It's no April Fool's prank: today IDW Publishing releases Star Trek: Countdown Number Four, the action- and spoiler-packed finale of their four-issue official prequel comic to J.J. Abrams' film STAR TREK opening in theaters May 8th.
Climactic battles between TNG-era characters including Picard, Data, LaForge and Worf conclude with tension and surprise as the plot now leaps back in time to the 23rd century to pick up in the STAR TREK feature film.
This is all I can divulge without discussion plot spoilers of both the comic prequel finale and the feature film, other than adding this series ends on a dramatic high note which holds much promise for TREK in theaters.
It's quite likely that the ending of this series, conceived by STAR TREK screenwriters Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman, will be replicated in grander fashion onscreen this summer as the opening of the film. Issue Four writers Mike Johnson & Tim Jones presumably had the script or plot details to incorporate into the comic's cliffhanging resolution, and the results certainly step up the intensity and action over the previous three issues. With the character dynamics of Spock and Nero in place, this prequel's storyline accelerates at Warp 9 to foreshadow the film's opening sequence.
David Messina's artwork and Giovanna Niro's coloring meet the challenge as well, evoking contrasting moods of determination and desperation as events collide in the finale.
Today's release of Star Trek: Countdown Number Four now coincides with the release of the Countdown Trade Paperback omnibus of the comic quadrilogy, so fans who dare to read (or collect) Countdown all in one sitting now have the option — especially handy if you missed an issue due to sell outs at your local retailer.
Fair warning, if you're avoiding all movie spoilers, do not read beyond this point!
REVIEW DISCUSSES SPOILERS BELOW:
Issue 4, with no secrets left to withhold, pulls no punches in the four-issue finale, starting with the bloody battle between General Worf's Klingon attackers and Nero's Narada crew. Worf leadership and tactical skills have only been honed to an even more lethal point since last seen in TNG films, and he provides a worthy foil to Nero's vengeance. Alas, Nero holds the final surprise for Worf in their one-on-one showdown — and I'll leave the rest of that spoiler to readers' imagination.
The Enterprise, under Data's command with Admiral Picard on board, answer the call to support the Klingon assault on Nero while Spock departs on his covert mission to save further destruction from the Hobus supernova.
While Spock has logical confidence in his mission to inject the convulsing star with red matter to stop its expansion, he admits much less certainty he will return from his volunteered duty. Yet Spock is content that he will "leave this galaxy in the most capable hands." Oh what fun implications this line has for Abrams' TREK alternate timeline film this summer!
Speaking of timelines in TREK, I don't mean to be boastful when I say that MISSION: TREK predicted a major plot spoiler correctly weeks ago! In both our Issue Three review and our expanded MT09 article on the topic of time travel, I speculated that Nero and Spock might well become unwilling passengers thrown back into TREK history of the 23rd century.
Since neither Nero's Narada nor Spock's Jellyfish ships had demonstrated any time travel capabilities, I speculated that Spock's mission to inject the Hobus star with red matter, which would create an artificial singularity to destroy the threatening supernova, might also trap Nero and Spock's ships in its gravitational pull. Falling into the singularity's immense energy release, the two 24th century antagonists might be accidentally thrown back in time.
This is exactly the scenario presented in Countdown #4: while Spock succeeds in destroying the Hobus supernova and saving the galaxy, his ship cannot escape its pull. When Nero decloaks in the system to confront Spock, his ship is also sucked into the singularity black hole, and together they disappear from the 24th century timeline, perhaps forever.
Time travel was never Nero's plan for revenge, but since he will be trapped in 23rd century, Nero is left with only the targets available to him: young James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock and the new U.S.S. Enterprise. This incidental time travel also leaves elder Spock in the dangerous, delicate position of knowing past history and enlisting his younger self to stop Nero from destroying the past in order to save the future.
Star Trek Countdown #4
concludes with the black hole disappearance of Spock and Nero, handsomely setting up the thrilling events to unfold in J.J. Abrams' feature film STAR TREK on May 8th. Buckle up, fans, this is going to be one thrilling new adventure!
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