Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever #5 Review

Can this adaptation end on a high? Read on to find out.

The official description from IDW:

The final act of Harlan Ellison’s Hugo and WGA Award-winning Star Trek teleplay! Is James T. Kirk willing to sacrifice the woman he loves, to save the universe as he knows it?! You may have seen the episode, but you only think you know how it ends! From the mind of literary legend Harlan Ellison!

It all comes down to this as IDW’s adaptation of Harlan Ellison‘s original teleplay for the Star Trek episode, City on the Edge of Forever finally comes to an end. Even before reading the first issue of this series I knew exactly how it was going to end, as this is what comes from watching the original series repeatedly. This didn’t however take away from the tension that has been building, with the knowledge of upcoming events making them all the more enticing.

Having done a wonderful job over this adaptation, I’ve been looking forward to seeing how Scott and David Tipton would handle this finale. Giving a very engaging tone to this conclusion, the duo manage to give an thoroughly gripping tone. They also deliver wonderful dialogue, with the interaction between Kirk and Spock also adding a dramatic flair to proceedings, as the two characters show both their mutual respect and friendship. I did however feel that the ending of this tale lacked depth, as though the aftermath sequence was more intense that the aired version, the climax itself was a little underwhelming.

J.K. Woodward‘s artwork has resonated beauty, with every issue being truly captivating. This is no different as we enter the final issue, with his amazing painted artwork mesmerizing throughout. Despite this I did find the culminating sequence of this tale to be a little underwhelming compared to the aired episode, as though the artwork is flawless, it lacks the emotion that the aired episode had. This however may not be Woodward’s fault, as it could easily be the way that it was laid out in either Ellison’s original teleplay or the Tipton’s script.

Despite ending in a rather underwhelming fashion, this concluding entry into Harlan Ellison’s original teleplay for Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Tomorrow proves enticing as ever, with the series as a whole being a huge success. Highly recommended.