Star Trek: The Motion Picture—Echoes

by Marc Guggenheim, Oleg Chudakov (artist)

Join Admiral Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise in this never-before-seen adventure spinning out of the Original Motion Picture! When a space anomaly thrusts a bounty hunter and her target—a criminal mastermind—into their universe, it’s up to Kirk and his crew to stop them from unintentionally starting a war with the Romulans and unleashing a superweapon of foreign tech onto the system. But the strangers from another universe are more familiar than they assume…for underneath their helmets are their doppelgängers—from an alternate reality! From critically acclaimed screenwriter, producer, and comics writer Marc Guggenheim (Arrow; DC’s Legends of Tomorrow; Star Han Solo and Chewbacca) and artist Oleg Chudakov comes this brand-new adventure!

Genres: Star Trek, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

137 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 27, 2024

About the author

Marc Guggenheim grew up on Long Island, New York, and earned his law degree from Boston University. After over four years in practice, he left law to pursue a career in television.

Today, Guggenheim is an Emmy Award–winning writer who writes for multiple mediums including television, film, video games, comic books, and new media. His work includes projects for such popular franchises as Percy Jackson, Star Wars, Call of Duty, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes.

His next book, In Any Lifetime, coming from Lake Union Publishing on August 1st.

Guggenheim currently lives in Encino, California, with his wife, two daughters, and a handful of pets.

Keep up to date on his latest projects with LegalDispatch, a weekly newsletter where he shares news and notes about writing, comics, and the entertainment industry.

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of Star Trek: The Motion Picture so I was looking forward to this comic. I was sadly disappointed. The art is mediocre at best and the story is a total slog. I’m so tired of alternate universe stuff and this doesn’t do anything novel with the concept.

[Chris Townsend · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this at all. I was excited to get a new story with the original crew in this part of the timeline. But the characters felt off. They felt like modern rewrites of the characters rather than their authentic selves. Uhura and Nurse Chapel, in particular, behaved completely unlike the original characters would have behaved. It may have looked like the original crew, but it was more like modern reboots of them. I could have tolerated the alternate universe trope if the characters felt accurate. Not recommended.

1.5 out of 5

[Rob Vitagliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually finished this story by reading individual issues a week or two ago, but forgot to write a review. The art is absolutely terrific in this run. Oleg Chudakov does a great job with the original crew, and his Enterprise is absolutely beautiful.

The story wasn't anything too impressive to be honest. I'm not a huge fan of the alternate reality stories because they just feel like a cop out. Anything can go, but that also means there are no stakes. It will all just get written off as some alternate version of reality no matter what actually happens. That being said, the story is a nice tribute to Nichelle Nichols because it gives Uhura a lot to do, and it's fun to see Chekov as an evil warlord, even if it's not the version we know and love.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Echoes

A visitor from a parallel universe causes the 'Enterprise' to breach the Romulan Neutral Zone in pursuit of a weapon of mass destruction.

Guggenheim's story is good and works well as a direct sequel to the first movie, with McCoy still questioning his position in Starfleet and Command still angry over Kirk's stepping away from his role as Chief of Starfleet Operations. The plot is interesting and full of action as well as the human storyline. The artwork is, however, dreadful. I question if the panel artists have ever seen the actors, as 'Gold Key' did a better job on depicting the 'Star Trek' characters. The key and cover art is excellent, making the interior art even more disappointing.

[Al Berry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such an awful title, IDW has really gone completely downhill on their Star Trek Titles. Art is subpar, but the story and dialogue is ridiculous.

This is supposed to be set immediately after the motion Picture, and they have the same Romulan ambassador as in Star Trek 6; in timeline 20 years later. But that’s no where near the worst of it, the characters talk in current day, Nurse Chapel accuses McCoy of sexism, and of course the whole plot is a silly parallel universe trope, where not only are there two Chekov’s the real Chekov is injured and we learn he has a rare disease where he can only get a blood transfusion from someone genetically identical, just ridiculous writing by a hack.

[Travis Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only gave it this score because I couldn't get 2.5 to work. The story was boring. There were weird typos throughout the book. The artist did a great job with the starships, but he did a poor job capturing any of the characters. This story in particular hinged on characters looking alike and I really wouldn't have been able to tell that was the case were it not for the text. That's not how comics should work.

[John Parungao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marc Guggenheim is one of the masterminds behind the Arrowverse and as such is no stranger to writing for doppelgangers. This is his chance to play in the universe of Star Trek and he gives us an entertaining tale featuring alternate universe versions of Uhura and Checkov.

These strange visitors drag the Enterprise crew and the Romulans into their conflict and almost start an interstellar war.
As the title indicates this adventure takes place in that nebulous time period between Star Trek the Motion Picture and Star Trek II the Wrath of Kahn and as far as I'm concerned Guggenheim captures the feel of the characterization of each member of the Enterprise crew, especially the playful banter between Kirk, Spock and McCoy.
I also enjoyed the nods to Deep Space Nine and to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. A fun read for fans of the original Star Trek.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would Star Trek be without an alternate universe story?
(bonus points for not being the typical Mirror Universe story that every ST series tries)

This time around we have a pretty intense alternate Uhura chasing the alternate Chekov. He's got the schematics for his universe's Nightbringer weapon of mass destruction. He flees through the Neutral Zone and tries to get the Romulans to help him build this end-of-days weapon.

Dun dun dunnnnnnnn!
====
The art is pretty good. The likenesses of all the classic characters are SO spot on. Gives it a definite feel of the movie universe. This story is wedged into the post 'Motion Picture' timeline, so we've got those ugly uniforms from the first movie. There's even character exposition to reason through why Kirk and the Enterprise are STILL traipsing along when they should be in office positions by then.

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story entertained mostly due to its fast pace. However, the plot felt contrived at times, and I felt the characterisation was poor. The interactions between McCoy and Spock felt genuinely hostile in a way they do not in the original movie and TV canon, and the General Uhura character contradicted her own view on rule-following within a few panels without explanation. Our own Lt Cmdr Uhura also acts a little out if character at one point, in my opinion.

The artwork is much darker in tone than the first movie, giving the effect of very dim lighting, again for no reason. Inevitably, some of the characters' faces are better realised than others, but it's unfortunate that one of the poorest is Chekov, who plays a key role in the plot. As always, though, it's nice to see a story that gives Uhura a lot to do.

[Paul Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly tiresome. With 'The Motion Picture' probably at its most well liked, at this stage in its history, it made sense to set a comic run in that neglected era. Sadly, this is the polar opposite to the feel of that film. Why return to that era if you're mostly just wearing the uniforms then doing something tonally completely different? With Mirror Universe versions of Chekov and Uhura (yawn) causing havoc for the crew, the story is mostly set in the bowels of Romulan ships with the Starfleet team in disguise. There's lots of shooting, punching and other things which teenagers supposedly like (spoiler - teens are ready for more than that). Highly disappointing, retains 2 stars for some fabulous one-sheet art pieces within.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book solely on the cover artwork and was so excited to read it. I guess the adage "Never judge a book by its cover" applies here. It is a mirror universe story with an evil, genocidal Chekov and a General Uhura who comes to kill him, somehow entering the prime universe of Kirk and crew. There were so many plot holes you could fly a spaceship through them and the reader was left with more questions than answers at the end of the book. Also, the artwork did not even remotely resemble how the characters where supposed to look - which when your story is based on famous, well known characters is a huge flaw.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Star Trek seems to be dipping into the alternate timeline well way too often. That being said, this was solid. It takes place right after Star Trek: The Motion Picture. An Uhuru and Chekov from another universe enter ours with a doomsday weapon in tow. Chekov gives it to the Romulons which , of course, causes a lot of conflict. The problem with these between the numbers stories is that you know how they are going to end because you've already seen what comes after. But the art's solid and if you're jonesing for the original crew, you could do worse.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

It take more than the outfits to capture this era of Star Trek. This story never really managed to hit the right marks. The art didn’t do it any favors either. I also felt that the doppelgänger plot only served as a distraction and one that never really resolved. Thumbs down.

[Gonzalo Salas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun adventure set between The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan. The art is enjoyable and the characters' relationships feel true, specially the Kirk-Spock-Bones trio, whose banter is always a delight.

[Pryder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Feels like the writer didn't know the characters well enough. Ending is dull and unsatisfying. The art didn't save it. Quite... Meh.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filling in a bit of the story between the TV show and the movies. It didn't feel the same though. I do like the quips from Spock.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alt-universe storylines are trite at this point, but at least Chekhov got to be featured for once.

[Paul Cafiso · Rating 4 out of 5]

G9od story

The art work was very good. The characters looked like the actors that portrayed them. The stor6line was interesting and engaging.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a fan of the original movies and series, this was a fun and interesting read.

Kirk and the gang come across a doppelganger of Uhura from a alternate dimension who is trying to stop a terrorist who is a doppelganger for Checkov, from the same dimension, who is trying to blow up a planet with a nuclear weapon called the Nightbringer.

Thought it was kind of cool that it was set in the motion picture universe as a follow on from Star Trek the Motion Picture.

[Dominic Sedillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

In an alternate universe (which is NOT the Mirror-Mirror universe) Nyota Uhura is an unlikable bitch and thinks the main timeline is full of soft pussies.

The alternate Chekov is a mad military leader but he doesn’t get a chance to really do anything worth mentioning.

It’s a story full of good ideas but no payoff. Missed opportunities abound. I don’t really recommend sadly.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me get a couple things out of the way. First, on a pure storytelling level, there is really no reason this needed to be tied to the "Motion Picture" era. Other than some brief scenes of Bones still wondering if he wants to stay on the ship or finally retire, and a scene where a Starfleet admiral reminds Kirk he is only remaining Captain for this shakedown voyage and will soon be off the Enterprise for good (neither of which, it should be said, are resolved by story's end), you could set this tale anywhere in the original crew's timeline. I get the feeling they only did the TMP connection because it's an easy gimmick to differentiate it from other Trek comics, and possibly because they thought it would be fun to draw the crew in those uniforms (they even throw in a joke about them looking like pajamas). Also, and this is actually a much bigger problem, there are certain elements of the story that are woefully undeveloped. The plot concerns the crew meeting alternate dimension versions of Uhura and Chekov. But it never bothers to explain why this version of Uhura is still named Uhura while the alternate Chekov has a different name altogether ("Akriss"). Nor does it get into just how and why the alternate Chekov became SO evil in his universe, which is a weird thing not to address since the story DOES acknowledge Chekov-Prime's nervousness about possibly having that sort of evil within him.

But, okay, with those issues out of the way, I'll admit that I still really enjoyed this. If you can set aside the nitpicks (and chances are, if you're a Trek fan, you're used to that), you'll find a really fun space adventure story that never slows down and has a lot of fun twists and turns. The interplay between the crew is great, as well. There's a casual sort of vibe between all of them that reminded me more of STRANGE NEW WORLDS, so those bothered by that show's view of Starfleet might not dig it, but I personally thought it sold how much of a family this crew has become by this point. So yes, there are some problems here, but sometimes you just want an exciting story with the characters you love, and this really ticked that box for me.