Countdown to Darkness - Review and Discussion

[bullethead]

Man, I freakin' wish Dark Horse had the Star Trek license.

Having seen their Mass Effect comics, I'd fine with Trek staying with IDW.

I'd blame that on the writer (to wit, Mac Walters, the lead writer on ME3), not the publisher.

It's not the writing so much as the art. Mass Effect always was weak when it came to anything that wasn't mission specific or character writing anyway, so I don't hold that against Walters.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I do not see from this miniseries what a potential abuse of power has to do with Khan on the last page.

My thought on the final pages...

Spoiler: The last trailer...

The last trailer prompted me to say to my coworkers, "What if Star Trek Into Darkness is like The World is Not Enough? We're getting built up that Bandersnatch Cummerbund is the the villain of the piece, like Robert Carlyle was built up as the villain of The World Is Not Enough, but then in that film we had the third act plot twist where we learned that Carlyle was just the Bond henchman and the real villain was someone else. I'm getting that kind of vibe from [i}Into Darkness[/i], that Bandersnatch is just someone else's henchman and we're going to have a third act plot twist that the real villain is someone else pulling the strings.

Basically, I don't think it matters who John Harrison really is because he's just a sideshow to the real villain of the piece, which will be Admiral Marcus. The conversation Kirk has with Pike here indicates that there's something rotten in Starfleet Intelligence. (Hence, my allusion to Harbinger above.)

Now, if that's true, then the film's release schedule makes absolutely no sense, because why would Paramount blow that plot twist in the film's primary market by releasing it early in Britain? Tentpole film marketing is beyond me, I'm afraid.

 

[JD]

I've heard that theory before, and it wouldn't surprise me at all. Marcus is Peter Weller, right?

 

[The Wormhole]

After reading issue 4 I'm going to repeat my earlier question: why was Mudd Bajoran? Without getting sidetracked about what relation she is to Harry Mudd, she's obviously meant to be connected, otherwise why use the name? And really, she could have been human and nothing would have changed in the story at all.

 

[ATimson]

After reading issue 4 I'm going to repeat my earlier question: why was Mudd Bajoran? Without getting sidetracked about what relation she is to Harry Mudd, she's obviously meant to be connected, otherwise why use the name? And really, she could have been human and nothing would have changed in the story at all.

I'm wondering if that was an art error - it didn't ever come up in the text, did it?

 

[The Wormhole]

After reading issue 4 I'm going to repeat my earlier question: why was Mudd Bajoran? Without getting sidetracked about what relation she is to Harry Mudd, she's obviously meant to be connected, otherwise why use the name? And really, she could have been human and nothing would have changed in the story at all.

I'm wondering if that was an art error - it didn't ever come up in the text, did it?

No, it never was in the text. I could accept it was an error if it was just her nose (thought that would be one hell of an error) but when she's first seen in issue 2 she's clearly wearing a distinctly Bajoran looking earring. They intended for her to be Bajoran and never did anything with it.

 

[Gsam]

the movie is actually going to premiere April 23 in Australia. I don't know how they expect to keep the plot a secret after this..just beware if you don't want to know anything you will have to go dark by April 22 at the latest...

 

[ATimson]

I could accept it was an error if it was just her nose (thought that would be one hell of an error) but when she's first seen in issue 2 she's clearly wearing a distinctly Bajoran looking earring. They intended for her to be Bajoran and never did anything with it.

So did they also intend for the Mirror Universe Enterprise to be a movie-style Constitution with a registry of NCC-1701-D? And for the Narada to have 24th-century style Starfleet LCARS displays?

Given the other art errors in IDW's Abramstrek comics, unless the script is ever released I see no reason to assume this wasn't more of the same.

 

[The Wormhole]

I could accept it was an error if it was just her nose (thought that would be one hell of an error) but when she's first seen in issue 2 she's clearly wearing a distinctly Bajoran looking earring. They intended for her to be Bajoran and never did anything with it.

So did they also intend for the Mirror Universe Enterprise to be a movie-style Constitution with a registry of NCC-1701-D? And for the Narada to have 24th-century style Starfleet LCARS displays?

Given the other art errors in IDW's Abramstrek comics, unless the script is ever released I see no reason to assume this wasn't more of the same.

Good point, especially with the LCARS displays, which surprisingly show up far too often in the Ongoing series.

 

[Caretaker]

It was fun seeing alternate reality Kor again. I can't remember if he wore the helmet in the Nero comics. And glad for the "cameo" by John Harrison.

At least with April and Mudd alive at the end of the story, it wouldn't surprise me if we see both of them again in the comics. I also wonder if Hendorff will carry a blade in his boot ala Sulu after the prequel events.

Overall, the story felt lackluster. Maybe because Countdown had an epic feel to it and this prequel didn't.

 

[Paris]

Just finished issue #4. Meh. Not a great series. With

Spoiler: spoiler about fate of character

April in jail now

, i wonder if he will be mentioned in STID at all? Overall...I don't regret buying the issues, but maybe next time i'll trade wait for these "countdown" stories..

 

[Christopher]

^There probably won't be any mention. The whole "This affair is classified" bit at the end is probably their way of explaining why the events of this story won't be referenced in the movie.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Overall, the story felt lackluster. Maybe because Countdown had an epic feel to it and this prequel didn't.

I suspect that Mike Johnson and Roberto Orci weren't aiming for "epic." Countdown to Darkness always read to me as the next story arc in the ongoing series. CtD has as much in common with "A Private Little War" as "The Truth About Tribbles" had in common with "The Trouble With Tribbles" or the Mirror Universe storyline had in common with "Mirror, Mirror" -- which is to say that IDW has progressed far beyond rewriting original series episodes and is instead taking ideas and concepts and giving them a wholly unique spin in the film's continuity. IDW probably recognized (quite correctly) that they would get higher sales (and more buzz) if they packaged this storyline as something else, something separate.

 

[Turtletrekker]

^ I'm glad that they came to that realization. I dropped after the first arc, based on "Where No Man Has Gone Before", which I felt was a a big "meh". I didn't care to read more like that. Maybe I'll give the title another look post-Darkness. That the would seem to be a good point to jump on.

 

[Christopher]

^I think it was always their intention to start with more faithful adaptations and diverge more and more over time, on the theory that the differences in the timeline would cause accumulating changes. Although that doesn't account for the huge change of these episodes' events taking place 7-10 years earlier than the did in the Prime universe.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

^ I'm glad that they came to that realization. I dropped after the first arc, based on "Where No Man Has Gone Before", which I felt was a a big "meh". I didn't care to read more like that. Maybe I'll give the title another look post-Darkness. That the would seem to be a good point to jump on.

I've suggested to people that they give the Tribbles story a try. I forget the issues, might be #11 and #12, but it's in the third collected volume along with the redo of "The Return of the Archons." "The Truth About Tribbles" was fun, in an entirely different way than "The Trouble With Tribbles." (Though David Gerrold received a credit for "Trouble" in "Truth," there's nothing in common between the two stories except for the Tribbles.)

The fourth volume has "The Redshirt's Tale" (a look at life aboard the Enterprise from the redshirts' perspective) and the Mirror Universe story.

As for jumping into the monthly comic, yeah, "After Darkness" looks like a good jumping-on point.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

QUOTE=Caretaker;7941007]It was fun seeing alternate reality Kor again. I can't remember if he wore the helmet in the Nero comics.[/quote]

No he didn't have a helmet on in it.

^There probably won't be any mention. The whole "This affair is classified" bit at the end is probably their way of explaining why the events of this story won't be referenced in the movie.

I still think we're going to get an abridged explanation about what happened on Phaedus IV just becuase Starfleet letting the Klingons get away with it and basically covering it kind of matches up with the Unforgivable crimes Harrison is POed about and would also explain why he goes to Qo'nos of all places.

The fourth volume has "The Redshirt's Tale" (a look at life aboard the Enterprise from the redshirts' perspective)

Spoiler: The Redshirt's Tale

Which is really interesting when you realize its an adaption of the Apple

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Is Abramsverse-Kor supposed to be the Klingon played by Victor Garber in the ST XI deleted scene? The one where he interrogates Nero?

 

[Christopher]

I still think we're going to get an abridged explanation about what happened on Phaedus IV just becuase Starfleet letting the Klingons get away with it and basically covering it kind of matches up with the Unforgivable crimes Harrison is POed about and would also explain why he goes to Qo'nos of all places.

It seems unlikely to me that the film would be motivated by events that Kirk & crew took part in themselves, rather than some unfamiliar events they'd need explained to them so that the audience could be cued in too. I suspect the events on Phaedus were meant more as one instance of a larger pattern of Starfleet behavior, and it'll be a different instance that will provoke the events of the film.

 

[Paris]

Is Abramsverse-Kor supposed to be the Klingon played by Victor Garber in the ST XI deleted scene? The one where he interrogates Nero?

Those scenes were in 2233, so if it was Kor, that would make him a hell of a lot older in the jjverse than in the prime U. Anything's possible though...