You can preview Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness here in an earlier post on Geek Native.
Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness was overseen by the Star Trek movie writer Roberto Orci, was written by Mike Johnson and illustrated by David Messina. It began life as a four part comic book series in the run up to Star Trek into Darkness and now compiled into a single graphic novel.
Back in 2009 there was a similar approach, a four-issue comic book series, called Countdown that led up to the first reboot. Johnson, Messina and Orci were involved in Countdown too.
I really enjoyed Countdown to Darkness. It begins as the Enterprise approaches a class M planet for a scanning mission. For a brief time I wondered whether this would be the story behind the opening scenes to Star Trek into Darkness – but no, the details don’t match. Very quickly events spiral in a way that J.J. Abrams would approve of.
This comic book is an effective prequel too. Despite all the action is looks into the relationship with Spock and Uhura as well as Spock and Kirk. It looks at the Prime Directive and the role of the Federation too.
For fans of the new reboot, Countdown to Darkness shines the spotlight on the growing conflict with the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Want to see what a Klingon spaceship looks like – you’ll find that in Countdown to Darkness. I don’t mean the shuttle sized craft that we saw on Qo’noS. I mean a Klingon warship.
As speculation; does Countdown to Darkness hold any clues as to what will be in J.J. Abrams’ third Star Trek movie? That movie isn’t confirmed but despite Star Wars (and perhaps because of it) it seems likely. It also seems likely that Star Trek 3 will investigate the Klingon threat. I wonder whether Captain Robert April will be a character in Abrams’ next Star Trek movie in the way John Harrison was in the second.
This review is simply put; comic book fan and a Star Trek fan? Grab this collection.
Disclaimer: My copy of the graphic novel was provided for review. Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness Movie Prequel, £9.99 from Titan Books. By Robert Orci, David Messina and Mike Johnson.
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