Broken Frontier

The mirror world is a staple of the Star Trek universe, on par with the Borg for “how many times can they revisit it?!?” frustration.  That said, Mirror Images #1 by writing duo Scott and David Tipton is superb.  I’ve never actually encountered the mirror world  myself (in fiction, I mean, “duh” to never having encountered it in life), and this story sheltered me right through its doors with a gentle if ultimately backstabbing arm.  The story begins with sabotage, an attempted assassination, and we follow the nearly-killed Captain Pike as he maneuvers to flush out the man he knows is responsible: Kirk.  So Pike and a goateed (evil!  Eeeee-vil! )Spock band together to preserve the crew of the Enterprise as it is, while Kirk, Scotty and Doc Bones move to bring about a change of command.

That’s pretty much it, the whole plot centered around the internal intrigues of this dark-reflection crew based on the regular crew we all know and love.  This tightly-controlled venue allows the most neophyte reader (me) to enter through the doors and never feel like a single double-time beat’s been missed.  But didn’t I call this “ultimately backstabbing” in the previous paragraph?  Yes, sir, I did, and I wasn’t just being poetic considering the nature of this comic.  The truth is, I really don’t know what the hell is going on.  What’s the backstory with all these people?  What are they doing when the near-death of Pike takes place?  What’s normal behavior for any of them?  What do they do as members of the “ISS” Enterprise?  In the spirit of Mirror Images characters’ natures, the writers lull me into believing I have a handle on things, that I “get it”, when I realized well after the fact that I’d been lied to, entirely hoodwinked.

Which is bloody brilliant.  This is what first issues should be like.  This is why continuity, even when there obviously is a twenty-ton tanker’s load of it, is irrelevant.  Good writers can lie like dark-mirror reflections of bad writers, and tell a complex story with a tight organization and explicit direction so that it reads like something intuitive.  The script of Mirror Images #1 is yet another example of why IDW is the current licensed-comic king, putting out product that rivals the spin-off novels, TV shows, and video games.  This is as good as the source material ever was, and for a modern audience, frankly, a whole hell of a lot better.  These mirror image Star Trek favorites are wonderfully grim and noir-style gritty while situated within the same general sci-fi opera universe of the original.  And the story here looks to be a perfect introduction, and central to the characters themselves, for those of you who have long followed them.

The best part of this new series is David Messina’s art—he’s like Brian Stelfreeze and Mike Mignola combined, like a more zig-zaggy, dynamic, and less liquid Eduardo Risso.  It’s gloriously fitting to the material, exquisitely polished to a shine.  The dark mirror world under his pen and the twilight colors of Ilaria Traversi is grandiose and gothic and nearly had me forgetting to read the damn text!

Star Trek: Mirror Images #1 is a great Trek comic, an awesome Mirror World story, and a perfect first issue to a new series.  Absolutely everything clicks in this one, whether you’re a Trekkie, a casual fan, or a complete greenhorn.  You can dive into this alternate universe and enjoy the ride for all its worth, and if you want to know what it’s worth, go back to and read this review.  I’ll meet you back here in four paragraphs.