Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

In the 1990s when Marvel re-obtained the rights to the Star Trek franchise, they created an all-new series about the cadets of Starfleet. Titled Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, the book was set during the time of The Next Generation. Nog, the Ferengi child from DS9, was one of the main characters. But other than he, it was pretty much an original concept. The series ran for 17 issues before being cancelled. 

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy from IDW Publishing is a continuation of that 90s series. That was my first thought when I saw this trade paperback at a recent swap meet. On this cover of this book is a Vulcan and an Andorian. Both species were main characters in the Marvel series. So with the faces of Kelvin timeline Spock, Kirk and Uhura, I assumed that this was the new timelines reboot of the book. Turns out, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy from IDW Publishing is NOT a continuation of that 90s series.

In this 2015-16 miniseries, the adventures of Kelvin timeline Kirk and company are intermingled with an all-new class of cadets. The new students' storyline takes place 3 years just after the events of 2009's Star Trek, in which the planet Vulcan is destroyed by Nero. 

A young Vulcan cadet struggles with the decision to continue her studies at Starfleet or to resign and help the founding of New Vulcan. Her faculty adviser tries to persuade her to stay until the completion of a Starfleet competition against other academies of higher thought spread across the universe. Usually an Academy loner, the Vulcan cadet now must learn to work as part of a team of misfits. Meanwhile, three years into the past, Uhura uncovers a dark secret about the founding of Starfleet. What she uncovers and the adventures of the new class combine to make an epic storyline that I thoroughly enjoyed.

There's lots of great Easter eggs in this book. Mike Johnson (Star Trek/Green Lantern) crafts an intriguing story that spans 'generations'. But really, the magic of this book is all thanks to artist Derek Charm. The illustrator of the Star Wars Adventures series, also from IDW, Charm loves to add characters and elements taken from other parts of whatever franchise he is tackling. It really connects the story so perfectly. I'd love to share a few examples, but if you were to decide to read this book, I'd be spoiling quite a bit of fun.

One thing that irritated me was a small level of story inconsistency. In the first two issues, the story jumps back and forth 3 years. In issue #3, the story is said to occur back and forth only 2 years apart. If that was the natural progression of the story, I would be fine with this. However, in the fourth issue, it's back to a 3 years distance between Kirk's class and the new cadets. 

For a story that did some really amazingly unexpected things with the Star Trek franchise, that small error is a huge blotch! It's like someone put a pink mole of the Mona Lisa! Despite this, I'd really like to see these characters again. Another miniseries would be great. Since Chris Pine is supposedly done with the Star Trek films, a movie based on this new group would be freaking awesome!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.