Villordsutch reviews Star Trek: Starfleet Academy #4…
The hit new series continues here as our all new cast of cadets sets off on their first mission in space and headlong into a century-old mystery that could change the Academy forever. Meanwhile, Uhura risks her career in Starfleet with her only chance at redemption coming from a most unlikely place.
After last month’s issue [read the review here] where the mystery NX-05 Slayton was revealed and the mutiny of this marooned vessel within Wagner-219 was unearthed by Cadet Uhura, the comic book series took a rather excellent turn in a very interesting direction. Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott had slowly been stoking this fire; now they’ve begun to pump pure oxygen into the furnace and it’s begun to glow so bright!
As our new Cadets make the rookie mistake of upsetting the beautiful end of a rather vicious looking space worm, our story returns to the past and we see Spock take his first steps into “not lying” and yet telling the truth in a special way. It’s after this guardian angel manoeuvre from Spock that Uhura is saved from the wrath of Starfleet – along with Admiral Marcus – then after a brief conversation their relationship troubles seem to be repaired.
Back in present day, our new cadets have made a very narrow escape, however they’ve lost a considerable amount of time. Coming up to the quarantined sector of space – Wagner-219 – they unanimously, though rather begrudgingly for T’Lann, decide to slingshot around the outside of this anomaly. It is here they hit trouble and it’s also here we also discover who the NX-05 Slayton was talking to in the last issue.
The pace the comic moves is so amazingly fast, it’s over in a flash! From the opening pages to the final crew member biography you’ll feel like you blinked and missed pages, and both Mike and Ryan have delivered a firework of an issue here. The Slayton mystery is unfolding even more, we’re now left wondering whether Starfleet really did send ships out to look for this missing vessel or did they just realise it was lost in this odd area of space and dare not enter? Also, is Marcus once again hiding more that he’s letting on? We also have Spock and Uhura’s relationship being brought back to a calmer, steadier sea, and it’s great to see Spock still looking out for his partner even though their relationship was technically over.
Before I cheer about Derek Charms excellent art again, I have to first point out the retailer incentive cover from David Malan is certainly a cover to aim for this issue. Derek Charm’s artwork in this series is just spot on! It really is excellent! He brings a fantastic animated feel to the comic, giving it a younger, vibrant, energetic glow and it makes the comic so enjoyable to read, especially when there is a great story backing it up.
David Malan’s Cover
After last month I thought, ‘This is it, this is the bar setter.’ However now, issue #4 has come along and shown us that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is an excellent read and it’s getting better all the time.
Rating:- 9/10
Originally published March 16, 2016. Updated June 30, 2023.
