STAR TREK: DISCOVERY – Aftermath review

Star Trek: Discovery – Aftermath is available now where all good comics are sold.

Witness the Aftermath of the stunning second season of Star Trek: Discovery!

An all-new graphic novel that ties directly into Season Two of the hit CBS All Access series! After the disappearance of the U.S.S. Discovery, Captain Pike and Chancellor L’Rell seek to forge a peace treaty between the Federation and the Klingons. But when a new enemy threatens to sabotage the negotiations, Spock must reclaim his place in Starfleet to save his friends and prevent the outbreak of a new war!

Review

Star Trek: Discovery – Aftermath collects together the three issue miniseries first released by IDW back in 2019. It’s two stories which both tie in with the second season of the Netflix series (CBS All Access if you are in North America) and feature characters from both the USS Discovery and Enterprise crews.

Both stories are written by series writer/producer Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson. The first story, also called “Aftermath”, features artwork by Tony Shasteen, colours by J.D. Mettler and letters by Neil Uyetake. This story focusses on those that the USS Discovery left behind when it was thrown to the future in the season 2 finale.

The story revolves around Captain Pike – brilliantly rendered to look like actor Anson Mount from the show – and the USS Enterprise they are called to the bargaining table with Klingon ruler L’Rell and her aides. But behind her back a number of Klingon separatists are plotting to overthrow her government in resistance to her alliances with humans and Starfleet.

Having been a huge part of the first season, the Klingons took a back seat in season two but “Aftermath” acts to shed light on an important part of Starfleet’s history. Though the Klingon war has passed, it is not yet a time of peace between the Federation and the Klingons but “Aftermath” focusses on what could be the first foray towards their alliance.

Beyer and Johnson display a great understanding of the world of Discovery and the wider Star Trek universe. There’s a degree of expectation with goes alongside representing these classic characters in any medium and their all handled incredibly well here. Pike and Spock both feel ripped from our TV screens and that certainly helps to translate the series to the printed page.

Most importantly, “Aftermath” is a really engaging story which could easily have been an episode used to mop up the story in 2258 after the Discovery crew has been lost. Besides Spock yearning for a connection to his sister, there’s very references to the USS Discovery and their disappearance, in keeping with the season finale.

There’s plenty of political intrigue built in to the plot thanks to the Klingon factions. Again, Beyer and Johnson follow the Klingon blueprint from the show but are able to use enough creative license to tell the story from a different angle. We so often seen the Klingon’s in battle but rarely see them in the mood to talk.

Tie-in books often feature artwork which is slavish to the visual style of the property they are adapting. Artists can be bogged down in the pressure of recreating characters exactly how they appear on the screen. Here, Tony Shasteen does a beautiful job of rendering the actors in full costume and uses his artistic flare to create some engrossing environments around them. Like the story itself, it perfectly mixes the world on screen with an original comic book aesthetic.

The second story, “Captain Saru”, jumps back in a time to tell a story based around the crew of the USS Discovery. Saru remains the focal point as the story puts him in command of the vessel at a rather precarious time.

“Captain Saru” is a more straight up Star Trek heist tale as the Discovery is almost lost to a group of smugglers. It uses classic story tropes to keep the story interesting whilst always maintaining a focus on Saru and his reactions.

You may ask yourself how a story set in the past ties in with the end of the current season but remember, whilst trapped in the future the USS Discovery has no captain. Saru is the character most likely to step up to the plate and so it makes sense to tell stories in other media which focus on him and how he handles these kinds of situations.

It feels less like a moment in Star Trek history than the first story but still has an important part to play in the franchise moving forwards.

Angel Hernandez handles the artwork for “Captain Saru”. It feels in line with the “Aftermath” story, it’s visually not too far removed but does feature a much darker palette and more angular designs. Visually it feels further removed from the aesthetic of the series but still maintains all of those recognisable qualities which help to keep the world looking familiar.

Verdict

During this hiatus between seasons Star Trek: Discovery – Aftermath is a fun way to dip back in to the world we left behind in season two.

7/10

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