Star Trek #12
Written by Mike Johnson
Art by Claudia Balboni
Colors by Arianna Florean
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Creative Consultant Roberto Orci
Editor Scott Dunbier
Cover by Claudia Balboni
IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 22, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Star Trek #12 is the finale to the two-part Tribbles story line. Yes, I’m sure you’re all familiar with the OLD or CLASSIC “Trouble with Tribbles” story. You even know that Captain Sisko & company revisited that episode in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. But, as they say, this ain’t your father’s Star Trek!

Writer Mike Johnson puts a WHOLE new spin on the Tribbles tale, one that is probably the furthest yet removed from its original predecessor. Guided by Roberto Orci, this pretty much original story sticks to some of the same beats that that the original episode does, but that’s where the similarities end. Johnson takes us almost literally from one end of the Star Trek timeline to the other, and includes SO MUCH of the “new” Star Trek history, it’s a wonder that it didn’t take a dozen scriptwriters to proofread this comic.

I really can’t stress this enough, people – IMPORTANT STUFF IS HAPPENING IN THESE COMICS!!! Will you be lost when you go see the next Star Trek film if you don’t read them? Of course not. Will you enjoy it a hell of a lot more knowing the back story? Yes. Yes, you will. I have no doubt about that. This time around, the Klingon race is NOT at the center of the story (I know, I’m dying to see them too!), but it’s the crew of the Enterprise who are up against an unruly gang of Tribbles and they have to stop them before they take over the galaxy. An action packed, great issue this month from Johnson and company. Taking a classic and turning it into a different kind of classic seems to be their specialty.

Artist Claudia Balboni needs to be on this book more!!! She’s a fantastic artist who doesn’t make the characters look too much like the actors, yet does a great job at making them look like the characters. If that makes any sense. Trust me, pick up the book and you’ll see for yourself. Everything is rendered flawlessly in this issue. People, aliens, tech…EVERYTHING!!!! A job well done!!

Look, I’m tired of waiting for the next Star Trek movie too. In the meantime, checkout this GREAT comic! It’ll give you your monthly Star Trek fix while delivering something booth familiar AND new!