I’m a huge fan of the original Star Trek series it has been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. Despite this fact, don’t be fooled into thinking that I’m going to just rollover and give a glowing review to anything people slap the name Star Trek on. In fact it is just the opposite; my love for the original series has made me a tough audience for anything Star Trek related. This has been true for all the subsequent TV series, as well as, the movies, comics and books that have come out over the years.
Now, that you know where I stand on all things Star Trek related I can tell you what I think of this particular comic. Star Trek Burden Of Knowledge #2 is a solid take on the original TV series. Federica Manfred’s artwork was the first thing I noticed not just because it is clean and straightforward but because everyone looks the way they should. In some Star Trek comics the only way you can tell who is who is by the color of their uniforms. In this comic however Captain Kirk looks like Captain Kirk, Lieutenant Uhura looks like Lieutenant Uhura and so on. I also liked the expressiveness of the character A’Net her reactions go along way in telling the story. Then there is the story itself written by Scott and David Tipton this is not some mindless shootout with the Klingons, in fact, if your sci-fi has to be action packed then this comic is not for you. If, on the other hand, you can live without nonstop fist fights and phaser battles then you’ll be OK with this comic. SPOILER WARNING This story is about how the Enterprise crew chooses to uphold the “Prime Directive” even when they are faced with a society that is committing a clear injustice. What makes this an especially difficult situation is that the society in question is not inherently evil. END SPOILER WARNING
This story is wrapped up by the end of the issue just like the story in issue number one. That means the stories in each issue move along at a quick pace but it also means each issue can be read and enjoyed on its own. I’m willing to bet that all of these individual stories will tie together somehow in the end. As I stated earlier Star Trek Burden Of Knowledge #2 is a solid take on the original series because it has some of the elements that made the original TV series great. This comic is not great Star Trek but it is readable especially if you are a fan of the original series.
Keith Forney