RECAP & REVIEW: Not Much Happens In PICARD'S ACADEMY Issue #2

Image: IDW Publishing.

NOVEMBER 10, 2023 - About a month ago I impulse-bought the new issue of the Picard’s Academy comic and was quite pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it (you can read my review here). So of course, I went to my local comic book store and subscribed to Picard’s Academy so that I will always have an issue waiting for me (thank Spock I did because it was sold out by midday Wednesday. Apparently people really like it!). 

In issue two of Picard’s Academy, Spock and Picard have a heart-to-heart, or at least, as much of a heart-to-heart that two men with the emotional range of a teaspoon can have. It starts with a flashback to Picard’s childhood with some absolutely stunning drawings of the French countryside. We learn about Picard’s past and why he has learned to shut everybody out. This flashback ends with Picard telling Spock about his dreams for the future in which he is the best Starfleet Captain in the galaxy. My favorite panel in this comic is the one where we see future Captain Picard…with long flowing locks of blonde hair (Picard achieved most of his dreams at the expense of his hair).

Spock then tells Picard that in order to be a good Captain he has to socialize and to do that he has to go to the party his classmates are throwing. Picard begrudgingly agrees and goes to the party. While at the party Picard is a bit of a prick, being rude to everyone he talks to. He sees a freshman getting bullied and instead of intervening he says that the kid “needs to learn to handle his own.” I understand that this comic is about Picard learning to work with people and let down his defenses, however, this made me a bit upset. It doesn’t feel like a very Picard thing to do. Three people do end up intervening and those three people happen to be Picard’s partner for the upcoming evasive maneuvers exam. 

That’s the end of the comic. Not much happened in this issue. As someone who has watched Star Trek: Picard and TNG I knew about Picard’s family history so the first part of the issue wasn’t very enlightening. In the second part of the issue Picard played into my least favorite character trope in media: the asshole that everyone is still nice to for seemingly no reason. All that being said, I'm really excited to see how Picard’s Evasive Maneuvers Exam group teaches him to open up and work with others. The group really is very fun (I introduced the characters in my review of issue one which you can read here). 

All in all, I’d give this issue a 3.5/5. I think it is a needed part of the plot to progress the story however it wasn’t overly intriguing. In addition, Picard being portrayed as a stuck-up cadet is a bit weird to me considering he has an artificial heart from getting stabbed during a bar fight. I reconcile this by assuming that this takes place before he learns how to make friends and form meaningful connections.

In addition, the art was gorgeous. Charlie Kirchoff, the colorist for this issue, really popped off with both the Chateau Picard and the Party Scene, picking beautiful and intriguing colors for the background without distracting from the characters. 

Overall, I’m super excited for issue three to come out. Hopefully we will finally hear more about the Evasive Maneuvers Exam!