By
GustavoLeao /
10:28, 9 February 2013 /
Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek Ongoing #17
Reviewed by Patrick Hayes
The covers: The standard three covers on this McCoy
focused issue. The Regular cover is by Tim Bradstreet with colors by
Grant Goleash. Within the delta shield McCoy gives a serious stare at
someone. Around him are molecule chains and a Starfleet shuttle. Between
the shield and the background is the physician's symbol, caduceus. Very
cool. The RI A is the "sketch art" by Bradstreet. As always, this is
interesting to see for anyone who wants to see the starting point for a
comic, but this image of McCoy frightens me! Cover RI B is a nice photo
cover of Chris Pine from the film as he challenges Spock's opinion of
the Kobayashi Maru results. The photo's great, but Kirk isn't even in this issue! Where's the photo of Karl Urban? Overall grades: Regular A-, RI A B, and RI B B+
The story: So if writers Mike Johnson and F.
Leonard Johnson, M.D., are going to write a McCoy-centric tale you would
expect certain elements to be there: someone close to dying from an
ailment of some sort, some country wisdom, and heart-breaking decisions.
Check, check, and check, but, thankfully, there's more! Framed by a
current crewman's critical condition, McCoy thinks of his past with his
father, a doctor, and learns a major lesson after falling from a tree.
We journey through the good doctor's life in college and marriage, and
along the way we learn why he joined Starfleet. The character introduced
on Page 11 is a major cliche, I'm sad to say. You know what the fate of
this character is in the very first panel she appears. She holds no
surprises or suspense whatsoever. She adds nothing to story, rendering
the final line of the book also cliche. Luckily, this character doesn't
dominate the story but she does lessen it. Overall grade: B
The art: A decent job by artist Claudia Balboni
and inker Erica Durante. The page layout is good, and the reader's eye
is moved about quite a bit to keep things interesting and to put focus
on people's faces, which I enjoy. Page 13 is a smooth transition of a
relationship gone south. Karl Urban's likeness is very strong thoughout,
impressively even on the child version of McCoy. There are some
occassional bumps in the art, people's cheeks stick out oddly (Page 8,
panel five) or a face comes off as misconstructed (the person in panels
three, four, and five on Page 9 could not be the same person). However,
this isn't too often, and the rest of the look of the book is solid. Overall grade: B
The colors: This is a truly dynamite job by
Claudia SGC. The scenes in the Mississippi forest are gorgeous.
The shading of the characters' faces to create depth are equally well
done. Very, very impressive. Overall grade: A+
The letters: A tree falls and a knocking on a door
are the only sounds set apart from a few yells and the dialogue.
This story doesn't demand many sounds, but Chris Mowry does a good job. Overall grade: A-
The final line: Is this entertaining? Yes. Is some
of the story too rote? Yes. Are there some sequences that are original.
Oh, yes! Worth getting? Yes, doctor's orders! Overall grade: B
