Written by Chris Roberson
Penciled by Jeffrey Moy
Inked by Philip Moy
32 pages, color
Published by IDW
A crossover between the Legion of Super-Heroes and Star Trek seems like such a no-brainer that, similar to Aliens vs Predator, it’s hard to believe it’s taken so long for us to see it in comics. With the collision of these two future-set groups of characters, though, Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 is an entertaining amount of set-up, but this is a mini-series that is clearly just getting started.
Most of Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 is aimed at putting the crew of the Enterprise and a select group of Legionnaires (Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Brainiac 5, Shadow Lass, Chameleon Boy) into an altered timeline for both characters, one where the Imperial Planets attacks those who won’t join, pillaging its way across the galaxy. It’s a smart move, putting both groups into unfamiliar territory instead of having just one be the fish-out-of-water. It is hard to ignore the fact, though, that the two properties never have their characters meet each other in the first issue, though. Never mind that we haven’t gotten a face-off between Spock and Brainiac 5 just yet, this is a comic where each is unaware of the other’s presence.
Instead, the mixes we get are the littler, background ones; Talokians working as shock troops for a starship with humans, Andorians, and Orions on board, and an attack on the Durlans. Chris Roberson is clearly building his new world for everyone to see, and he does a good job with the voices of the main characters to make everyone sound right. He’s also smart to keep the groups of characters small on each side; Scotty is left behind on the Star Trek side, while the Legion has just six characters instead of the entire dozens of members that could have shown up.
The big draw for the first issue is seeing Jeffrey Moy and Philip Moy tackle the Legion again. Jeffrey Moy in particular penciled almost the entire post-Zero Hour run of Legionnaires, and having him reunited with the characters that created his career is a lot of fun. Jeffrey Moy’s also tackled the Star Trek universe before (I remember him drawing some Star Trek: Voyager one-shots years ago), and his clean, rounded art style is a welcome return to comics. He draws that smarmy smile on Kirk’s face that I remember from years ago quite well, and the Legionnaires themselves are definitely on point and true to form. I also like contrasts between the two locations that the teams appear in; the Star Trek crew’s being gleaming and shiny in the heart of the Imperial Planets stronghold, dingy and grimy where the Legion have landed.
Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 is off to a slow start, but this is a comic aimed squarely at hitting the nostalgia button. It does a good job of that, and there’s no doubt in my mind that its target audiences will definitely be on board for more. And I’ll admit that yes, that includes me too. If nothing else, I want to see what happens when the characters finally meet up. There’s a lot of promise here.