MAY 17, 2023 - I’ve been enjoying the current line of Star Trek comic books coming out of IDW Publishing lately. The ongoing series they’ve named simply Star Trek represents the publishing company taking all their favorite Trek action figures out of the toybox and creating a single, cohesive story with them. That title’s spinoff, Star Trek: Defiant, skews to the darker side of the franchise, taking some of the more morally ambiguous characters for a spin in the eponymous starship. Their hilarious Star Trek: Lower Decks mini-series teamed our favorite Lower Deckers up with a holographic Dracula while the first two issues of Star Trek: Dog of War have shown what happens when you combine a Welsh Corgi with Borg technology.

Back in February, when the comic publisher announced they were working on a new Kirk-era mini-series called Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Echoes I expected no less than what we’ve already been getting from them: great storytelling coupled with equally great art. The first issue was released today and I wasn’t disappointed. But more than that, I was blown away.

The tale takes place immediately after the V’Ger incident in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I confess I’ve always had a soft spot for the film. True, it’s a bit slow at times, and the costumes are a bit drab. Inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (a film which I also enjoy), it’s a product of its time. It’s only recently, with a new Director’s Cut on the market, that TMP is finally coming into its own, garnering a wider appeal.

It’s difficult to discuss the specifics of the tale without giving away the mid-issue reveal. The comic begins with a mysterious woman in a hitherto-unseen uniform and helmet encountering an anomaly in space. When the USS Enterprise finds her, mayhem ensues.

Marc Guggenheim’s script is incredibly well-written and paced. I’ve read comics in the past (not from IDW, to be fair) where the pacing is amped up so much that it feels like you’re jumping from one vignette to the next without really getting a cohesive story. I’ve also read comics where the pacing is so slow that by the end of an issue, you have to think about if anything actually happened.

Guggenheim also uses the characters to full advantage. All the TOS-era regulars are there, including Doctor Chapel. And for the most part, they each get at least one moment to shine, which is hard to do in a 30-page comic when you also have to establish a new character and set up a story. Admittedly, while both Sulu and Scotty make important contributions, there’s a little less focus on them than the others.

Over the past several years, Uhura has become one of my favorite characters, especially as I learned more about the woman behind the Starfleet officer, Nichelle Nichols. I have long regretted that there weren’t more stories involving the character, and I was gratified to see her get her due in the comic. We learn, too, why McCoy didn’t re-retire after the V’Ger mission and we see Kirk get into it with an Admiral who thinks he should step down now that the crisis has been averted.

There’s a lot to the story and Oleg Chudakov’s art does more than simply support it. The aforementioned “drab costume” problem has been resolved. While staying true to TMP’s overall look, Chudakov has imbued the Starfleet uniforms with a simple yet more colorful palette, replacing whites, grays, and muted blues with slightly deeper blues and yellows, more reminiscent of the TOS costumes.

The characters themselves look a bit more “comic book hero-y” than their live-action counterparts. If you’re just looking at their faces, you might have a tough time recognizing them. Clearly, the intent is to give enough of a hint of each person’s essence that readers intuit their identity without drawing a carbon copy of that person’s features. It works marvelously.

Chudakov seems to have taken inspiration for the Enterprise from TOS, as well. The starship looks more like the television-era version than the TMP refit, both inside and out. And while the bridge layout doesn’t completely abandon that of TMP, it definitely feels more intimate, plus with Security Chief Chekov back at navigation (replacing the ill-fated Ilia from the movie), one definitely gets TOS vibes.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Echoes #1 is a stunning premiere. It combines all the best things from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, adds a dash of Star Trek: The Original Series, and mixes it together with some good, old-fashioned comic book art and storytelling to create one of my favorite Trek comics in years. And that’s saying something.

Echoes is a 5-issue mini-series (although IDW, if you’re reading this, you can feel free to spin it off into an ongoing series, as far as I’m concerned.) You can order issue #1 or subscribe to the whole series via the Amazon link to the left. If you like Star Trek and you like comics, I promise you won’t be disappointed.