Trek. A great opening story for the new adventures from Mike Johnson.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqtW2LRPtQY&list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E
Originally published February 11, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
