Scott TiptonReseñas

J.K. Woodward, take a bow!

I bought this for 2 reasons:
1) it was on sale on the Kindle for $1.99. I can't beat that price for a graphic novel.
2) My dad kickstarted the audio drama they're doing for the original teleplay (funded and over) and it tickled my interest to see this on sale.

I very likely saw the TV episode from the original Trek when I was younger. Dad swears I used to watch (and enjoy) it with him. I've been...less interested in the original Trek, far more fascinated by DS9, but I wanted to compare the two so I took out our DVD sets and watched the episode shortly after reading this.

So. Very. Different.

I don't just mean in overall tone--Ellison very clearly had a darker idea about Starfleet (which hey I agree and that's why DS9 is my go to love) then Roddenberry (who was notoriously possessive of his nie on perfect world utopia brainchild)--but in general.

The episode, if you haven't seen it, revolves around Bones McCoy getting himself infected, going batshit crazy and escaping into the mid-20th century past thanks to a somewhat smirky-sarcastic alien portal named the Guardian of Forever* that all but challenges Kirk and Spock to find the right answer OR ELSE.

Not one to let sleeping dogs lie, Kirk and Spock head back in time (not without Spock constantly getting sidetracked by science shit tho), but wind up slightly ahead of when Bones would arrive so they endeavor to live out in pre-WWII America...mostly by stealing, lying and romancing a lady. Yes Kirk gets his Kirk on and argues with Spock, who doesn't understand why Kirk would want to jeopardize their future when their ENTIRE MISSION is to save their future.

That's the episode. With some hijinks, mild racism (mostly Kirk about Spock being a "Chinaman"), and a whole lot of moralizing. Typical TOS Trek.

Ellison's original teleplay (which as I understand wasn't touched up at all really) was like FUCK UTOPIA STARFLEET WE GONNA MAKE THIS REAL WORLD. Drug dealing, insubordination of EVERYONE towards Kirk (including an epic argument between him and Spock), horrible (but accurate) racism, depression era horribleness, fascism (dude look Kirk's Lady was one step away from the bad kind of Socialist) and worst of all plausible morality. In the end, our drug-dealing enterprise crew member --who killed at least one man and was quite happily, and smugly, addicting folk to a really nasty drug -- chose to try and save Kirk's Lady (without knowing its Kirk's Lady) and ultimately died for the effort (so did the Lady).

In the show McCoy attempts to, but Kirk stops him having finally seen the logic of Spock's argument. It a painful scene to watch, as Bones (still rather crazy) accuses Kirk of allowing her to die and not caring. Spock, who was with Kirk that entire week he was seducing the Lady, tells Bones Kirk does understand and the three express a lot in just their tone and body language.

In the original teleplay and now the graphic novel, Spock asks Kirk why the crew man sacrificed himself after exhibiting nothing but selfish, greedy and destructive tendencies. He's puzzled by what prompted the man to try. Kirk says that's what it means to be human basically. We're selfish, greedy and destructive...but sometimes there's something we can't help but see as WRONG and want to correct it. For that crew man watching an innocent woman die when he could possibly prevent it meant he had to try. Despite being directly responsible for another's death.

In both cases I think there's an important emotional impact the other misses. In the televised version we see the direct result of Spock and Kirk's conversation--Kirk understands Spock's reasons and puts the needs of the many first. He does what a Starfleet Captain does--makes a heartbreaking choice knowing it will end in someone's death. In Ellison's version the conversation between Spock and Kirk is powerful--Kirk's condemnation of humanity is said in the same breath as his commendation. Spock's concise summation of "there is good in evil and evil in good" is on point.

While my natural inclination is to enjoy Ellison's original teleplay more, especially with the gorgeous artwork exhibited here, I do have a soft spot for the televised version and recommend both to be read/viewed together.

*Seriously I love the Guardian of Forever (who is a big pest in the formerly canonical tie-in novels--especially [b:Spock vs. Q Collection|18926899|Spock vs. Q Collection (Star Trek)|Cecilia Fannon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389119931s/18926899.jpg|26933682], [b:Imzadi|217890|Imzadi (Star Trek the Next Generation)|Peter David|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387669112s/217890.jpg|1192048] and the [b:Millennium Omnibus|131629|Millennium Omnibus (Star Trek Deep Space Nine)|Judith Reeves-Stevens|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172002925s/131629.jpg|126773] books for DS9, but that's not here or there). His answer to everything is basically "You didn't ask".

Terra Incognita features six interconnected stories focusing on fan-favorite crew members of the Enterprise-D--including Deanna Troi, Wesley Crusher, and Selar. Each of these six stories are connected by the machinations of Barclay's sinister doppelganger. What does Mirror Barclay want, and what's to become of his Prime-universe counterpart?!

While the stories are interconnected by Mirror Barclay, each one can be read as a complete and separate entry. I feel that all the writers get the tone of the characters exactly right, making this an authentic read.

The last story is a bit of a cliff-hanger. I'm really hoping there is more to the TNG Mirror universe comic series because it is very enjoyable, well-done, and intriguing. I want to know just how the TNG Mirror universe resolves their desires to get their hands on Federation starships on behalf of the Mirror Empire!

Next generation in the mirror universe!! This imagining of a darker Enterprise D is incredibly fascinating. The art by J.K. Woodard is perfection. A must read.

Alternate versions of a well-known story are funny things. One is usually drawn to them based on fond memories or the reputation of the original. Yet, the very reason for their existence is that they are different than the original. Here is a good case in point.

COTEOF is often touted as one of the best, or at least a favorite, episode of the original series. It's a rock solid Kirk and Spock adventure, with bonus time travel, WWII, Joan Collins and drugged-out Dr. McCoy. Who needs to mess with that? Apparently, the irascible Ellison, who has repeatedly mourned the changes to his original script.

The differences are many and varied, though the overall plot remains. Which version is better? Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I think the TV producers made the right choice in sending McCoy back, rather than yet-another-Redshirt. And many elements had to be jettisoned due to time and budget constraints. Face it. The finished version of a television show or film cannot be the same as its source material, even if the source is a well-written screenplay. I think both can stand on their own. This version of COTEOF is a worthy addition to the Star Trek universe.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review.

Free Comic and Star Trek

What's not to like? Anyway it was a quick and interesting read. Use of Barclay is intriguing. The rest of series looks good too.

Nice to visit with all the doctors and experience him in comic form. The stories are uneven but the overall arc is satisfying.

On one hand, this is about as prosaic as a mirror interaction can get. Yet, each "episode" captures the feel of a TNG era perfectly and Mirror Broccoli as the best Broccoli is just such a cute touch.

Better than many episodes, even if it does suffer from deus ex betazoid. Art takes a bit getting used to, but the overall noir feel works.

A great premise, slightly diminished by how short the actual confrontation between the two crews lasts. There's so much here that could make for a more compelling and longer series that it's a shame that it was all crammed into just 5 issues.

The JK Woodward illustrated backup story is a hidden gem.

Absolutely outstanding.

I don't really enjoy Trek comics. They're always a bit flat. But not so in the Mirror Universe! Woodward's art and character designs are phenomenal. It's not often that a comic makes you wish you had arms big enough to cosplay as J-L Pipes.

I don't really have any great fondness.for TOS, but I think I'll always make exceptions for the mirror universe. Such a great device to turn conventions on their head and really embrace the pulpy side of Trek.

I thought that Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever would be a graphic novel about the episode. What I didn't know was that it would be instead a graphic novel of Harlan Ellison's Star Trek teleplay script; “The City on the Edge of Forever”. I may have glossed over the fact in my joy of finding a Star Trek graphic novel on NetGalley...



What about the graphic novel then?

I loved it! I loved the story, I loved the changes in the story from the episode I have seen to the version Harlan Ellison has written. I mean the episode is epic but damn it, this graphic novel is just as good and frankly in some way better because it isn't restricted to a time limit instead it can have many more wonderful scenes (I do miss Kirk's explanation for Spock's ears to the policeman)...

The art?

Breathtaking! I mean it's so gorgeous and so well drawn that every expression on Spock and Kirk's faces is just perfect, it's almost uncanny watching the art and seeing how well the expressions are drawn.




The verdict?

5 stars! I want this volume, I need this volume!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!!

The Enterprise follows a Klingon ship to a parallel world where they find “Earth” overtaken by apes. Now they must stop the Klingon's from starting civil war on the planet.

Have you always wanted to know what would have happened if Kirk and the rest of the crew happened to find themselves on the "Earth" from the Planet of the Apes? Well I haven't, but it was an interesting reading experience and this mixing different science fiction shows/movies together is a fun idea. What's next Star trek meets Alien, Predators, or E.T? The list can go on...

I have seen Planets of the Ape (well I have seen both the original and the new one, but I will referee to the original since the new one is…bad and it's the old one that is connected to this Star Trek graphic novel) and remember enough to keep up with the plot and it was quite fun seeing Kirk, Spock and the rest meet Charlton Heston, Eh I mean George Taylor. They need to stop the Klingons without interfering to much with the inhabitants of the planet, but of course Taylor is pissed off and want to start a war with the apes for the human race sake and they also have to deal with him as well as the Klingon's.

It was a good graphic novel, the art was OK, not breathtaking beautiful, but you could see who was who and that's nice. But I never really found myself really, really enjoying the story. It took me days to finish it and usually I devour a Star Trek graphic novel like it is a bag of candy. But this one, I started it and then it took me some days to return to it. In the end I just had to sit down and just read it, more like commanding myself than thinking how enjoyable it would be. Then again, I have been in a bit of reading slump the last couple of days so that could be part of it.

But I liked the graphic novel enough that I would want to know what happens next because the ending was a bit open and even though I started out a bit doubtful about it I did start to enjoy the story more when Kirk and the rest had to figure out of to help the apes without too much interference.

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review! Thank you!

Angel and Spike see ghosts from the past and must work together to stop whoever is doing this to them.

I usually like Angel and Spike working together, but I found the story in this graphic novel to be kind of lacking. It was just not that interesting to read as the rest of the Angel graphic novels I have read lately. Still good, but not that memorable.

Review also posted on And Now for Something Completely Different and It's a Mad Mad World

Angel: Smile Time is a graphic novel with three stories.

The first one is a graphic version of the episode Smile Time. Wonderful to read. Poor Angel is turned into a puppet and must fight evil demonic puppets.


Spike needs a new car and finds out that Angel is puppet...


Angel reveals to Nina that he is puppet...


The second story is a short little interlude about Angel (still a puppet) out on a date with Nina. A sweet story, but of course not everything goes as plan...


It's hard to be little...

The third story is Spike: Smile Time. Spike travel to Japan and get turned into a puppet. Already read this one the other day so I skipped it. But it's a great one!

Spike still knows how to fight despite being a puppet...

A great Angel graphic novel collection! Funny, sweet and lots of action!

4.5 stars

Review also posted on And Now for Something Completely Different and It's a Mad Mad World

Boring.
Only decent part were the couple pages at the end that previewed the new crossover with Green Lantern.

First let me state that this my first time reading anything from Harlan Ellison. Second, this was a story that was meant for the audience watching the Star Trek the Original Series. Now with that out of the way, I liked this story. It starts out with a drug dealer aboard the Enterprise. Yes, one of the crew, a Gold shirt by the way, is dealing illegal drugs on the Enterprise. When he gets caught its while the Enterprise is around a planet that is caused a disturbance in the clocks of the Enterprise. The drug dealer beams down to this planet and Kirk, Spock, and a group of red shirts pursue. Without anymore spoilers Kirk and Spock end up pursuing the drug dealer through time to Depression Era America in the year 1930.

This leads to a story where Kirk and Spock debate the value of one persons choice against the will of the universe. Someone must decide whether to make a choice that is selfish. The other must choose what right for the universe. It's the kind of story that we've seen many times today. It reminds me of the Doctor Who Special, The Waters of Mars where fighting against the will of the universe and time is what The Doctor tries to do. I enjoyed the story but had to remind myself that this was supposed to be seen on television.

The art is a lovely painted style which really helps the story. I don't this book would have worked well without this kind of art style. The artist goes for capturing the feel of the television show rather than creating something different. I liked that and thought it kept me in the mindset of someone watching the television show. I'm not the biggest fan of Star Trek but I know what it used to look like. The artist does a good job of carrying that feeling of classic Trek into this book.

I received a copy of this through NetGalley and I thank them for it. #NetGalley

Boring.
Only decent part were the couple pages at the end that previewed the new crossover with Green Lantern.

(Very) short story in five parts about time travel. Great colour artwork. This graphic novel edition included a reprint of the 1960s Gold Key comic Star Trek #2, "The Devil's Isle of Space" & " The Secret of Execution Asteroid".

The (sub)title on this one is so perfectly corny, it made me squeel with joy: The Primate Directive.
The whole book made me squeel (I'm a massive TOS fan); the artwork was soooo good, the actors were captured perfectly in each and every frame (usually, in this type of books, there's always a couple of panes where you think 'Really? that just doesn't look like so-and-so).
Definately going on my 'have to buy in paper form list'.

oooooh!!!!So the original Mirror Mirror episode is one of my all time favourites, and in the subsequent series, each time they return to the mirror univrse, I love it..
This comic did not dissapoint, and is an excellent teaser for the cpmicbook series....

I'm not a fan of Star Trek so this whole thing looks to me like a lot of fuss over very little. I like Ellison's writing but that episode is not Shakespeare, it's still Star Trek. It's better than the filmed version and I understand the frustration of people being dicks to him all this time but I sense he's not actually as upset as he makes it out to be in this book. It's just adding to the episode's mythology and I think he likes it that way. We're all so vain.

Twaalf hoofdstukken, elf Doctors, heel veel companions en een boel bekende vijanden uit het Doctor Who universum allemaal bij elkaar voor een uitstekend georkestreerd verhaal in stripvorm. Tussen de hoofdstukken door vertellen verschillende bouwers aan het Doctor Who imperium over hun ervaringen met Doctor Who in de stripwereld, een wereld waar ik tot nu toe nog weinig van weet. Ik ken wel de televisieserie, de tekstboeken en de audiohoorspelen maar deze strips zijn nieuw voor mij.

Deze twaalf hoofdstukken zijn door verschillende tekenaars gemaakt terwijl het hele verhaal door Scott & David Tipton zijn geschreven. De kwaliteit van de tekenaars vind ik nogal verschillen. Soms kan ik de Doctor maar amper herkennen. Natuurlijk is met tekeningen wel enige artistieke vrijheid veroorloofd maar als ik meerdere personages op een plaatje zie staan en moet gaan gokken welke de Doctor is dan vind ik dat wel wat ver gaan.

Bij het samenbrengen van elf Doctors is er best wel een risico dat het flauw wordt want tja, er zijn al vele verhalen waarin meerdere Doctors optreden. Daarom was ik des te meer verrast dat dit verhaal mij zeker heel sterk kon boeien en er ook duidelijk een ontwikkeling in zat in plaats van alleen maar een herhaling van zetten. Daarbij had iedere Doctor ook nog zijn eigen unieke avontuur naast de rode draad die in het laatste hoofdstuk zijn ontknoping kreeg.

Als de kwaliteit van de verhalen zo sterk zijn in stripvorm dan wil ik daar zeker wel meer van proberen.½

Pretty much like reading an episode of the series. Suddenly, the station is flooding with "tourists" and scoundrels, and Commander Sisko needs to find out why. Turns out there is a lost treasure, and many think the station has something to do with it. It's a mystery as Sisko needs to figure out how to deal with the problems the thieves and treasure hunters bring to the station. I will just say there may be a very unique solution at hand. I personally did enjoy the ending. The only thing I really wish is that some of the art was a bit better. The story was good, but the art quality seemed just average at times. Still, an entertaining read.