By GustavoLeao / 04:53, 7 August 2008 / Trek Books

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Star Trek: Assignment Earth #4  

Review by Patrick Hayes aka PatBorg  

The cover: Byrne provides a great "classic" sci-fi cover of an unconscious Gary being held by a vampish (used in the non-vampire way) screaming Roberta as mechanical arms equipped with spikes snake in to attack!  I love this type of cover, and it fits in great with the story!  A special wowzer is the coloring: green, green, green, green, and more green.  It gives the setting an even more alien feel.  Way to go Tom Smith!  Overall grade: A+  

The story: This is John Byrne the master storyteller in action -- Hooray!  However, this is a tough story to review without giving away anything past page 4!  I really don't want to ruin anything in your enjoyment of this book.  I can say this much: Gary and Roberta investigate an encrypted file left behind by Gary's predecessors, Agents 347 and 201.  This leads to revealing how both agents were killed.  And I have to stop there with the story.  You don't want this ruined for you.  You should go out and get a copy of this comic.  It answers/reveals some tidbits of information that I've always wanted to hear about Gary Seven but never got in any other format.  What can I tell you, teasingly, about this comic?  I was enormously pleased with the way in which 347 and 201's final story was revealed: a very neat and clever way to give backstory!  I was happy to see what the two agents looked like on page 5.  Huge thumbs up for the reveal of the alien race atop page 7.  Great, logical, action on pages 10 and 11, with the end result being a fantastic tension maker!  The reveal on 13 worthy of the splash page.  The reveal/twist on page 17 -- great!  The climax on 18 -- perfect!  The hero's fall on 19 right up there with the best of Kirk's passing out after the mission is over.  And the last line of dialogue: this is why you want to purchase this book.  A reveal that is worthy of canon.  My biggest beef is that now I want a one-shot of Agents 347 and 201 with Roberta.  But wait!  There's a two page Isis solo story.  No dialogue at all, and none needed for this "kitty's" night time romp.  I believe (he said in his best Simpson's Comic Book Guy voice) that this is the first Trek comic story done sans dialogue.  It, too, is great.  How great is it?  I would love to see more, but what a writing challenge that would be!  Maybe have Isis hook up with Mr. Homm.  Overall grade: A+  

The art:  Byrne again and he's flexing his artistic muscles completely in this 22 masterpiece.  That's right, I said it, masterpiece.  Nothing is fluff: all fits the story perfectly!  From the classic good girl (Where's my Trina Robbins' paper doll page for Roberta?) art on page 1, the partial double page splash on 2 and 3, the close quarters of the police station, to the aliens revealed.  There's many opportunities where Byrne could have taken a thousand shortcuts and I'm sure it would have looked okay, but every page is jammed with detail.  Pages 4 - 6 are filled with bits that don't overwhelm the story or the overall picture.  There's a lot of 6 panel pages (or more).  Let's face it, many artists would put too much or too little into this many shots, but Byrne shows gloriously why he earned his rep and why he's keeping it.  Thank God he came to Star Trek!  Overall grade: A+  

The coloring:  Tom Smith gets to cut lose in a million ways thanks to this story.  Page 1 has got to be a dream to highlight Roberta's many choices.  The quick contrast to the browns on pages 2 and 3 are a great way to establish the reader into the story as well as reveal the magic of "Betty."  Look at the palate used on pages 4 - 8: all the shades in, out, and around the motel.  The harsh coloring used in the flashbacks creates the seriousness of the possible threat.  The aliens' coloring and setting are fantastic, as well.  And big points for coloring the aliens' dialogue balloons!  This only reinforces the alien-ness of these beings.  And then there's the Isis story!  How hard has it got to be to "color" the night in a city without looking like Sin City?  Smith does it superbly!  Overall grade: A+  

The lettering: Robbie Robbins on the job again, and, again, doing well!  Not only are there dialogue balloons, there's a nice title font on page 2, some Isis noises, computer alerts, a 1950's Roberta scream (great layout on that!), and the clincher, alien dialogue!  I wouldn't put it past Byrne to have come up with this, but I'm giving Robbie the credit on it since he's got the credit on the inside cover.  I've read a lot of comics, and sci-fi novels, but I've never seen alien language written like this.  Good job for creating something new!  What sells this language even better is that the dialogue balloons are unique to the aliens.  And improving even on that, is when Gary speaks in that language his balloon is a little different from the aliens.  A great touch to show that no matter how talented he is in their speak, he's still going to have a human accent.  Fantastic!  Overall grade: A+  

The final line:  A book with a fantastic story, perfect artwork, gorgeous coloring, and flawless lettering.  And wait! -- a final reveal that answers a question that some, like me, have had for a long time about Gary Seven.  You want a story that adds to the canon of Star Trek beautifully?  What are you waiting for?  Pick this up!  Overall grade: A+  

...and the best teaser for a Star Trek comic I've seen: Will the real Dick please stand up?  

...and I have to add that when I picked this book up I was shocked to discover that it was issue #4.  I missed #3 somehow!  I'm going to track it down as quickly as I can!  Damn me for going to my local store after 4 PM.