Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline (IDW) #10

by Mike Johnson, David Messina (Illustrator)

Die Vorgeschichte zum neuen Star-Trek-Kinofilm! Exklusiv als Comic!

Wie auch schon beim letzten Star-Trek-Kinofilm von J.J. Abrams gibt es die offizielle Vorgeschichte wieder exklusiv als Comic. Viel ist noch nicht bekannt über die Geschichte des Films wie auch über die des Prequel-Comics. Soviel kann man aber verraten: Im ersten Teil von COUNTDOWN TO DARKNESS bereitet eine Routineuntersuchung eines Klasse-M Planeten unvorhergesehene Probleme, während Spock noch mit den Folgen der Geschehnisse des letzten Kinofilms zu ringen hat…

Genres: Star Trek, Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Media Tie In, Graphic Novels Comics

104 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Mike Johnson is a comic book writer.

An almost lifelong Trekkie, he has scripted more Star Trek comic books than anyone else to date.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars simply for the red shirt dicussion. Seriously.

Also loved the debate and talk about the Prime Directive, which always slightly confused me in the series.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun installment in this series!

The events of "Countdown to Darkness" take place prior to that of the film "Into Darkness" and while the book doesn't bring lots of new insight into the events of the film, it tries to set the stage for some of the character decisions and emotions the film deals with.

I'm not sure it was quite as captivating or detailed as "Star Trek: Countdown" but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The dialogue is fantastic, I could hear the characters' voices and inflections as I read, which was a delight!

I love the look of the illustrations, though the likeness to the film actors varied. Some pages Kirk looked like a fantastic graphic novel representation of Chris Pine's Kirk, and sometimes he looked like an 18-year-old in a yellow shirt with blonde hair. Ditto with most of the other characters, sometimes they looked right, sometimes not.

But still, an entertaining read, and a nice addition to the Star Trek universe! :)

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phaedus is a planet with Bronze Age-level technology. When the Enterprise's communication and beaming devices are disrupted, Kirk decides to investigate. The away team's shuttle is shot upon with laser weapons. They soon meet the locals who are an agressive lot and their leader, a former Starfleet captain thought dead named Robert April. He is willing to sacrifice anything to help the natives that now follow him, even if his actions can spark a galactic incident.

Robert reveals that he violated the prime directive to save an oppressed race from the Shadows who are supplied by the Klingons. Due to his intervention Phaedus was split in two by a civil war between the indigenous factions. His side is the losing one, so Robert needs Kirk's help to survive the coming assault from the Shadows. He takes command of the Enterprise using a secret code that bypasses the computer's security and locks everyone out of the bridge and main ship systems. Robert offers the Enterprise to the Klingons in exchange for being appointed governor of Phaedus. Scotty does his magic to give control back to Kirk and none too soon - a Klingon warship was about to capture the Enterprise. War is averted for now, but the tensions between the Federation and the Klingons is increasing.

[S. J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Not A Full Review - Better one coming after I see the movie*

Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness is another good addition to the IDW comic series continuing where the J. J. Abrams movies simply can't due to budget constraints.

The characters, including their development, are quite good. These are not the people who set off after their graduation/captaincy celebration; they've experienced things and are a bit wiser. I feel like they may be closer to how they will be in the film.

While some have said this didn't pack the punch of the first Countdown book because there was no nostalgic Next Generation plot line, I felt this did set up some of the mindsets we see from the characters in the trailers. And of course the end lead us straight into the character portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch.

I feel however I can't completely review this until I see just how much it ties into the other movie so this is only a holder until I see the film later today.

Nice of them to come out just in time to celebrate my birthday. Thank you, J. J. Abrams for such a great present.

FULL REVIEW

*4.5 Stars*

Scorecard: (Out of 10)
* Quality of Writing - 9
* Pace - 8
* Plot development - 9
* Characters - 10
* Enjoyability - 9
* Insightfulness - 9
* Ease of Reading - 8
* Photos/Illustrations - 10
Final Score: 72/80 = 90%

Having now watched the movie (which was amazing and you have to go and IMAX made it even better!), I feel this comic did precisely what it was supposed to do. It filled in certain plot holes (the trader ship they fly to a certain planet antagonist to the Federation), added faces to certain dialogue sequences (this is one of the planets Admiral Marcus mentions that they know the Klingons have taken ), and it also added background to the whole Uhura and Spock relationship as it’s portrayed on the screen.

The main thing this comic does is plant the seed that all is not as it seems with Admiral Marcus. You learn that then First Officer Marcus is willing to completely break Federation law for…I doubt it’s for the reason the character in the comic thinks, but for some reason. Now we know, in the comic, that he is now Admiral Marcus and you have to wonder what he is like given the…malleability of his loyalty and the rules as he sees them. Kirk might bend/ break rules to save lives; Marcus does for…no real discernible reason. So you know going into the movie he is not all he seems.

This might not have the flash of the first Countdown comic; but it has a subtlety that I really liked. A subtlety that I feel was present in the film as well.

*Conclusion*
If you have gone/are going to see the movie, read this. It is a great comic all its own but it does give you some background to the movie that does add to the experience.

[Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading the IDW series of ongoing Star Trek stories set in the new alternate universe established in the Star Trek (2009) movie. The first four volumes of stories tell some re-imagined, some new stories set after the movie, intending to bridge the gap between that movie and the new 2013 movie. This latest fifth volume collects the 4-issue limited series and is intended to be a direct prequel to the new movie Star Trek Into Darkness, just as the Star Trek Countdown was as direct prequel to the 2009 movie. That aside: I enjoyed the book. Finally we get to see some Klingons--well, sort of, they are fully armored, including face-covering helmets! We get to see a surprise character from the Enterprise, from the original series' lore, re-imagined here for this new universe. We also get a few references to the previous issues in the ongoing comic series--which in my mind help gel the comic series into the movie series. I definitely appreciated that continuity nod. The story itself is quite self-contained but hints at larger, subversive, sinister plots brewing in the United Federation of Planets, which help set up, presumably, not only the stage, but perhaps even the background and motivations, of the 2013 movie's main villain.

The artwork wasn't as precise as some of the other issues in IDW's series. The characters don't look as similar to their real-life counterparts. But, there were lens flares. That made me laugh. Lens flares--in a comic, where the medium has no lenses. Awesome!

Definitely a book for the new ("prime") universe completion-ist to read. Even better if you can also read the previous 4 volumes of collected comic issues!

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tie-ins to the first Star Trek movie are some of the best I have seen in comics. They're really enjoyable to read, fill in gaps in the movie, and make you enjoy the movie even more than you already did. Countdown to Darkness is not on that level but is a fairly good Star Trek story nonetheless. It explores an interesting idea: should the Prime Directive or stopping a genocide take precedence? There is a character who is somewhat interesting initially but ends up being a bit shallow and typical "movie villain" for lack of a better way to describe it. The art definitely helps bring the story to life as well. Chris Pine remains a hard likeness for artists to nail however. The biggest complaint I have with Countdown to Darkness is that while it does help connect to the second Star Trek movie, it doesn't quite do so in a satisfying or important enough way to make this feel like another important adventure for USS Enterprise crew. If I didn't enjoy the new Star Trek movies and the universe so much, I might have rated this lower in fact. Regardless, I'm glad Star Trek gets pretty good comics and while it isn't must read, I did still enjoy it.

[J.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed with how forced the plot is, but how ambiguous it leaves you as to what is REALLY going on is pretty well done (they only want to wet your appetite, not reveal everything before the movie's even premiered).
All in all, if you're dying to get the bigger picture on what is going on in Into Darkness, or you simply love Trek (i sure do), i recommend this.

[Leilani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the movie this was a prequel to, this story was neither entirely delightful nor entirely infuriating. It contained a few links to the movie plot, which I noticed as I read this after seeing the movie, and gives Kirk a reason to feel dissatisfied with the Prime Directive. Overall I thought it enhanced the movie somewhat and had adequate art.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desperate for some time on land, Captain Kirk jumps at the chance to investigate the planet Phaedra. However, when he meets a Starfleet legend long believed to be dead, he is forced to question everything Starfleet stands for.

Orci's story is excellent and it stands alone as well as it provides a prequel to 'Star Trek: Into Darkness'. The artwork is crisp and clear and the likenesses are, in general, quite good.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great prequel to Into Darkness! An interesting perspective of the prime directive and how it could be taken wrong.

[Warren Tutwiler]

Read online ebook via Libby.

[Dovile · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story followed the previous comics set in this new Alternate universe and both the story and art were really good (even got the lens flares:)), but, after just seeing the movie, I can say that this comic isn't a must-read before the movie, not like the previous Countdown was. The events in 'Countdown to Darkness' are a separate story from the movie, although it does have some hints at the events in 'Star Trek Into Darkness' movie. Nothing to spoil your enjoyment of the movie, but just bits adding more flesh to the characters of Kirk, Spock and Uhura.


The plot (mild spoilers ahead):


the Enterprise is at a routine survey of a pre-warp civilization, when a high-energy field coming from the planet interferes with the ships' transporter and communications systems, so Kirk takes a shuttle to the surface with Spock, Sulu and 'Cupcake' Henderson to check it out. The planet's local inhabitants are at a civil war, with the winning side apparently being supplied by somebody with advanced weaponry, so Kirk and team must find out who is violating the Prime Directive and stop them.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Movie tie-in comics shouldn't be this good. Instead of detracting from the actual film Star Trek: Into Darkness, I'd almost say that this was "more Star Trek" than the movie. I'm not a hater of Star Trek: Into Darkness like most Trekkers/Trekkies seem to be, but it was definitely an action movie devoid of the philosophical underpinnings that differentiate Star Trek from something like Star Wars. The best part of this book was the use of an obscure Trek character usually relegated to the ranks of quiz bonus question - Captain Robert April.

April was the U.S.S. Enterprise's first commanding officer according to this continuity and the "prime" continuity. While never seen in the actual original TV show, he appeared in things like official manuals and comics for years. This version of April has been absent from Star Fleet for over 20 years - after his disappearance in an away mission on a underdeveloped planet. His first officer, Alexander Marcus, had some role in his ability to "disappear", Marcus being the villain of Star Trek: Into Darkness.

This whole book brings talk of things like The Prime Directive and politics into the "JJ-Verse" and I'd definitely recommend it to any fan.

[Kacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, love these comic books. I love how they build on the characters, fleshing them out and giving them more than what we see on the screen. Although Into Darkness is arguably the weakest of the AOS, I personally like it and this volume helps flesh out the parts that I really enjoyed.

I like how this story and the issues before it built up Spock's survivor's guilt and his rationalizations for putting himself in danger. And I liked how this in particular showed him pulling away from Uhura and gives context for why the Prime Directive was so instrumental in the opening of the movie, and why Uhura was so upset with him. It also does a good job of showing Kirk's problems with the Prime Directive.

Yeah, this is mostly a Kirk and Spock comic, but Into Darkness was mostly a Kirk and Spock movie so it does make sense. I liked the bit with Cupcake and his comment about the redshirts, and the bits with all the other characters were nice as well.

I don't know, I just love everything about this universe.

[Alex Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Star Trek knowledge is limited to the first and second of the recent films and now this graphic novel, so not exactly large. Still, I enjoyed it, and found it a nice accessible and enjoyable adventure of the Enterprise and its crew. It certainly didn't seem to set up Into Darkness in any meaningful way, but for a 50p find and an afternoon read, it was perfectly enjoyable. The art was nice enough, but characters had a slightly inconsistent look about them. My main criticism is it felt like it had too long a setup, then a too quick conclusion, probably as a result of being four comics originally.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this book truly is related to the upcoming movie, it's going to be a great film.

[James Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad...works fairly well setting up some of the themes in Into Darkness!

[cauldronofevil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve heard that there are people who liked Star Trek: Into Darkness. I am not one of them. And I really liked Star Trek (2009). I had no big problems with it.

This was their chance to really do something cool with Star Trek in the modern day and what did they do? They said to themselves, “Hey! Let’s remake Star Trek’s BEST movie! Only this time, it’ll be even better with a white guy!”.

This is The Official Comic Book Prequel to the Movie Blockbuster Event of the Year!

Let’s see how it goes.

Well, those uniforms, which looked okay on screen because you couldn’t really focus on the fact that they were made of little tiny delta arrows, look even stupider in a comic book where they don’t just look like a textured pattern, but like what they are - a bunch of stupid delta arrows patterned over their uniform. It’s like the navy had little boats printed all of their uniforms!

Kindofa cool thing though. They are investigating a planet whose inhabitants are way below the technology needed to be introduced to the Federation, but the Enterprise is having its sensors blocked by a high-energy field, which obviously the natives couldn’t do. Kirk wants to beam down and investigate but Spock warns, ”But the Prime Directive, Captain—“ to which Kirk replies “… Is no longer relevant here, commander.” which is exactly correct!

I have a hot button about modern Trek writers completely misunderstanding the Prime Directive (primarily because every Bergman Era show-writer got it wrong!).

Weird that they appear to have holsters for their phasers. What happened to super-velcro (a magneticky thing as it were).

Not a bad first issue at all.

It’s a good story idea! Robert April, first commander of the Enterprise ‘goes native’, seeing atrocities that he can’t unsee and must help despite the prime directive.

Just look at their Prime Directive. “Do not Interfere.” Which is just another way of saying “Do Nothing”. Do nothing while whole species die.

Well, it may be dramatic, but it’s also dumb as shit. The Prime Directive does NOT say ‘Do Not Interfere’. But the dumbass ‘Bergman Era’ writers might actually think it does.

So, this was fine. I don’t see how it make Star Trek: Into Darkness any more interesting, but that film was so forgettable that I’d have to see it again, to see if there was any interesting connection to this story. And at this time, I’m not willing to do that.

So, i would give this a 3 in that it should some things up, the art was good and the story made sense, in its own logic. I might keep it only because I have some other Abrams verse comics that might go with it.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I read this and from my recollection of Into Darkness I thought this didn't really relate to it. But it's been a decade since I saw it, so then rewatched it and my recollection was correct: there really isn't any connection to the movie outside of the final page. Doesn't really qualify as a cheap cash-in though because the story is pretty fun. Early in the book, it is mentioned that the planet's technology is around the level of the Roman Empire, so I thought maybe it would be playing with aspects of the TOS episode Bread and Circuses, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Ultimately, it's a plot with a lot of Prime Directive hemming and hawing, which may or may not be to everyone's taste.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This comic tied in nicely with the space between the Star Trek movies,and shows what happened to the crew.

Enterprise is sent on a data collection mission and discovers that a planet had interference from both a rogue member of the Federation and the Klingon Empire.Most of the senior crew members are on the planet and have to find their way back.

Jim Kirk loses command if the ship temporarily but gets it back just in time to escape a conflict with a Klingon vessel.The deliver Robert April,the captain of the former Enterprise to the next Starfleet outpost and the comic hints to the events of the 2nd movie.

[Kathryn McConaughy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art here is beautiful and the dialogue and story mostly good. But the story depends upon a Hugely Convenient Happening that totally broke the plot for me. There is a 0% chance that this thing would really happen in Starfleet (despite the fact that the Starfleet of the rebooted universe does seem to be about 75% more incompetent than the Starfleet of the original timeline), for practical reasons if not for reasons of security.

[Craig Lotter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Positioned as a prequel to 2013's Star Trek: Into Darkness movie, this book is a satisfying, neatly self-contained story in the Kelvin Timeline Star Trek universe. Penned by Johnson and pencilled by Messina, it's a great Star Trek book that looks good and doesn't overstay its welcome either. (Bonus niggle: For some reason someone thought it funny to stuff JJ Abrams signature lens flares all over the title - just as in the movies, it really doesn't make sense here either)

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Stuff

A great story that feels so wonderfully Trekky that you can tell from the pages alone how big of fans the creators of this comic are of Star Trek. It's also lovely as a prequel to Into Darkness

[Casey Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Not great.

[zara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot-wise it wasn't really anything impressive but thumbs up for leaving Bones in charge of the Enterprise that was something I never thought I needed to see.

[Mark Nevitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting read reflecting the adventures with Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise. The prelude that leads us to.. STAR TREK INTO THE DARKNESS

[Danny · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 I mean I knew going in a prequel to Star Trek Into Darkness wouldn't be that good. this was just mediocre, trying to do a mad captain story in AOS. I just didn't care.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. This Star Trek universe seems to be a little darker than TOS. I enjoy that.

[Ben A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't quite as good as the original Countdown mini-series but it was cool to see them tease a few things from Star Trek: Into Darkness.

[joe e landry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The new boys on the block

Excellent. Not what I expected. Have to get the next one to see what's going to happen next. Love that they brought April back. Peace and long life.