BotTalk Reviews

The Romulans open the story by plotting and right at the outset we learn Captain Chip Miller (last seen in Star Trek: Red Shirts #5) is an asset. A group of redshirts walk into a bar, one says he's gonna ask out this Andorian science officer, another laughs at him. He's run off after her but the other redshirts are called off to do a mission. That same mission goes sideways nightmarishly, our lone redshirt, Harry Deubert, survived but ends up having to clean the shuttle. And he's sick of how redshirts are treated so he tries to contact Starfleet but Miller intercepts him! Dun dun dun! but hey at least redshirt got his date. Too bad she's Andorian security. To be continued! First of all I like that it takes place during the latter decades of the 23rd century, I don't think Star Trek really touches on that era outside the novels and even then... anyways the comic... So sounds like Captain Miller is our big bad for how ever many issues... and it's a good set up, ab...

"The power transfer beam! I can travel on it" And so Cadet Reymi sends the photonic Sam to the planet to save the day. He successfully sends her to the planet but is immediately busted by Chancellor Ake. Meanwhile on the planet! With the shield down the cadets can talk to each other again, which immediately makes the aliens hostile so Sam comes up with a distraction to buy the others time to escape. And while Genesis is feeling sorry for herself Sam figures out a way to communicate with the aliens. To be concluded next issue when they Starfleet a solution! It's a decent story that would've made a decent episode in the short and soon to be lamented Academy series on streaming. We finally have the whole cast working on a solution that honestly was the whole point of the exercise.  And Genesis Lythe learns a lesson. She needs to chill. 7.5/10

CHAOS AT COMIC CON Story & Art by Stan Sakai  Colors by Emi Fujii  Letters by Simon Bowland GODZILLA GOES TO COMIC CON Story, Art, & Letters by Greg & Fake TOY TIME Story by Dan Jurgens  Art by Margeaux Pepoy  Colors By Jason Millet  Letters by Steve Wands ARTISTS’ ALLEY PINUPS Nicole Goux Carla Wyzgala Dave Baker  Jared Cullum  Gavin Smith & Milena Deneno  Sean Galloway  Patrick Horvath  Travis Mercer  Gabby Ramirez  Alfredo Cardona

Kirk attempts to take command from Sato.  Zed takes his patient to Main Engineering and lets the bomb explode.  The story skips ahead, we see Kirk in command.  Sato and Zed have been left on a Class M Planet.  But Sato is determined to find Kirk and stop him. Most of this issue is taken up by the conflict between Kirk and Sato.  It is one long speech as Kirk tries to talk Sato into giving up, into doing something, into standing down and letting him take command.  If this were a TV show it would work much better.  As a comic it feels wordy.  The confrontation has been building for some time now, but in the end it feels like a long and wordy speech.  T'Galatheon gives her life to destroy the station and seemingly cripple the Borg.  We saw this coming last issue.   six out of ten.

Commander Kelrec has crashed, and unconscious, he is taken by the alien race that still inhabits the planet ruined by the Burn. Meanwhile our three cadets settle for sign language until Caleb reveals he hacked their systems to allow them to communicate in text because this is the 32nd century not some ancient savage era. Our cadets are off while Genesis continues to narrate what still alludes to this mission getting worse.  One the ship Nahla just gets to wait with her crew and the EMH, while Kelrec is unconscious and leaned against a device while the alien dance around both in some ritual. The cadets show up to rescue Kelrec which ends in the device being damaged.  Turns out it is the shield generator keeping the area habitable. Oops! Three issues in and you want this to start wrapping up. Once again this is the issue I have with modern comics: truncated story to make room for ads, especially when it’s one story spread through multiple issues. And it’s a good story, it’s inte...

The Assimilation of the Omega crew begins.  Kirk beams over to confront Jurati.  He speaks directly to Jurati as she was before assimilation.  She tells of her plan, to resurrect the great James T. Kirk in an effort to save the Galaxy.  And how that plan involves the mass assimilation of everyone, with Kirk as the Borg 'King'.  He rejects this and asks her to join him.  Meanwhile, Zed discovers that the massive amounts of chemicals he has been taking to stimulate himself are keeping assimilation at bay, and uses this to help the crew.  Operating on a crewman Zed discovers a bomb inside the crewman.  The confrontation between Kirk and Jurati has been long coming, I feel.  Their romantic connection feels like something used to get the reader's attention, but it is so infrequently used it feels hollow here.  I would have liked a more solid rationale from Jurati, instead of the simplistic and vague notions of a masterplan that somehow involv...

A taxidermist meets a woman looking for an iguana.  They seemingly connect and share a perfect moment together.  Only for it to quickly unravel.  Slowly at first then bigger, more intense, building to an insane nightmare that doesn't make sense.  At the end we see this man is the lone survivor of an apocalypse, and the woman was just a figment of his imagination.  A perfect moment he conjured up as a distraction.   This starts out simple.  Man meets woman.  Has an unusual job and his mom is pressuring him to find someone.  But then it turns into a nightmare and you think you know where it is going... except it was only in his mind.  But then the final sting mentions Willoughby...  but there is no connection to the Twilight Zone episode 'A Stop at Willoughby'.  So... it is just an easter egg.  A reference.  No connection?  Either way the way things begin to unravel is interesting but then as it becomes surreal yo...

A one-shot that celebrates characters and their respective relationships during pride month. So first up, Mariner and Jennifer in Lower Decks! Mariner takes Jennifer to a bar not long after Jennifer dragged Mariner to her friend’s salon, at the bar Jennifer says ‘we need to talk’, Mariner freaks out so she enlists Boimler to help her keep Jennifer, with hilarious result. Okay, this doesn’t work. Especially if you’ve seen the last season and we know Mariner bows out from Jennifer without actually dumping her and then spends a whole episode avoiding her, so what was the point of this story? I mean it’s a quick kind of fun, I guess, but it’s pointless and doesn’t reveal anything about either character that we don’t already know. 4/10 Next! T'Lir and Lily Sato go after a Vulcan extremist! Hey remember the Theseus? Remember Star Trek Omega? Well post omega T'Lir is helping Lily who’s left the fleet and is now helping the Fenris Rangers……the story wraps up with them capturing the Vul...

Last time on hit Paramount plus Streaming show Star Trek Academy (caaaaaaancelled)! Our cadets are marooned on a planet that had been devastated by the Burn, meanwhile our officers were on the ship with nary an option in how to rescue them. So the kids are still on the planet, they argue amongst each other. The adults are on the ship also arguing amongst each other.  Jayden and Caleb agree that Genesis doesn’t listen and going alone is dangerous. Meanwhile on the ship the chancellor of the war college decides to take a shuttle and find the kids himself. His attempt to go is dangerous as the planet wrecks his shields. And there is more than one stranger on the planet. Who could they be? Guess we’ll find out in issue 3. This comic manages to tell a story planet-side without dialogue, they have to communicate by writing in the dirt while also holding to convention on the ship.  It may not seem like it but this does move the story forward, albeit slowly.  See, again this stor...

The Omega is summoned to Deep Space Hope with a message, a miracle breakthrough.  They arrive to find a Black Hole contained and the crew inflicted with madness.  Their lead scientist tries to meld with Sato.  On the bridge, Kirk is informed that the life signs of the away team have vanished.  Meanwhile, Agnes states that the outcome was always inevitable... assimilation.   We see the progression of time wearing on the crew, especially Captain Sato as he suffers yet another loss.  The Emerald Chain continues to grown as the Federation shrinks.  The space station scenes are spooky, with the art reinforcing it very effectively.  For several issues Agnes has sat back and did little.  Here, we see things seemingly fall into place for her.     eight out of ten. 

And now with the latest hit paramount plus tv show Starfleet Academy (cancelled) comes the latest in tie in properties in the form of an all new comic series Starfleet Academy. And thus we begin with Genesis Lythe narrating, they disembark on a training exercise that combines both academy and war college on a mission to survive in different environments on a planet we learn was devastated by the burn. Everything seems like it would be fairly straightforward where both academy and war college would learn to work together as a team as they did in the days before the burn. But that would be boring so they find a random alien of unknown origin, a storm of some kind is coming in that disrupts all electronic signals, and the cadets are really unprepared because this is freshman year. But I’m sure they’ll figure something out. Okay let’s start with what I did like : I like that we’re going to get more stories in the 32nd century so automatically I hope IDW continues on in this timeframe and ...