u/BlastedHeathen

I just recently completed watching TOS, I’m currently in the process of watching TAS, and I’m planning a TOS movie marathon in my very near future. I was looking for something to bridge the gap between the series and the films, and the YEAR FIVE comic run from IDW really scratched that itch for me.

Not only does it follow up on some of the best episodes of the Original Series (The Tholian Web was one of the best stories of Season 3 imo), it also provides sequels to TOS episodes I didn’t enjoy as much. Assignment: Earth felt like a Trek episode with no Trek, and kind of a crappy ending for Season 2. YEAR FIVE integrates Gary Seven and Isis into the larger world of Trek and makes them much more complicated characters. I genuinely preferred Gary as an unstoppable T-1000 kind of character. Not completely evil or irredeemable, but when Kirk’s timeline interferes with his mission, he’s ruthless.

I also enjoyed Spock’s character development here. Experiencing Vulcan’s past firsthand and meeting Surak seems to have reinforced within Spock that purging himself of emotions is not only right, but morally required. Spock worries that if he does not undergo the Kolinahr, he will continue to fail those under his command, and possibly put innocents in harms way. After all, if even Surak was not immune to his emotions, what chance does Spock have? Reading JM Dillard’s The Lost Years novel right after this comic (which also details Spock’s decision to undergo Kolinahr) really threw into perspective how much I preferred this particular version of the events.

There are so many fun storylines in this comic (Harry Mudd vying for presidency of the Federation! Sulu falling in love with a fish person!) but I’m running out of time to list them all here. However, what I will say is that YEAR FIVE provides a satisfying conclusion to TOS that is almost akin to a true finale. It segues into the movies really nicely, and even incorporates bits of TAS to explain away things like Chekov’s disappearance and Lt. Arex’s promotion to the bridge. If you have read this comic and enjoyed it (or even if you didn’t), I’d love to discuss it with you in the comments!

It’s implied that Palpatine arranged the whole thing, which is ridiculous. Vader doesn’t exactly “sound” like himself when he talks. Even so, I loved it, especially Vader >!stabbing himself through his own cybernetic torso to kill Maul.!<

I just finished reading the Jedi vs. Sith run from Dark Horse Comics, and… wow. Based on all I had heard, I was expecting to enjoy this comic on an ironic level; an awkward middle child between the KOTOR era and the Prequel era, before the “proper” visual aesthetic for that era was developed. And while it is true that this comic often looks nothing like Star Wars and more like something out of Game of Thrones, Jedi vs. Sith remains true to the spirit of the franchise in a way that I really enjoyed.

Although this story occasionally feels like off-brand Star Wars, looking back from where the franchise is at today, that’s a strength, not a weakness. Rather than monastic Jedi Knights influenced by Eastern spiritualism, we have feudal “Jedi Lords” who feel much more inspired by Western fantasy tropes.

Speaking of fantasy we also have characters like Lord Valenthyne Farfalla, a satyr-like Jedi and his legion of fairy tale creatures. It’s a little bizarre not seeing the usual Rodians, Ithorians and Twi’leks filling out the crowds, but also bold and refreshing.

The same goes for the tech which is similarly odd for a Star Wars comic (regular ass cars, flying pirate ships, etc). I can accept all of this as the SW galaxy is HUGE, and not every single corner of it needs to look and feel exactly the same. It’s weird, but it works.

Despite being little kids, our main characters actually have a pretty interesting relationship. There’s a clever bait and switch where you think Tomcat will be the one to fall to the dark side, and it winds up being Rain, the most innocent of the cousins instead. The reveal of Rain as Zannah (Bane’s apprentice) was also very satisfying, even as someone not familiar with that character.

Speaking of Bane, he makes for an incredibly effective villain, killing multiple children in just the first few pages. In fact, despite the fairytale aesthetic and creatures that look straight out of a Studio Ghibli film, this comic is surprisingly violent. The Thought Bomb is particularly disturbing in a way that really raises the stakes towards the end. At times I felt like I was reading Berserk rather than Star Wars.

Anyways, that’s Jedi vs. Sith. Like I said before, my review of this comic summed up would be: it’s weird, but it works. Let me know if you guys have read this, I’d be interested in chatting more about the characters and events in this comic since I never see it discussed anywhere.

I’ve been reading through the Dark Horse comics, and it’s been banger after banger so far. I was wondering, what are the worst comics in the EU? Or at least the ones you personally couldn’t get into, and why?

Star Trek has morphed and changed throughout the years, so much so, that if you ask someone what iteration of the show pops into their head upon hearing the words “Star Trek” the answer will be different every time. Statistically that answer will probably be TOS or TNG, Kirk or Picard, etc. But maybe the answer is different for you? Let me know what era of the show pops into your head when you think “Star Trek.”