Star Trek: New Visions #5

I've been re-cataloging my collection currently. I'm creating a back-up in case my main archive ever goes away. In this lengthy process, I am coming across some treasured items. I'm also realizing there's a lot of stuff I forgot I had, like this issue from John Bryne's photo-comic series Star Trek: New Visions. 

Taking stills from the original series along with newly created CGI-art, Bryne created a 22-issue issue series that I imagine had to have been a lot harder to create than it looks. With drawing your own comic book, your imagination can run wild. But by basing your visuals on photographs, there's only so much you can work with without being repetitive. And if you want to add action to the images though digital means, there's an even finer line you can't cross without making the changes look fake. That's the massive challenge Byrne has with this issue. 

In the story 'A Scent of Ghosts', Number One from the pilot episode 'The Cage' has returned to the Enterprise. The officer is on a short trip to her newest assignment as the commander of the USS Yorktown. Eventually, the Enterprise catches up with its sister ship. Only, the crew of the Yorktown is missing!

Kirk leads a landing party to the Yorktown. But within moments, Kirk's team begins to vanish as well, leaving only Dr. McCoy left on board to conduct the investigation! As the country space doctor checks through records, both Spock and Number One, along with Scotty, notice that the last encounter the Yorktown crew had was with a ship that the former crew members of Captain Pike are very familiar with. Only, the last time they parted ways, it was as friends. 

Scenes of Captain Pike's original interactions are peppered throughout this tribute to the most unknown first officer in Star Trek history. Considering that John Bryne only had 1 50-minute long episode of character interaction to go on with Pike's crew, I'm amazed at how well a never before revealed tale of the Enterprise was pulled off. Having most of the story set during Kirk's time as captain helped. But still, this was a feat that only a master storyteller could pull off. 

I would have liked to have seen an interaction between the two crews. That's what I thought I was getting from the cover. Alas, they just weren't the case. This omission doesn't make for a worse story. I was just disappointed. 

There's a small back-up feature set during Spock's pursuit of Kolinahr. This tale pays respect to a character whom the actress who played her had passed away just recently in real life. The stunning visuals of Vulcan reminded me of Jack Kirby's collages. Only, these were better. 

I really like this series. It always impresses me how John Byrne made these work. Hopefully, I'll one day find out his process because I am fascinated by the meticulous nature it must have took to make these books.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek: New Visions #22

The Enterprise crew are summoned to the planet of the Guardian of Forever. Time ripples are threatening to tear apart the research station in orbit above the Guardian. The source of the trouble appears to be in the late 90s during the aftermath of World War III and the Eugenics War. 

Kirk and Spock enter the Guardian in hopes of fixing the time ripples. But instead of arriving in an area of utter devastation, the Federation officers find themselves in the middle of a bustling suburban business center. 

Almost instantly, the duo are rendered unconscious by an unknown force. When they recover, they find themselves facing an old ally- Gary Seven. Only this time traveler has no knowledge of Kirk, Spock or the Federation of Planets. That's because this is a Gary Seven from an alternate earth!

The last issue of John Byrne's labor of love. On paper, it appeared that this issue was going to be a home run! It's got the Guardian of Forever, Gary Seven and time travel; a trio of fan favorite Trek plot devices! And yet, the X-Men and Superman legend barely manages to get to second base with this story. 

Overall, New Visions #22 is a confusing mishmash of alternate timelines that aren't really explained that in-depth. Kirk and Spock go to an alternate earth that never experienced the devastating effects of the third World War. Several crew members travel through the Guardian to rescue Kirk and Spock when contact with them is cut off. But those characters end up in the right time line. It's never explained why the Guardian did this.

Then there's the villains behind this caper. Their inspiration for attempting to destroy time is also never really explained. It's almost like Byrne had so much that he wanted to put into this story but ran out of book in which to do it!

Lastly, there's that Trump reference. I was really disappointed in it. I thought John Bryne was classy enough to not stoop that low. I was wrong. That knock on POTUS #44 took away from the fantastic whimsy of the Star Trek Universe and instead made it real. It also capped a forgettable story that closed out otherwise an unforgettable series that I looked forward to on a regular basis. 

A major disappointment.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek: New Visions #21

Two great stories comprise this John Bryne produced picto-comic.

In the first adventure, Captain Kirk and the Klingon commander, Kor are taken prisoner by an all-new alien race. The unlikely allies escape their prison together because they've both been implanted with detention charges in their hearts that will explode if either gets further than 10 meters from the other. 

The second tale takes place aboard the Christopher Pike Enterprise. Here, the crew encounter a ship and a weary traveler that according to read-outs are from early 1900s Earth. While the technology and the science of the traveler's story seems to check out, clearly there's something odd. Because this Victorian era space traveler is also the character from a novel by H.G. Wells!

Both stories were very good. The Kirk and Kor story was better if only because I wasn't familiar with the Wells' story that was the inspiration for the Pike episode. I love Bryne's creativity and enthusiasm with these stories. I hate that the series just recently came to an end.

What I had issue with was some of the 'art'. The premise of these untold tales of Star Trek: The Original Series is that they are made of old cast photos mixed with new CGI photo shop. I normally overlook the oddity of how the computerized stuff looks. But I can't this time.

There were several panels in the Kirk/Kor story in which I couldn't tell what it was Bryne had made. Turns out later it was a phaser weapon used by this new alien race. But it was so poorly crafted and just plain dark and hard to make out. Then there's the space traveler in the Pike-era set adventure. At first, he looks pretty decent for an all-new character. But by the end, he starts looking like parts of his faces were being morphed out of existence. I swear, one panel looked like Scotty was transporting the poor guys lips right off his face. 

The stories were good, the photos were great but the new art had some technical issues. So really bad, the Enterprise explodes in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock technical issues...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek: New Visions #20

The crew of the Enterprise individually find themselves alone during a systems malfunction. Now the crew must piece together what has gone wrong while being tested with memories from their past. Can they get to the bottom of this mystery while not being able to trust their very own eyes?

Another John Byrne story that was quite intriguing. The level of detail Byrne has given on recreating all of the decks of the Enterprise is insanely good. But again, when it comes to all-new creatures, there's something off about them.

It's kinda like a Pixar movie. The animals, toys, and creatures created in those type of movies are really cool looking. But the staff at Pixar just can't make a human being look like a human being. Is their some sort of joint limitation of CGI and Photoshop when it comes to humanoids???

I love this series. I really love it when I can find issues for only a dollar a piece. $7.99 is just too much to pay for a monthly comic.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek: New Visions #6

The story of the Federation's first encounter with the Borg can finally be told thanks to John Byrne!

Using Photoshop and an insane amount of photos from the original Star Trek TV series, Byrne tells the stories of Kirk, Spock and the crew you always wanted to see. I love this picto-comic series. Byrne tries so much to make these stories so vintage-like, you feel like you are watching a lost episode from the 1960s.

I've been a fan of John Bryne since his X-Men days and have adored his post-Crisis take on Superman. I'd buy every issue in this series right of the shelf if I could, but the $7.99 price tag has been way too steep for me. Thankfully I found a couple of issues for only a buck at one of my favorite thrift stores.

This was an exciting read. Not all of the Photoshopped images look very realistic. But I appreciate that Byrne doesn't just cut and paste everything either. There's a ton of asteroids in this story and I couldn't find a pair of matching space rocks anywhere.

And that ending was perfectly killer!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.