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Star Trek: The Original Series (IDW) #2
Star Trek: Year Four
Space. The final frontier. This is the voyage of the Starship Enterprise. Her five-year mission to explore strange new worlds? It continues here, with the launch of "Year Four" in the Original Series' five-year mission.
138 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 29, 2008
61 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
D.C. Fontana
27 books36 followersDorothy Catherine "D. C." Fontana (born March 25, 1939) was an American television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original Star Trek franchise and several western television series. After she attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, she moved to New York City briefly to work for Screen Gems as a secretary, but soon moved to Los Angeles where she worked in the typing pool at Revue Studios. She became the secretary for Samuel A. Peeples, who she sold her first story, "A Bounty for Bill", for the series The Tall Man. Her initial work was credited under the name Dorothy C. Fontana.
After Peeples left the studio, she moved to work for Del Reisman, a producer on The Lieutenant. The show was created by Gene Roddenberry, and after his secretary fell ill, Fontana covered. The Lieutenant was cancelled after one season, and Roddenberry began working on Star Trek. He had her work up one of his ideas into the episode "Charlie X", and after she re-wrote "This Side of Paradise", he gave her the job of story editor. She continued in this post until the end of the second season when she wanted to pursue her freelance writing work. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for an episode of Then Came Bronson.
Roddenberry brought Fontana back to write for Genesis II, and then as story editor and associate producer on Star Trek: The Animated Series. During the 1970s she worked on a number of series such as Logan's Run, the Six Million Dollar Man and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Roddenberry hired her to work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but while she was given an associate producer credit, the experience soured the relationship with Roddenberry and resulted in a claim put to the Writers Guild of America. She later wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the plots for several of the franchise's video games, in addition to a comic story and an episode of the fan-made series Star Trek: New Voyages. She was awarded the Morgan Cox Award in 2002 by the Writers Guild of America, and named twice to the American Screenwriters Association's hall of fame.
D. C. Fontana died December 2, 2019, after a brief illness.
After Peeples left the studio, she moved to work for Del Reisman, a producer on The Lieutenant. The show was created by Gene Roddenberry, and after his secretary fell ill, Fontana covered. The Lieutenant was cancelled after one season, and Roddenberry began working on Star Trek. He had her work up one of his ideas into the episode "Charlie X", and after she re-wrote "This Side of Paradise", he gave her the job of story editor. She continued in this post until the end of the second season when she wanted to pursue her freelance writing work. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for an episode of Then Came Bronson.
Roddenberry brought Fontana back to write for Genesis II, and then as story editor and associate producer on Star Trek: The Animated Series. During the 1970s she worked on a number of series such as Logan's Run, the Six Million Dollar Man and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Roddenberry hired her to work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but while she was given an associate producer credit, the experience soured the relationship with Roddenberry and resulted in a claim put to the Writers Guild of America. She later wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the plots for several of the franchise's video games, in addition to a comic story and an episode of the fan-made series Star Trek: New Voyages. She was awarded the Morgan Cox Award in 2002 by the Writers Guild of America, and named twice to the American Screenwriters Association's hall of fame.
D. C. Fontana died December 2, 2019, after a brief illness.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 17, 2014
Maybe I'm expecting too much from IDW's Star Trek comic book line. Every time I pick up a collection, I find myself coming away disappointed in some way. In the case of this collection of seven stories from Star Trek: Year Four, I came away with far more disappointments than I anticipated or wanted.
Freed from the limitations of a television budget, I was hoping for some stories that captured the spirit of the original series while taking full advantage of the nearly limitless special effects budget of what can be drawn within a comic book panel. Instead, what we get are some stories that feel like they're trying to be too clever for their own good (including one where the crew stumbles across a planet that is addicted to reality TV shows and the Enterprise becomes the focus of one. It should have been fun, but the meta-ness and the feeling of the writers trying to be too clever for their own good quickly takes over. It even feels too long and it only runs about twenty or so pages) or end up feeling a bit too rushed into the single-issue running length. It's ironic that many times reading modern comics, I can't help but wonder if we're getting one issue of plot spread over six issues of publication. But I kept thinking that maybe making some of these stories into two-part installments might have allowed them to breath a bit or given us a few more moments to enjoy a bit of time with the characters.
That is, of course, assuming that you can figure out who is who character-wise. Thankfully, these are characters I've spent a lot of time with over the years, so it only takes a few moments longer than it should at the start of each story to figure out who's who. This is my not-so-kind way of saying that the art in these issues is all over the map. I don't deny the artists a bit of artistic license when it comes to drawing the familiar faces in each of the panels, but I found myself frustrated time and again by how the feeling that there wasn't much effort being put into the art in this book. It's enough to put a guy in a blue shirt and give him vaguely Spock-like features and we're good to go, I guess.
Of course, if you look at the cover you can't tell this is going to be the case. The superbly drawn covers from each individual issue are the highlight of the collection. But that's seven pages compared to the hundred or so others that make up the majority of this collection.
In short, this one is a miss -- and a pretty big one. The idea of telling stories from the fourth and fifth year of the Enterprise's five year mission isn't a new one but it's interesting enough and there's some good stuff that could be done with it. Unfortunately, there's very little done with it in this collection.
Freed from the limitations of a television budget, I was hoping for some stories that captured the spirit of the original series while taking full advantage of the nearly limitless special effects budget of what can be drawn within a comic book panel. Instead, what we get are some stories that feel like they're trying to be too clever for their own good (including one where the crew stumbles across a planet that is addicted to reality TV shows and the Enterprise becomes the focus of one. It should have been fun, but the meta-ness and the feeling of the writers trying to be too clever for their own good quickly takes over. It even feels too long and it only runs about twenty or so pages) or end up feeling a bit too rushed into the single-issue running length. It's ironic that many times reading modern comics, I can't help but wonder if we're getting one issue of plot spread over six issues of publication. But I kept thinking that maybe making some of these stories into two-part installments might have allowed them to breath a bit or given us a few more moments to enjoy a bit of time with the characters.
That is, of course, assuming that you can figure out who is who character-wise. Thankfully, these are characters I've spent a lot of time with over the years, so it only takes a few moments longer than it should at the start of each story to figure out who's who. This is my not-so-kind way of saying that the art in these issues is all over the map. I don't deny the artists a bit of artistic license when it comes to drawing the familiar faces in each of the panels, but I found myself frustrated time and again by how the feeling that there wasn't much effort being put into the art in this book. It's enough to put a guy in a blue shirt and give him vaguely Spock-like features and we're good to go, I guess.
Of course, if you look at the cover you can't tell this is going to be the case. The superbly drawn covers from each individual issue are the highlight of the collection. But that's seven pages compared to the hundred or so others that make up the majority of this collection.
In short, this one is a miss -- and a pretty big one. The idea of telling stories from the fourth and fifth year of the Enterprise's five year mission isn't a new one but it's interesting enough and there's some good stuff that could be done with it. Unfortunately, there's very little done with it in this collection.
June 27, 2021
While the covers for the issues are great, that’s about all the positive things to be said about this. What is it with IDW comics that even the best of them don’t manage to get any depth into these comics? Star Trek relies heavily on political messages, sociological musings, humour and emotional and psychological depth and IDW comics only ever show the action side of Trek - so the least important ingredient of Trek TV stories.
But here even the action lacks logic, coherence, even the most basic explanation of what exactly is supposed to go on there. Everything happens Ex Machina and the stories are so short that even being fan of the show for almost three decades isn’t enough to get emotionally invested.
And the worst? I should have known. Oh, there are some IDW Trek stories that aren’t half bad. But the majority has nothing but names and uniforms in common with Star Trek TV shows. And I should have known that IDW comics leave me unfulfilled.
But here even the action lacks logic, coherence, even the most basic explanation of what exactly is supposed to go on there. Everything happens Ex Machina and the stories are so short that even being fan of the show for almost three decades isn’t enough to get emotionally invested.
And the worst? I should have known. Oh, there are some IDW Trek stories that aren’t half bad. But the majority has nothing but names and uniforms in common with Star Trek TV shows. And I should have known that IDW comics leave me unfulfilled.
January 6, 2024
The nicest thing I can say is that the art is wildly inconsistent. Sometimes it's pretty good!
One comic book issue is just too short for a Star Trek story. Most of the stories contained in this collection are just long enough to explain the problem, then have Kirk drop-kick someone to solve it. That's it, I've summarized the whole book.
Worse, the paneling is paced so that more panels could easily have been included. Many panels take up way more space than the dialogue or action or art needs. They could have told more complete stories, and chose not to.
One comic book issue is just too short for a Star Trek story. Most of the stories contained in this collection are just long enough to explain the problem, then have Kirk drop-kick someone to solve it. That's it, I've summarized the whole book.
Worse, the paneling is paced so that more panels could easily have been included. Many panels take up way more space than the dialogue or action or art needs. They could have told more complete stories, and chose not to.
March 6, 2017
You'd think that if you were trying to revive a classic franchise with as much potential as literally the entire galaxy -- you'd think IDW would come up with something better than this. But this comic series goes wrong in almost every way possible.
I get that they were trying to keep everything to single-issue storylines. In fact, I appreciate it. But if you're going to do that, you have to give each page enough panels to expand the story. Instead, what we get are 4 horizontal panels on virtually every page of every issue. To make matters worse, several of those panels consist solely of reaction shots or characters simply going about mundane tasks. Thus, the plot itself is limited to something like 15 pages or content. Maybe.
But it gets even worse than that. Because if you're going to have any chance of telling a Star Trek story in that limited space, you'll need some narration or at least expository dialogue. ST year 4 has none. There are times when key developments happen entirely off the page. That makes it pretty difficult to follow some of these stories. Comic books spent decades fitting coherent storylines into 22 pages, but this collection can't manage it.
But the worst part is, by the time you get to the end of each story, you don't care. A big feeling of "That's it??" settles in. Stories that are meant to be clever but end up being silly; stories that have zero purpose to exist; stories in which the characters are helpless and merely luck-out in the end. It's a waste of time reading them once -- there's no way you'll take the time to go back through it and figure out the parts you might have missed.
I don't know why IDW published such a mediocre set of comics. I don't know why anyone would keep this on their shelf after having read it (why would anyone read it again or refer it to a friend?). In fact, I don't know why anyone would bother buying this if they had any idea the quality. Do yourself a favor: Find this in a bookstore and give it a quick read before spending your money. If you don't have a comic book store near you, just move on. Trust me, no one will ever regret not having read this thing sooner.
I get that they were trying to keep everything to single-issue storylines. In fact, I appreciate it. But if you're going to do that, you have to give each page enough panels to expand the story. Instead, what we get are 4 horizontal panels on virtually every page of every issue. To make matters worse, several of those panels consist solely of reaction shots or characters simply going about mundane tasks. Thus, the plot itself is limited to something like 15 pages or content. Maybe.
But it gets even worse than that. Because if you're going to have any chance of telling a Star Trek story in that limited space, you'll need some narration or at least expository dialogue. ST year 4 has none. There are times when key developments happen entirely off the page. That makes it pretty difficult to follow some of these stories. Comic books spent decades fitting coherent storylines into 22 pages, but this collection can't manage it.
But the worst part is, by the time you get to the end of each story, you don't care. A big feeling of "That's it??" settles in. Stories that are meant to be clever but end up being silly; stories that have zero purpose to exist; stories in which the characters are helpless and merely luck-out in the end. It's a waste of time reading them once -- there's no way you'll take the time to go back through it and figure out the parts you might have missed.
I don't know why IDW published such a mediocre set of comics. I don't know why anyone would keep this on their shelf after having read it (why would anyone read it again or refer it to a friend?). In fact, I don't know why anyone would bother buying this if they had any idea the quality. Do yourself a favor: Find this in a bookstore and give it a quick read before spending your money. If you don't have a comic book store near you, just move on. Trust me, no one will ever regret not having read this thing sooner.
August 23, 2019
Kirk and Spock are in a shuttlecraft, returning to the Enterprise only the problem is that they can't find the ship. It turns out it's out of phase and they manage to get back in. They find out the problem is caused by an experimental testing device. They have to find out how to disarm it or everyone on the ship and the ship itself will be out of phase with this universe.
It doesn't help, of course, that they encounter the Romulans. What's even worse is we find out who is really behind the cloaking device.
The next story is based on the Organians who had ordered a cease-fire between the Klingons and the Federation. Things go south rather quickly when it turns out it seems that that blocking of hostilities is no longer in effect. Throw in an ancient civilization called the Preservers and some technology that both the Klingons and the Federation want and you've got a rather major problem.
There's more intrigue and an art gallery.
It doesn't help, of course, that they encounter the Romulans. What's even worse is we find out who is really behind the cloaking device.
The next story is based on the Organians who had ordered a cease-fire between the Klingons and the Federation. Things go south rather quickly when it turns out it seems that that blocking of hostilities is no longer in effect. Throw in an ancient civilization called the Preservers and some technology that both the Klingons and the Federation want and you've got a rather major problem.
There's more intrigue and an art gallery.
March 17, 2019
A Real Treat!
A tale written by a legendary Star Trek writer DC Fontana is truly a treat. She revisits classic characters that doesn't dishonor the past. The art is dead on accurate and resembles the original actors, some who are no longer with us.
I also enjoyed seeing Lt. Arex from the Animated Series as well. This book is a must read for all Star Trek fans including those who are old fans and new ones because of the recent JJ Abrams films and Star Trek Discovery.
A tale written by a legendary Star Trek writer DC Fontana is truly a treat. She revisits classic characters that doesn't dishonor the past. The art is dead on accurate and resembles the original actors, some who are no longer with us.
I also enjoyed seeing Lt. Arex from the Animated Series as well. This book is a must read for all Star Trek fans including those who are old fans and new ones because of the recent JJ Abrams films and Star Trek Discovery.
March 13, 2020
Yoiks
An avalanche of dense and dry dialog. Incomprehensible plot points. Not the author’s best work. The proposal included as an extra at the end of the book makes clear what the story was supposed to be. The story described in the proposal would have been interesting. But somewhere on the road to publication the story derailed. What the author intended to write is just not on the page. Really disappointing.
An avalanche of dense and dry dialog. Incomprehensible plot points. Not the author’s best work. The proposal included as an extra at the end of the book makes clear what the story was supposed to be. The story described in the proposal would have been interesting. But somewhere on the road to publication the story derailed. What the author intended to write is just not on the page. Really disappointing.
September 14, 2023
This is a graphic novel and is very well-written, the art work is beautiful and the characters, both as written and drawn, are pretty much spot on. As it follows the adventures of the original crew in the fourth year of their five-year mission this volume is divided into seven chapters, each a story that reads much like a script from the TV show. I particularly enjoyed the story where the crew finds themselves trapped in a world where TV shows are the ultimate reality.
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
March 31, 2021
Feels like the original Star Trek but has several shortcomings. The art is decent, and the decision to use widescreen panels makes it feel like a movie. Everything moves too fast though. The amount of dialogue would only fill about 8 pages of a comic with a more standard layout, so each story is over before it really even gets started.
January 24, 2022
2.5-3. Not bad. Not great. Art inconsistency - as in, different artists altogether - was my biggest issue with it. Overall the stories it tells are fine and feel very Star Trek - and all the characters act right - but like a lot of ST comics it doesn't do much more than just tell a decent story with decent art and not much else. Still, I more or less enjoyed it.
February 23, 2021
A bit to tied into the original series so that the casual fan can't fully enjoy the stories, and a bit simplistic and abbreviated when limited to a single issue stand-alone tale, but a faithful recreation of the experience nonetheless.
August 24, 2021
The Entering Experiment lives on!
Beautiful artwork, solid storyline, this was artfully crafted. I moved from panel to panel with no problem on my Amazon HD 10 Kindle Fire tablet. Now I'm off to stream the next graphic novel in the series.
Beautiful artwork, solid storyline, this was artfully crafted. I moved from panel to panel with no problem on my Amazon HD 10 Kindle Fire tablet. Now I'm off to stream the next graphic novel in the series.
September 23, 2021
After the events on Camus II, Kirk and his crew continue to explore the galaxy in a series of new adventures.
The stories work reasonably well and the artwork is fantastic. The book really captures the feel of the best of Season Three of 'Star Trek'.
The stories work reasonably well and the artwork is fantastic. The book really captures the feel of the best of Season Three of 'Star Trek'.
August 17, 2024
Good stories
I think these are some really good stories but I found the art work distracting at times. I know it was a creative choice but I would have preferred the characters to more closely resemble the actors.
I think these are some really good stories but I found the art work distracting at times. I know it was a creative choice but I would have preferred the characters to more closely resemble the actors.
August 23, 2017
Meh. Uneven, abrupt, and trying (and failing) to be clever. And what was that hot mess of a TV show one? Artwork was mostly decent.
April 17, 2019
Re-read. still fun.
March 7, 2020
5 and 6 were 5☆
November 10, 2020
A Great Continuation of the Series
The art is perfect . That's a gimmee. The story, though, is what makes this a great read. Romulans, Klingons, Preservers oh my!
The art is perfect . That's a gimmee. The story, though, is what makes this a great read. Romulans, Klingons, Preservers oh my!
October 30, 2023
took awhile to find it's groove, but I did love the little triumvirate exchange in the very last issue
March 26, 2024
ahead warp factor 4
A fun read , real trek ethos. was art was inconsistent. Love Star Trek so enjoyed this. Hence 4 stars
A fun read , real trek ethos. was art was inconsistent. Love Star Trek so enjoyed this. Hence 4 stars
July 8, 2024
A collection of solid, if not spectacular Star Trek stories set after the events of the show's third and final television season.
December 9, 2024
A fun little ST book. Solid adventures in line with TAS.
January 16, 2023
I am not going to go super deep here. I don’t expect much from this series. I consider them basically lost episodes of the Animated Series. They have a bit more modern feeling, while still feeling like TOS, so I like that aspect. The stories in this collection are short, single-issue stories and I found myself wishing for one long story that would feel more like an episode of the live-action show.
That said I liked there were political stories, character stories, and a funny one that commented on TV. It was a good mix. It felt like Star Trek and I enjoyed it. Will keep getting it from my library.
That said I liked there were political stories, character stories, and a funny one that commented on TV. It was a good mix. It felt like Star Trek and I enjoyed it. Will keep getting it from my library.
September 14, 2016
This volume begins with Kirk giving the show's opening monologue in his captain's log and saying that he can't imagine himself doing anything other than exploring space. He also briefly says "to go boldly," which is grammatically correct, before changing it to the more familiar "to boldly go." This chapter takes place shortly after the events of "Turnabout Intruder," the last episode of The Original Series. Since the show got cancelled, this series aims to tell what happened in year four of the five-year mission. What I am wondering is where The Animated Series fits into all of this. The Animated Series was considered canon, then it wasn't, and now it is again. And I don't know whether or not this comic series is considered canon, but I would like to know where it could possibly fit in relation to The Animated Series. Arex and M'Ress are present, implying that the writers want this to fit with the Animated Series. I wonder whether The Animated Series is considered year five of the mission, in which case Year Four would be bridging the gap.
There are some fun stories here, although one of them really bothers me because it is a bit too meta in having the crew be considered for a TV show. Kirk says they're not gonna do it for five years, which feels like a forced joke. And the last panel of that story shows a network receiving a script for a new show called Starfleet Academy, credited to Scott Tipton. Though that is the name of someone who has actually written some Star Trek comics, he is not the author of any of these Year Four stories. Also odd is that he is not the writer of the new Starfleet Academy comic series. Regardless, it feels like a joke that falls a bit flat for me.
I enjoy the artwork throughout this volume. Unlike the Gold Key comics that I've read recently, the art style does change a little bit between certain stories, though the shifts are never too jarring and they very much capture the look of the crew.
There are some fun stories here, although one of them really bothers me because it is a bit too meta in having the crew be considered for a TV show. Kirk says they're not gonna do it for five years, which feels like a forced joke. And the last panel of that story shows a network receiving a script for a new show called Starfleet Academy, credited to Scott Tipton. Though that is the name of someone who has actually written some Star Trek comics, he is not the author of any of these Year Four stories. Also odd is that he is not the writer of the new Starfleet Academy comic series. Regardless, it feels like a joke that falls a bit flat for me.
I enjoy the artwork throughout this volume. Unlike the Gold Key comics that I've read recently, the art style does change a little bit between certain stories, though the shifts are never too jarring and they very much capture the look of the crew.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2009
The Enterprise had a five-year mission, but Star Trek was cancelled after three years. IDW goes where many have gone before, filling in those missing years with this new collection.
A classic episode is centered around a severely injured woman who is rebuilt by aliens that, tragically, have never seen humans before. The result is a grotesque deformity. IDW has hired those aliens to do most of the art for this series.
Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the crew are here, but their oversized heads float above undersized bodies. Arms and legs are thin appendages which are positioned erratically.
These flaws wouldn't be so apparent if there was something to focus on in the background, but panel after panel features characters talking against a bare background. Is this a comic book or a comic strip?
The artwork is supported by equally weak writing. All the Trek cliches are here: dying red shirts, Kirk the womanizer, McCoy reminding people he's a doctor, and Spock endlessly repeating "Fascinating."
What's missing are interesting stories.
Unlike television shows or motion pictures, comics have no budget constraints. If you can imagine it, it can happen. But story after story features the Enterprise showing up in some crappy location and meeting the four people who live there.
My suggestion, pass this up and get your hands on the Gold Key Trek series.
A classic episode is centered around a severely injured woman who is rebuilt by aliens that, tragically, have never seen humans before. The result is a grotesque deformity. IDW has hired those aliens to do most of the art for this series.
Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the crew are here, but their oversized heads float above undersized bodies. Arms and legs are thin appendages which are positioned erratically.
These flaws wouldn't be so apparent if there was something to focus on in the background, but panel after panel features characters talking against a bare background. Is this a comic book or a comic strip?
The artwork is supported by equally weak writing. All the Trek cliches are here: dying red shirts, Kirk the womanizer, McCoy reminding people he's a doctor, and Spock endlessly repeating "Fascinating."
What's missing are interesting stories.
Unlike television shows or motion pictures, comics have no budget constraints. If you can imagine it, it can happen. But story after story features the Enterprise showing up in some crappy location and meeting the four people who live there.
My suggestion, pass this up and get your hands on the Gold Key Trek series.
January 28, 2010
The key word here is "mediocre". The stories are generally unimaginative and repetitive, with a lack of detail in the plotlines (even for a short 'lil comics story). And they do feel short: it's setup, crisis, resolution, okay let's move on. There's not even enough time for a Stock Ending Humorous Moment (not that I'm complaining, mind). The characterizations are by-the-book for the regulars and generic for the guests. The art is middling. Still, props for M'Ress and Arex. Fun to see them. Might be worth it for the sheer WTF value to see the ridiculous pastiche which is Chapter 5 (aka Reality TV in Space, featuring The Truman Show in Space, Dr. Phil in Space, and Captain Kirk's Variety Hour... in Space). Also, in Chapter 7, the gang is taken captive by a robot that, I swear, looks like the Kandyman in drag. Overall, decent but nowhere near great.
November 18, 2012
A heartwarmingly nostalgic, yet fresh and smart collection of short stories that are 100% true to the original feel and spirit of Star Trek. Clever sci-fi concepts, political themes, sharp satire and intriguing alien settings color the adventures of the Enterprise crew, just as they did back in the 1960's and beyond. Am eagerly waiting for future volumes.
December 16, 2013
Call me picky but, if you're going to do a comic of the iconic ST-TOS, you should draw the characters to actually look like the cast of the TV show. The stories were short and corny, entirely in keeping with the spirit of TOS episodes. The cover art is awesome. But the actual comics themselves. Ugh, worst ever.
January 14, 2009
A pretty decent set of fun, one off romps across the stars with the original crew of the the Starship Enterprise. Some are obviously better than others. Sadly, there's nothing here that's really special.
July 12, 2011
My used copy has pages in the back separating from the glue of the spine. I really liked all 7 stories a lot, but I wish Joe & Rob Sharp drew every page because their art was one of the finest Star Trek sequential interiors I've ever laid eyes upon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews