Title: Star Trek Discovery – Succession #1
Publisher: IDW
Writer: Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson
Artist: Angel Hernandez
Price: $3.99
Released: Apr. 18
Star Trek Discovery has been a surprise success, but the end of season one was pretty divisive with how the crew traveled to their mirror universe. I know it’s iconic Star Trek, but I felt it was a little lazy, and the reliance of recycling concepts the the original Star Trek show devalues both . How special or rare is something if it happens a bunch of times so quickly as Discovery is only a few years before TOS.
This brings us to the the comic in question that continues the story of the mirror universe now that the original Discovery crew has gone back home. There’s a really great base to play with here without having to worry about messing anything up in the main Star Trek timeline. But on the other hand this book isn’t friendly to new readers and it requires an investment into the series to get the most out of it.
That’s all well and good to a certain extent, but a comic book, especially a new series really needs to be accessible for all readers and not just fans of a particular piece of media. Even for someone like myself who is a big Star Trek fan, I was confused and had to go back and re-watch this particular arc on the series. This just isn’t new reader friendly in the slightest. Star Trek Discovery – Succession #1 also really wants to cram so many characters in across the universe that it’s almost too dense for its own good.
We jump from earth and the power struggle going on with the new Terran leader taking control though blood rites or something, and who has plans to wipe out all non-human species. We also jump between the location of the destroyed former Imperial flagship on-board the I.S.S. Shenzhou, also having a power struggle with its crew, because that’s all Star Trek writers seem to know how to do when handling the mirror universe.
In-between all of this we also jump to Qo’Nos and see the resistance forming during this power vacuum left behind after the death of the Terran Emperor. And finally we have another set of characters on Risa overseeing a refugee camp run by Harry Mudd. And because this is the wacky mirror universe he’s a super nice guy and, to be fair, he’s the only character in this book that the reader can really connect with.
All of these locations are loosely tied together and we get no less that two transfers in power, on Earth with a new Emperor and on the Shenzhou with what actually is a nice twist. The book ends with the return of Burnham and friends after being gone for a year which is a little confusing as the book isn’t clear with its timeline. There is a lot here to work with, but with so many things going on Star Trek Discovery – Succession #1 feels more like work than an enjoyable read.
This one is designed specifically for fans that are already invested in Star Trek Discovery. It throws too much at the reader to draw in new fans interested in a fun science fiction book and scares away those people wanting to see what all this Discovery stuff is all about. That said, the writing is solid as it builds on established Trek while the art does a very nice job keeping you interested.
Star Trek Discovery – Succession #1 suffers mostly due to having to build off of events readers need to already know from another piece of media. What make it worse is that Star Trek Discovery is on a streaming service most people don’t even have.
So not only is your audience already pretty niche being a sci-fi book, but made worse because it’s based on a show that you have to pay separately for. It’s not a terrible book, but it’s not one we can recommend to fans unless you’ve already invested the time in the show.
“Star Trek Discovery – Succession #1 is a dense book that expects too much from the reader and feels more like work than being an enjoyable read”
Final Score
2/5
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