Khan #3 Review

[Villordsutch]

Hello all below is my review for Star Trek: Khan#3

[quote="Villordsutch]My review of the last issue caught a word of flack on the web as I didn’t appreciate the huge leaps taken when it came to Khan and Co. taking over the world (who knew it’d be so easy). Well here in issue #3 I’ll tell you now there are a few large leaps made, however in this comic it seems somewhat appropriate.

Expecting “Wine and Roses”, the initial pages greet us with Khan being worshipped by the people, with ribbons and streamers tumbling around the cheering and clapping obedient citizens as he stands, square jawed and steely eyed as his monologue of why people appreciate being ruled surrounds him; you could be mistaken that my initial expectat...[/quote]

Full review can be found here - http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2013/12/comic-book-review-star-trek-khan-3.html

 

[F. King Daniel]

I hope they're paying Eric Kristainsen for using his S.S. Botany Bay cutaway on the alternate cover.

 

[timothy]

It was good issue who knew it came down to the chinesse in the for front.

 

[Noddy]

I think it's too far-fetched.

 

[dswynne1]

^ To what you are referring to?

 

[DEWLine]

I'm guessing the claims of Khan are the main issue.

Certainly, it gives us some leeway in terms of Unreliable Narrator Syndrome to use him as the POV character, particluarly during the Eugenics Wars as they progressed.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Thoroughly enjoyed this issue and a fun cameo by Sydney, Australia!

 

[Noddy]

^ To what you are referring to?

Stuff like the Americas getting nuked. If that happened, there'd be no way the late 20th-early 21st century settings of episodes like VOY "11:59" and ENT "Carpenter Street" could happen; people would still be struggling to rebuild civilization.

 

[Pauln6]

I enjoyed it - it had more interesting twists than issue 2. I do agree that the concept of the USA being devastated by nuclear conflict in the nineties sit ill at ease with the Voyager time travel but we only saw specific areas so its not completely incongruous.

 

[Noddy]

I should think a nuclear conflict raging across North America would totally devastate the nation for decades to come. So no, Los Angeles would not have looked remotely like it did in VOY "Future's End" (even if it was a slightly alternate past), nor would the locales in VOY "11:59" and ENT "Carpenter Street."

 

[Christopher]

There's also the fact that the 24th-century shows often referenced World War III as a conflict that culminated around mid-century but never referenced the Eugenics Wars. If the EW were a global nuclear exchange in the 1990s, then surely the conflict that ended a decade before First Contact would've been called World War IV instead. So if IDW has indeed chosen to depict the Eugenics Wars that way, it's an extremely strange choice.

 

[Pauln6]

There's also the fact that the 24th-century shows often referenced World War III as a conflict that culminated around mid-century but never referenced the Eugenics Wars. If the EW were a global nuclear exchange in the 1990s, then surely the conflict that ended a decade before First Contact would've been called World War IV instead. So if IDW has indeed chosen to depict the Eugenics Wars that way, it's an extremely strange choice.

Yes, it does seem strange but this could also be a 'Usual Suspects' moment. Just because we have knowledge to contradict Khan doesn't mean the characters do I suppose.

Or of course proof that (IDW) Nero did not come from the Prime Universe.

 

[Christopher]

Yes, it does seem strange but this could also be a 'Usual Suspects' moment. Just because we have knowledge to contradict Khan doesn't mean the characters do I suppose.

I think that the characters could certainly be expected to have enough knowledge of history to know whether there was a global nuclear war in the 1990s. That's not exactly the sort of thing that would be overlooked in history class.

Or of course proof that (IDW) Nero did not come from the Prime Universe.

It's simply proof that the comics are non-canonical. It's not the first time that they've had some strange interpretations, some of which have clashed with the Bad Robot movies as well as with Prime continuity.

This is why tie-ins are not canonical as a rule -- because even with an ongoing attempt at oversight, it's hard for film or TV producers to maintain really solid continuity in tie-ins created by other people while the producers themselves are busy creating the canonical work itself. Generally the only times it can work are after the canon series has ended and the creators are able to oversee the tie-ins more directly -- which is why the Babylon 5 books written after the series ended are canonical and the books written during the series are not, and why the Buffy comics written after the series are canonical and the books and comics written during the series are not.

 

[Noddy]

There's also the fact that the 24th-century shows often referenced World War III as a conflict that culminated around mid-century but never referenced the Eugenics Wars. If the EW were a global nuclear exchange in the 1990s, then surely the conflict that ended a decade before First Contact would've been called World War IV instead. So if IDW has indeed chosen to depict the Eugenics Wars that way, it's an extremely strange choice.

Well the comic doesn't actually say the nuclear conflict was global, just that it occurred in the Americas, specifically the north continent. So while that might solve the problem of why it isn't regarded as being WW3 proper, it does mean that it would have probably taken the USA decades to recover from the devastation, so likely no LA as shown in "Future's End", no Millennium Gate in "11:59", and no Carpenter Street in "Carpenter Street." I can't see the nation being able to wage the War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq nearly a decade later either.

 

[DEWLine]

Also, dumping Canada into the "Great North Wasteland"...? How likely would that really be?

 

[F. King Daniel]

I've not read the comics yet so can't really comment buuuuuut, it does seem strange that the comics are so quick to ignore TV/film canon and the 2233 timeline divergence point when Into Darkness bent over backwards to explain why Khan was found and revived earlier and even (in a deleted scene) why Carol has a British accent.

 

[Pauln6]

In fairness to the comic, part of the problem was the TV shows reluctance to accept the Eugenics wars in the fictional timeline and intertwine them with the time travel episodes to some degree at least, even if only e.g. Rain mentioning them or something.

 

[Christopher]

In fairness to the comic, part of the problem was the TV shows reluctance to accept the Eugenics wars in the fictional timeline and intertwine them with the time travel episodes to some degree at least, even if only e.g. Rain mentioning them or something.

I don't follow your logic. If anything, that makes it even more inexplicable that the comic would portray the Eugenics Wars as a massive nuclear conflict that devastated the US.

 

[Pauln6]

In fairness to the comic, part of the problem was the TV shows reluctance to accept the Eugenics wars in the fictional timeline and intertwine them with the time travel episodes to some degree at least, even if only e.g. Rain mentioning them or something.

I don't follow your logic. If anything, that makes it even more inexplicable that the comic would portray the Eugenics Wars as a massive nuclear conflict that devastated the US.

What I mean is they're telling a story about the Eugenics war with no canon to call from. It doesn't surprise me that the writers forgot about a couple of time travel stories where characters went back in time post Eugenics but didn't reference the consequences.

Of course if Khan is exaggerating the nuclear conflict, America, as a large nation, could have had much of it infrastructure intact after the war. It depends how many nukes fell, whether they fell near any of the places we see in the time travel stories, and whether our heroes are already in an alternate timeline due to Braxton's interference.

 

[Christopher]

What I mean is they're telling a story about the Eugenics war with no canon to call from. It doesn't surprise me that the writers forgot about a couple of time travel stories where characters went back in time post Eugenics but didn't reference the consequences.

But as I've already said, there's significantly more evidence than that, even if it's indirect evidence. If the nuclear war of the 2050s was World War III rather than IV, then the Eugenics Wars can't have been anywhere near as massive.

Of course if Khan is exaggerating the nuclear conflict, America, as a large nation, could have had much of it infrastructure intact after the war.

But again, if he's exaggerating, surely his listeners would know that, because it's not the sort of thing history would overlook.