IDW has been publishing Star Trek comics for a few years, but this week sees the first tie-in to the newest, critically acclaimed series, Strange New Worlds. Set immediately after the events of season 1, The Illyrian Enigma #1 explores the crew of the Enterprise’s reaction to the events of the finale. More than just a tie-in, the series promises to enrich the events of the television series with a script by Strange New Worlds’ co-executive producer Kirsten Beyer and longtime Trek comics writer Mike Johnson. Megan Levens provides the line art, with colors from Charlie Kirchoff and letters by Neil Uyetake. The Illyrian Enigma #1 should help tide Trek fans over as they wait for the season 2 premiere but may leave readers unfamiliar with the series cold.
The Illyrian Enigma is set immediately after the events of Strange New Worlds’ first season finale. First Officer Una Chin-Riley, has been taken into custody by Starfleet after it was discovered she was actually a member of the Illyrian race, who performed illegal genetic modifications on herself. This premiere issue sees the crew of the Enterprise dealing with the emotional fallout and planning a rescue mission that may put them at odds with Starfleet and jeopardize their careers.
Beyer and Johnson’s script gives readers a lot of insight into Captain Pike’s internal monologue and his conflicting duties to his superiors and his crew. He is established as a noble and straight-laced captain whose faith in the Federation government has been shaken for the first time. The stakes are fairly small by Star Trek standards, with the plot tightly focused on the characters and their relationships with one another and with Starfleet. That narrow focus gives the issue a clarity of purpose and provides avenues for the series to tackle real-world issues, as the best Star Trek stories do. Una’s arrest for illegal genetic modifications put a sci-fi spin on relevant questions of bodily autonomy. Similarly, Pike, Spock, and Uhura are left to wonder if the Federation law is segregating the Illyrian race based on unjust prejudice.
These questions about how systems can be built to discriminate along arbitrary social constructs are as timely as ever. The Illyrian Enigma #1 invites readers to engage with difficult ideas in the context of a supposedly advanced society. However, while it alludes to these ideas, this issue doesn’t fully engage with them, as Beyer and Johnson focus more on the crew’s reaction to the arrest and their plans to rescue their colleague. Unfortunately, the writers seem to assume that fans are already familiar with this iteration of the franchise. Pike is the only character to be fully fleshed out. This first issue fails to introduce the various characters or provide background about their roles onboard the ship. While most readers are probably entering the series with plenty of knowledge, it still feels like a strange way to approach the first issue of the series. Even Una, the impetus for the series’ plot, only appears in one panel.
Levens’ art helps to humanize the characters beyond the dialogue, and her body language and expressions help to inform how the characters relate to one another. The way Levens stages a video conference between Pike and his superior, Admiral April, enhances the dialogue. Pike begins the call facing away from the screen, unable to even look at April, before turning to look down at the screen, never sitting down. His expression is stern, his back straight. Meanwhile, April hunches and looks defeated. Pike is filled with righteous anger, while April is bent down by the weight of his orders. It reads like an old friendship breaking as two men realize their motivations and loyalties have divided. Kirchoff’s colors are bright and sleek, recalling the ultra-modern and flashy lighting of JJ Abrams’ Trek films. It gives the issue a stylish, optimistic feel. Even as the personal tensions ramp up, the art maintains a light and optimistic tone.
Overall, IDW’s Star Trek Strange New Worlds: The Illyrian Enigma #1 should keep fans of the series engaged until season 2 premieres, especially with the way it rounds out Pike and provides new depth. This isn’t a great starting point for new fans, but the creative team does a great job of staying true to the source material and adding to the universe.
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