Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War 1-6 Review

Title: Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War
Author: Mike Johnson, Angel Hernandez (Illustrations)
Publishing Date: March 29, 2016
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Language: English
Genre: Graphic Novel, Science Fiction
ISBN: 1631405594
Edition: paperback (I got a free digital galley from netgalley)
Size: 140

goodreads

Two iconic franchises collide for this blockbuster crossover event! The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise meets the Green Lantern Corps for the first time in an all-new adventure that spans the cosmos! Kirk and Spock make a most unusual discovery on a lost world... igniting events that will change the fate of empires!

Review

I love it. I definitely love it, especially the bantering at the end. And not just between Spock and Captain Kirk, with Bones as well, and the crew. Everything about them is just wacky.

I love how we get two worlds (shall we say Universes?) combine in one graphic novel. That's the world of DC Comics and IDW Publishing. The crossover might sound impossible, but trust me when I say that this novel has made it more than possible. In light of the this week's headline of the newly confirmed existence of gravitational wave, that Einstein predicted a century ago, by various scientists using LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), anything can be possible with the dynamics of the universe (or multiverse). The Lanterns being transported to another universe would be easy-peasy especially in comics. Not that the premise here is hokum, it's well-drafted for the plausibility of a collaboration between two worlds.

This graphic novel is a fun collaboration of two independent stories from two different universes by two different companies. I'm not all about it just for the fun but the sheer plausibility as well. Not only is the premise of the story possible, the characters from either side merge well without one-upping each other. It's a marriage that's both harmonious and cooperative.

What I love about it more was how the characters keep real to themselves, how they are still in character even though some parts have a different voice. For example, there's undeniable humor among the crew of the Enterprise whereas Hal Jordan's voice is solemn with a serious undertone to it although he can be fun. You will just know when the part is for Star Trek and the other for Green Lantern. They don't clash, they mold well with each other.

Spectrum War. Just expect all the colors of the spectrum of Lanterns getting involved. As to how U.S.S. Enterprise come into the picture? Just imagine them running across unattended rings. That's not hard to imagine even if you only know the title. Imagine the title: Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War. You know that the mission of Captain Kirk's crew is to discover uncharted territories in the universe and protect new worlds. With Green Lantern's universe, you know that a chosen Lantern with the power of a ring can freely fly in space and permeate itself through solid matter, and that a Lantern is chosen based on an emotion of a particular color. However you think that these two worlds will cross path, then that's it.

What's more fun in this graphic novel is that the enemies are so big in nature. If you think through it, they're hard enemies and the battle should be hard too but this graphic novel made everything seem so simple, like how simple you could squish a cockroach. Think of the Lanterns' common enemy then think of the greatest nemeses of the Federation. Combine them all together against Captain Kirk's crew and Green Lantern's team. That looks so haphazard just throwing in everything and hard-to-win, but this novel managed to nail it. I'll leave you to your imagination. That's as far as I can tell about the story.

It's a bit too fast-paced even for a graphic novel. Everything just jumps right into action, sparring no second of holding back. The whole pacing is fast; there's not a single part that drops in momentum except for the ending as the final resolution. What I mean to say is that knowing the parts of a story, there's the intro, the rising action, climax et. al. For this novel, everything is like climax save for the ending.

For the drawing, even with a mask on, Hal Jordan is really hot. I appreciate it a lot how the artists are not basing on the movies because that's what happened for the Star Trek team. Not that I've got anything to complain for Star Trek, in fact I love it better that they're using the new faces instead of the originals. I love the uncanny rendition of Sulu from the new actor. I love every faces drawn for Star Trek: from Bones McCoy, Uhura, Spock, Scotty to Chekov, except for, surprisingly Captain Kirk himself. I don't know, I just don't find Chris Pine's comic rendition appealing especially for the character he's portraying. I don't like the old actor's face either. Perhaps, a suitable face for Captain Kirk is yet to be found.

Now, I've let you imagine a lot. What I like for you to do is to not imagine this collaborative graphic novel as a run for your money. For whatever was its worth, it was well-worth it.