Today saw the first issue of what could easily be called the most anticipated company crossover of 2015. IDW has struck out to take their Star Trek license and crossover with yet another DC property. Last time it was the Legion of Superheroes back in 2011 and now this day in 2015 the crew of the USS Enterprise will go where no man has gone before with Green Lantern and Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War #1 lives up to the hype generated a few months ago when it was announced.
It begins with Ganthet, along with 6 (Orange, Red, Indigo, Yellow, Blue and Sapphire) of the 9 color power rings of the emotional spectrum are being chased by an unseen assailant. The unseen foe uses the narrative text belonging to a Black Lantern, so that accounts for the Black Power Ring; all that is missing is the Green and White Rings. It is also mentioned the planet is Mogo, a now long since dead Green Lantern. This makes one wonder if this doesn’t transpire in the future. Ganthet takes the ring and the dead planet somewhere else outside of the known universe where he believes the unseen Black Lantern can’t follow. Curious if the villain here in this two pages isn’t Nekron himself?
If that wasn’t enough to hook you, the writing and characterization by Mike Johnson is spot on as well as the art from Angel Hernandez who does an amazing job at catching the likeness of the actors from the new franchise. Some of the likenesses are so amazing we can spot Alice Eve’s Carol Marcus in a corridor on page 14 bottom panel. As one reads this issue, you could hear the dialogue in the voices of the actors as the issue flows from beginning to end. This also helps nail down when this story takes place as it must be after events of ‘Into Darkness’. It’s interesting that IDW choose to go with the new timeline for this story. Of course it’s probably more a marketing aspect then anything else but it does open Johnson up to the possibility to explore or in this case revisit aspects of the classic Star Trek mythos from a fresh perspective. This limiting storytelling can be felt in events such as this as far back as Marvel Comics Star Trek/ X-Men; most events of that story felt forced into place unlike this story which flows fluid from panel to panel so far. This is given by the inclusion of this issues antagonist, Klingon General Chang.
Here is where we see just how much Nero has turned the Star Trek universe on it’s ass. As we all know Kirk first meets General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Due to the events of the most recent Star Trek movie, Chang has been hunting Captain Kirk for the insult he delivered to the Klingon Empire. Chang also becomes more important as the story unfolds.
The Enterprise finds the dead planet Mogo floating in space at the edge of the Alpha Quadrant. When the Away Team beams down to the surface they discover Ganthet’s corpse along with the 6 power rings. They take the body and the rings back to the Enterprise. Of course Ganthet’s corpse is a new species never seen before and the rings are made of a material never before encountered. This is when the Klingons attack. Uncloaking and delivering a crippling blow to the enterprise. The rings escape their isolation chambers and seek out suitable replacements:
General Chang is chosen by the Yellow Ring
Lt. Pavel Chekov is chosen by the Blue Ring
Lt. Nyota Uhura is chosen to be the next Star Sapphire
Dr. Leonard McCoy is chosen by the Indigo Ring
The Orange and Red Rings escape the Enterprise and make their way out into space to find unknown bearers as of now. Just as the Enterprise is bathed in a green light force field created by Hal Jordan who wants to know why the remains of his friend can be scanned as being onboard.
Usually these crossover events are lame at best. A lot of hype that builds up a story which never delivers but this first issue promises a lot and it certainly delivers. It makes the reader anticipate the next issue with a need so avarice it would make Larfleeze proud of you! The writing is amazing and the art is fantastic, especially the alternate cover by Darwyn Cooke.
Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War promises to be a fantastic romp this summer and winter as we have five more months of intergalactic excitement!
