Star Trek: Boldly Go, Vol. 3

Star Trek: Boldly Go

by Mike Johnson, Josh Hood (Illustrator), Megan Levens (Illustrator)

What if Kirk and the Enterprise crew were robots? What if Klingons founded Starfleet? What if Spock wasn't Vulcan? What if all these realities collided? The Star Trek mega-event "I.D.I.C." brings together all of these worlds for one huge, universe-threatening adventure. The Vulcan philosophy of celebrating "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" is one of acceptance, but can the universe accept the simultaneous existence of multiple realities? It's a team-up for the ages as numerous incarnations of Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise crew must work together to stop a foe that threatens all of existence! Featuring the return of Jane Tiberius Kirk and her gender-swapped crew! Collects the entire "I.D.I.C." storyline from Star Trek: Boldly Go #13-18.

Genres: Star Trek, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Adventure, Graphic Novels Comics, Media Tie In

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 29, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Mike Johnson is a comic book writer.

An almost lifelong Trekkie, he has scripted more Star Trek comic books than anyone else to date.

Reviews

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third volume of "Star Trek: Boldly Go" has the most interesting premise but the weakest implementation so far. The book introduces a huge range of characters from alternate and often very different universes but never really knows what to to do with them. The final big reveal and and plot resolution is unimaginative and fails to adequately utilize most of the new characters.

The best parts of this book are the various scenes that depict and explore alternate worlds and the characters inhabiting them. As such, expect Kirk and Spock variants with backstories that are radically different from the traditional ones, several universes that are populated by variants of familiar characters that are not even remotely human, an interesting look at a universe in which the Eugenics Wars were resolved in a very different manner and the return of Captain Jane Tiberia Kirk and her crew.

3.5 stars rounded to 3.

[Trin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realities collide! Which is fun! But it's frustrating to me that you never get to spend any real time in any of them, so nothing holds much emotional significance. The pace of these comics makes that difficult in general, and at some point I have to accept that depth is never going to be what they're striving for. Instead it's just Lots! Of! Different! Ideas! Really! Quickly!!!

This certainly succeeds at that. But man, would I love a long, intense look at a Spock who was raised on earth and has so turned his back on Vulcan culture, he docked his ears (oof). What's up with that guy?? In a universe where Alternate Evil Kirk hasn't killed Uhura (ugh), please.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, if not fantastic, way to finish this series. 15 Volumes of Star Trek fun. I'll miss it.

[Taaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that was some crazy shit.
I kinda wonder why they didn't meet TOS-Kirk and Spock. Does that mean, that I was right in my assessment that time travel in Trek does NOT create new universes (as it has never done that before) and that therefore the PrimeVerse was wiped out?

Anyway, this was fun. Though it seriously lacked a Spirk-universe. Honestly. Unlimited number of universes and Roddenberry saying that those two are in love with another, and still in every universe this Spock only loved Uhura? That's almost insulting to both the concept of unlimited possibilities and Roddenberry and Pre-AOS-fans.

But apart from that it was a fun read.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun. I'm a sucker for alternate-universe stores in franchises I enjoy, and this was no exception. Picking it up mid-series as I did resulted in a little confusion, but it's a testament to the writing that I was able to get what I needed along the way to understand the story. I especially appreciated a story that portrayed a variety of alternate versions of the Enterprise crew that were creatively distinct in a way that would have been far more challenging had it been attempted in a live-action format. I'll have to go back at some point to read the other volumes to see if they're as entertaining as this one.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek: Boldly Go Vol. 3

An old foe interferes with the multiverse in a final attempt to beat James T. Kirk.

The many different iterations of the 'Enterprise' crew are kept separate, both in terms of what is a fantastic story, but also through the subtle shifts in design. A fine ending to this era of 'Star Trek' comics.

[Travis James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good!

I'm very glad that we didn't see the Prime Universe in these tomes - too cliche. I see give this collection five *****!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fitting end to the Kelvin Timeline comics run: looping back around to the beginning of the run and also reflecting on the nature of the now ubiquitous multiversal storytelling trend. The run has had its ups and downs, but ultimately I found it rewarding, and probably better than it had a right to be.

[spockito · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just can’t understand why gender bend Uhura was named “Uhuro” and not “Nyoto” since Uhura isn’t her last name

[Punk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has nearly as many artists and colorists on it as it has alternate universes, so I can't cover each issue, but let's just say some of them have a better grasp on what these characters look like than others, like Josh Hood must have spent some quality time gazing at Karl Urban's face because his McCoy is astounding. Meanwhile, Tana Ford didn't notice lady Chekov was wearing a short-sleeve tunic in the previous issue and put her in a long-sleeve tunic. But a shoutout to some lovely covers by Ford and Yoshi Yoshitani. Now let's get to the exciting bulletpoints shall we?

* Raised-Human Spock! Had his ears docked! Named Simon Grayson! BFFs with Bones! Calls him Bones!
* (I'm not even kidding. Bones calls himself Simon's "best friend.")
* Raised-Klingon Jim!
* Chekov with a goatee?!
* Gendershifted crew! All the men are ladies!
* Uhura is Uhuro as a man, and very very handsome, graceful, and bald. (Ford's work there.)
* An Enterprise crewed by androids/robots/AI.
* Robot Uhura still needs breasts for some reason.
* Though the robot men do not have robot dicks.
* Female Khan is a person of color
* Tree people crew! "Plantship Enterprise."
* Gas form Scotty, flies around in a transparent egg.
* A room full of Kirks and they immediately get into a fistfight!

On the other hand, I'm not loving how Kirk's a horndog in every universe. That's not really Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations is it? Which was the whole idea behind this premise. And it leads to some real gross slut shaming and dubious consent for the botanical Kirk. He's seduced through the use of pheromones and the text attributes the sexual encounter to his "charm" though he used none of his charm to get there, and it's unclear if he had any choice in it at all. Just because Jim Kirk enjoys sex does not mean he doesn't also enjoy consent; we know this is true of TOS Kirk.

I wanted this to be more of a fun vacation and less about god-like beings playing with the timelines for their own egotistical purposes, but it is what it is. Kadiith.

Contains: blood; beheading; knife violence; dub-con; animal harm.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

You are absolutely inundated with Captain Kirks in this graphic novel, and by the time its over, you will begin to understand the adage of, too much of a good thing.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Trek returns again and again to alternate universes. Are the characters from the regular cast really so boring that we need stories with alternate, often evil versions? What if Spock was raised on Earth and was named Simon Grayson, a young man who favors recklessness over logic? What is Kirk was a battle-hardened leader feared even by Klingons? What if the cast was all female? All plants or all gaseous life forms? All in all, this might be the best volume in the series.

A chronotronic storm pulls several different version of the Enterprise in a 'confluence of alternate realities.' Kirk is right when he reacts with 'not again...' So many things are different that they're not worth listing. The different crew members band together into mixed teams to save themselves from this unusual event and return to their respective realities. Mid-way through the story, when things start to look up for the three teams that are followed, only bad things happen and many Kirks are defeated.

But it's not over yet. Kirk is woken up back in the academy by his close friend Gary Mitchell. The latter has godlike powers that he used to pluck the Kirks from their realities and punish them for the time when the Kirk from his past killed him. He takes that Kirk through several realities and pivotal moments like Gary's death and awakening as a god.

To finally decide who is the better man, Gary shares a part of his power with Kirk to even the playing field. Instead of duking it out, Kirk plays a game of chess where his moves change reality for his crewmembers. He secretly shares with them his plan to end the game - strangely enough, not by winning it, but by shooting him. Rather than let Kirk's death turn him into a martyr, Gary saves hiss life and returns the realities to their previous state. The original Kirk is the only one who remembers the events. Gary is still angry, but Kirk placates him somewhat by thanking him for the experience.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea what I was in for before reading this. On Captain Kirk's birthday, I ended up reading the story with the most Captain Kirks!

We see versions of characters from different realities come together. Once again, we see Jane Kirk and her crew. The botanical version of Kirk is fun to see after reading so much Swamp Thing. And there's even a Klingon Kirk. All of this feels like a fanfiction crossover event, but it somehow works. Parts of this reminded me of Crisis on Infinite Earths and specific moments from Doctor Who stories like The Five Doctors and The Day of the Doctor (the chess pieces and all the ships coming together at the end, respectively). It also gave me Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse vibes, which is funny given that Chris Pine played a Spider-Man in that movie.

The only thing that this was missing was the Prime version of Kirk. But it was a great surprise including Gary Mitchell, a character I felt was wasted early on in the Star Trek: Ongoing series because his story just went through the same beats as "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

The ending was also very heartwarming. Since Kirk was given godlike powers for a bit, he was able to see infinite realities, thus giving him memories of a version of himself who got to spend time with his father throughout his childhood. I know that people were upset about this series getting cancelled, but this moment felt like the best way to end it. Even if we get no further Kelvin Timeline films, this is a great conclusion to the story of this Enterprise crew, at least for now.

[Rob Vitagliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting story of multiple timelines/realities/Kirks all converging and meeting up with each other. It would have been a neat story for a middle of the run, maybe two or three issues. It did not need to be stretched to six, though there were some great cliffhangers. I also didn't feel this was a solid way to end this Boldly Go storyline. The Borg were barely revisited, Valas was only shown briefly in an alternate reality, so it's not like the writers forgot her all together, they just didn't conclude her story, and I was disappointed that we never get to see the Kelvin-verse Enterprise A, though it's mentioned throughout the series. It felt like it was just cancelled at the conclusion of this multiverse storyline, and nothing was really wrapped up.

I'm also not a big fan of multiverses because I don't feel like there's anything at stake for the characters. Oh, one of them died? That's ok, there are 18 other versions of them, so does it even really matter?

The art was solid and it was still entertaining and enjoyable. It wasn't a chore to read by any stretch, but I just expected more for the concluding arc of a story that spanned 18 issues.

[Kacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should come as no surprise that I loved this volume, too. I love "what if" scenarios, and seeing so many variations of the crew was very cool. This is exactly what I was talking about in my review of the last volume: comics have a way of working a story that mediums like movies and television would struggle with. And I love the imagination of all the different kinds of Kirks out there.

Naturally, there are a few of the stories that I wouldn't mind getting more information on. Like the one where Kirk was raised Klingon, or the one where he's a giant creature in a Godzilla-type environment, or where he's a plant-based being, et cetera. This comic is basically a fanfiction writer's dream come true.

If I can find any more Star Trek comics, I will gladly read them. Whichever crew it's following, I know I'm going to enjoy the adventure.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

well that's the end of the AOS comics. Despite the fact that they never went as deep as I would have liked and I'm for real for real disappointed that we never got to see the Enterprise-A take flight, it was a neat ending. Calling back to the very first storyline of the on-going series was a neat touch. I DO think it's a little odd that Boldly Go basically ended with a redux of the concept from the ending of the on-going, this endless retreading is pretty emblematic of Star Trek from the last 15-ish years.

P.S.-since it's pretty universally agreed the ONLY saving grace of the AOS movies is the cast, genuinely wish the AOS comics focused a little more on character work in the main cast. Nearly every character one-off they did in both comic series was fantastic, and maybe there should have been more of that for the main seven.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love alternate universe stories, even those as preposterous as this one. It’s generally fun, though not great, and there’s some issues with both the story and the artwork — a lot more variation in the myriad Enterprises would have been welcome, a lot of of the story threads just sort of fizzle, and the ultimate conclusion is pretty much a deus ex machina that unfortunately often afflicts Trek. Alas, the use of Gary Mitchell here was a downer, especially as it’s riffing on a Kelvin timeline revamp of the second TOS pilot — a revamp that was pretty mediocre (not to mention chronologically problematic.)

[Carol Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It is with the Kelvin Kirk well sort of.... In this crews from the Enterprise from different realities are pulled separated and teamed up with different crew members and put in dangerous situations in different realities.

This is a dangerous game being played by an ex friend now enemy of the Kelvin universe Kirk. That is a mouthful.

I enjoyed seeing the different versions and seeing the imagination of the writer. I thought the art was excellent. I also enjoyed seeing the different realities one where Vulcan was not destroyed or Kirk was captured as a baby and raised to be a klingon. What if stories have always been enjoyable to me.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Boldly Go series really lives up to its name with this volume. The multiverse of Enterprise crews are trapped in some sort of time/space vortex, all the traditional crew members we know and love teaming up with slightly shifted versions of their compatriots in slightly shifted settings. It's weird as hell! It's an alternate universe story that sort of takes place in the traditional universe as well. Not every plotline works, but that's not surprising considering the diversity of situations we have here. For a big idea that could have crashed hard, it works surprisingly well.

[Utkarsh Bansal · Rating 2 out of 5]

A case of choosing the wrong premise for the wrong format. Could have been fun to see TOS crews from a bunch of timelines cross over in a 12-issue epic. Could have been fun to see 3 timelines interact over 6 issues. Instead, we got a big premise in a small book, leading to storytelling so rushed that I neither cared about any of the characters nor enjoyed the action-adventure elements. Star Trek is a great franchise for comics, but I hope I find some that understand the medium better. As it stands, not a good first impression.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This set had its ups and downs. I hated large swaths of the writing that seemed contrived, easy, or downright lazy. But I liked where it ended up and I enjoyed many parts in the middle. I’m a big fan of the art in these. It’s that clean and bright style that most comics are using these days.

In short: nothing revolutionary, certainly worth a read, doesn’t really necessitate a revisit.

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I like that this set of six issues is one story arc, it's not a good one. The IDIC arc is a mega-crossover of a bunch of alternate versions of our characters (gender-swapped, evil, plant, gas, computer) all colliding in a pretty dull manner.

[alexis king · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty lackluster ending

Can't believe that's how it ends. Pretty lame. The whole series talked about the Enterprise being reconstructed, Spock and Uhura getting married, the Enterprise crew getting back together - none of it happens.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the overall event and the collision of so many iterations of the Enterprise crew, but I do miss Tony Shasteen's work within the comics themselves. Some of the art I liked more than others.

[Dennis Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice conclusion to this creative ST series

[Vince · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once Mike Johnson got Roberto Orci out of his hair, it felt like he had freedom to dig into a fun and interesting story, but this volume disappointed somewhat. Three stars.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Props for doing a full arc, but the premise wore thin almost before it began.

[Natira · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

[Mickey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor ending to a good series.
They dipped into the "alternate versions of the Enterprise" well too often. And it's a pretty boring conceit to begin with.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun! Great build on the TOS classic episode Where No Man Has Gone Before. I’d love to see some of these alternate Enterprises in filmed form as well.