Star Trek #31 Review

Ever wondered what a story told through the character known as Science officer 0718 would be like? Well read on and find out.

The official description from IDW:

Part 1 of an epic all-new 2-part adventure set within the continuity of the blockbuster STAR TREK films! Captain Kirk and the crew have never faced a threat like the one they face now: their own ship! Don’t miss the first chapter of “I, Enterprise”, overseen by STAR TREK writer-producer Roberto Orci!

If I’m being honest I’ve never really been interested in Science officer 0718, and when I noticed he’d be playing a significant role in this issue I was very sceptical. I have however changed my mind, as now that I’ve read this issue I’ve got a new found interest in this character.

Mike Johnson has done a terrific job of taking a rather insignificant character and making him intriguing. The choice to have Science officer 0718 as the storyteller for I Enterprise was a wise decision on Johnson’s part, as despite the story being centred around him it gave a nice sombre build-up to the main tale. Johnson also continues to give a terrific tone to his scripts as although he yet again took a while to get into the story the fact that it has the same kind of feel as the films continues to appeal to this Trekkie.

Erfan Fajar’s art isn’t quite perfect but by golly it’s not far from it. The detail of his art is simply astonishing with the likeness to the film being uncanny. This along with the tremendous layouts gave a lot of depth to this story, adding a very dramatic overtone. There was however one minor thing that let Fajar’s art down and that was the facial expressions that for the most part were rather lifeless. Nonetheless his art was still phenomenal and along with Sakti Yuwono and Ifansyak Noor (of Stellar Labs) colours it’s suited perfectly for Star Trek.

I Enterprise gets of to a decent start, as despite yet another slow start the narration and exciting finish made this a joy to read. Recommended.