By GustavoLeao / 16:34, 2 July 2008 / Trek Books

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Star Trek: Mirror Images #1  

Review by Patrick Hayes aka PatBorg  

The cover(s): I've gone on ad nauseam about the pointlessness of multiple covers and have expressed my glee that some Trek comics have had only one cover.  This comic has three and IDW finally got me to purchase more than one cover.  Excuse me while I remove my foot from my mouth.  I would have purchased all three, but my store was out of the final one.  "Cover A" is by the more-than-capable Joe Corroney who penciled and colored a great job on the classic picture of Spock from "Amok Time,"  though there's a great opposite added to the picture.  It's fantastic.  "Cover B" is the first wraparound cover I believe IDW has done for Trek, and it's done by David Messina, with colors by Ilaria Traversi.  MU Kirk on the front, MU Spock on the back.  You'll want to buy two copies of this version, so that you can remove the cover to make a poster.  Again, fantastic job.  Now we come to "RI Photo Cover" of Shatner and Nimoy from "Mirror, Mirror."  It, too, is fantastic. Overall grade: A+ for all three.  

The story: Scott & David Tipton are the writers, and I admit that I dove into this book with caution.  The Mirror Universe has been touched upon more often than Borg stories, to the point where I've ignored many of the novels.  Could the Tiptons do any better?  Could they tell a story that would keep me interested when the MU has been so overused?  Is an Orion green?  I loved this book!  Not going past page 4, this story takes place while Pike was captain of the MU Enterprise.  Something happens to Pike as he helps raze a planet, which leads to characters familiar from "Mirror, Mirror" appearing.  Every page is drenched in tension, with every character suspecting the other of sabotage for career advancement.  Outside of page 5, this book is nothing but conversations.  Conversations that are stirring the pot.  When this pot comes to boil you know this going to be bad.  Really bad.  I was upset when the issue ended because I wanted more.  I really want to know what happens next.  The final panel actually had me gasp aloud.  A great surprise twist.  Page 14 is probably the most disturbing thing I've ever read and seen in a Trek comic.  But, this is how it should be.  The Tiptons are not just the writers of Trek comics, they've now grown to THE writers of Trek comics.  Overall grade: A+  

The art: David Messina makes this a disturbing comic.  It's a shadow heavy book because it's a story where no one is to be trusted (Makes me wonder if IDW got the license to do The X-Files for a comic).  Page 1 is a simple, magnificent way to introduce readers to the MU.  Every page afterwards has moments of absolute chills: Pike's eyes on the bottom of page 3, Pike in panel 2 on page 7, all of page 8, the stance of the "main" character in panel 2 on page 10, the fear in panel 3 on page 13, the bottom of 14, the paranoia at the bottom of 17, page 20's "Take that, Adam Hughes!", and all of page 22.  David Messina is THE Trek artist.  Overall grade: A+  

The colors: Ilaria Traversi does a fantastic job.  Even before being confined to the shadows of the Enterprise, Traversi shows her ability on the planet shown in the first four pages: it's colored in glorious TOS colors and it's a knockout.  Yet even with the gorgeous planet, the blue in Pike's insane eyes on 3 were a standout.  In fact, everyone's eyes in this comic are shockingly powerful due to their color when placed in shadows.  Page 8 just sucked me in.  The black and white on page 14 is jarringly perfect for what's being told.  But how to prove that Traversi is really good?  Pages 16 through 19.  The only lighting is from the computer's screen and it's shown brilliantly, especially on 16 and the first panel on 19.  These two characters are men of shadows and that's where they would be, were it not for the color off the computer.  Fantastic job.  Overall grade: A+  

The letters: Chris Mowry is the letterer, and I believe he's been involved with more Trek comics consistently than anyone else at IDW.  There's a reason why: he, too, is good.  In addition to dialogue and narration, there's a nice com signal, phaser blast, explosion (in Kirby-esque lettering!), and "engineer labors."  With all the dialogue that's done, Mowry gets some nice moments to show he's got talent.  He certainly does.  Overall grade: A+  

Overall grade: I defy you to find anything wrong with this book.  If you're an old fan you won't feel like you're getting a retread of old material, and if you're a new fan you won't be lost in any way.  This is what every Trek fan wants to have in their collection.  It's a flawless comic.  Overall grade: A+