In an attempt to replicate the smash success of J.J. Abrams' first Star Trek film, IDW once again produces an authorized prequel to the new film Star Trek Into Darkness. On a routine survey mission to Phaedus, the crew of the Enterprise find themselves immersed in a planetary civil war. Kirk and Spock grapple with the Prime Directive when someone long thought dead reemerges. From a story conceived by Star Trek Into Darkness writer Orci and regular comic series scribe Johnson, Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness delivers a complete and powerful story, immersed in Star Trek lore and littered with abundant clues about the new feature. The graphic novel achieves its primary goal of creating excitement for Star Trek Into Darkness. ( )

I can't help thinking that "Protocol 31" is an oblique reference to Section 31. If that's the case, and it's their software...

Oh, dear. That's gonna leave a mark. ( )

A prelude to JJ Abrams' second Star Trek movie, Star Trek Into Darkness.

The drawings are OK, but the physical resemblance between the characters in the comic and the ones in the movie is often lacking. Some of the drawings -- e.g. the introduction of Uhura -- are rather ridiculous and seem to care more about looking cool than being realistic. (And lens flares -- really?)

Unfortunately, the story is a big meh and suffers from at least one of the problems which makes the movie such a disappointment: the desperate attempts to introduce references to classic Star Trek characters and events. ( )

The crew of the Enterprise discovers a high-frequency energy field on a planet with a level of development comparable to the Roman Empire on Earth. Kirk decides to take a look so he beams down with, Spock, Sulu and a red shirt. What they discover is a former captain of the Enterprise who is arming one side of the inhabitants against the other side who are being armed by the Klingons.

The storyline is a basic Star Trek someone-screws-around-with-the prime-directive synopsis. How boring. We are introduced to the Klingons for the first time in this timeline. This must be the reason for this graphic novel. Otherwise, it was a big disappointment. The only interesting plot development was Spock having to deal with the death of his mother and the destruction of Vulcan. We get no information about John Harrison, the bad guy in the new movie. He is mention only once on the last page of the book. ( )