Villordsutch reviews Star Trek #47…
It’s the mind-bending conclusion of “The Tholian Webs!” One crew member makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the Enterprise in this all-new re-imagining of a classic Star Trek episode!
If you missed part 1 of The Tholain Webs from last month’s Star Trek #46 [check out our review here] then I give to you a quick compressed recap. We witnessed Sulu commandeer the Enterprise Bridge and Scotty take control of the main functionality of the Enterprise due to the madness caused by “Interphase”, as well as the Enterprise slowly complete a saucer separation. Not only this but the Tholians have arrived and have begun to entwine both parts of the ship in their infamous web. With no way to regain control of the Enterprise due to his crew descending into madness and his ship in pieces – whilst slowly being taken into custody by the Tholians – it isn’t looking good for Kirk.
All of this was delivered in one opening issue of a two-parter and one of my main concerns was that this was going to be over to quickly come the second issue, and I’ll be upfront here and say it is. However looking upon it I can see the path being taken. Yes there were other concerns raised within my last review, like the Delta/Alpha quadrant crossing, but as “Hartzilla2007” pointed out to me on the trekbbs boards, “they’re accurately recreating the feel of space travel in TOS.” Also you could say the same of this within the NuTrek Universe when you consider how long it now takes to warp to Vulcan. However, returning to the “path being taken”, Mike Johnson appears to be setting up another enemy to for future use, as with Dark Syndicate in opener Eurydice, and here we now have the introduction of the Tholians for any new fans – that and for us older fans whose brain cells need that jolt once in a while.
That being said, the tale is still to compressed for my liking. I enjoy more the three-issue (plus) breathing room that IDW gives to Mike – on the odd occasion – when he can properly flesh out his stories and give them the time they deserve. There are still some excellent moments within the story, like Uhuru playing possum, Scotty being the one truly in control (or so he thinks), and the interaction in the final six panels (you need to see it to understand). However, the Interphase is dealt with too rapidly, and so too are the Tholains, but as mentioned above I can see where this may be going.
On top of the story you do have that fantastic artwork from Rachael Stott, who really needs to be the Star Trek Ongoing artist, for the art she delivers absolutely suits the feel of this comic to a tee. One extra addition of praise needs to be added – if you’re a subscriber this month you will be getting a rather excellent cover from Derek Charm; the cover has nothing to do with this month’s story, but it is still brilliant to look at nevertheless.
A better closing chapter than its opener, but I’d have preferred it to be given more breathing room so we would have had more peril from the Tholains. Still, I’m guessing in a few issues down the line we’ll be seeing them again soon.
Rating: 6/10
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?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=IWWtOQOZSTI
Originally published July 22, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
