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Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline (IDW) #2

Star Trek: Spock - Reflections

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In the follow-up collection to the smash hit Star Trek: Countdown movie prequel, we discover what could drive a man to abandon all he knows and go to live with the Federations sworn enemy. Discover his real motivations and how he looks back at what brought him to this stranger place in his life.

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

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227 people want to read

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Scott Tipton

375 books30 followers

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5 stars
124 (29%)
4 stars
186 (43%)
3 stars
103 (24%)
2 stars
10 (2%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
Profile Image for Memphis Evans.
180 reviews5 followers
November 3, 2019
This is another really excellent Star Trek comic from Scott and David Tipton. We visit all eras of Spock's long life and all his most important relationships, with Sarek, Kirk, T'Pring, Picard, Chapel, etc. You'll recognize moments, characters, and uniforms from several movies and tv serieses.

It is a very poignant capstone to the story of Spock. I'm just going to go keyword search "Star Trek Tipton" at the library and get everything they have!
Profile Image for Rae.
89 reviews13 followers
March 14, 2011
I picked up this book one day when browsing a Barnes and Nobles...and read it in one go.

As a follow up to Star Trek - Countdown (well, actually it's more of a prequel as far as timelines go), this book was fantastic, and the art style was just as consistently good in "Reflections" as it was in "Countdown." As an artist, I REALLY appreciated the visible blending of traditional pen-and ink techniques with digital coloring, and the illustrator of this book excels in his multi-directional hatching. Holy. Cow.

Okay, so art geekiness aside, I really liked this graphic novel. It takes place between the Star Trek TNG episode "Unification" and the graphic novel "Countdown." The story itself was interspersed with flashbacks, transitioning from pane to pane so effortlessly, it could have been used as a storyboard for a movie. The flashbacks trace from Spock's childhood to his first time serving on the Enterprise (under Captain Pike), to the friendship that became famous among fans for the phrase "I have been, and always shall be, your friend." Featured in these flashbacks are scenes that avid star trek fans only wished they could have seen at the time, such as when Spock, now a captain, visits the Enterprise B to see where his friend finally fell - and sees the plaque that was put there in Kirk's honor.

Now, I don't cry easily, but there were three points in this book that made me tear up, right there reading in the aisle of Barnes and Nobles. The scene mentioned above, and two others that were absolutely beautiful.
Profile Image for Jeff Lanter.
721 reviews11 followers
May 4, 2012
As I conclude my reviews of the Star Trek movie tie-ins, I am going to tackle the toughest of the three. First off, I'm really glad this exists. While Spock is on a mission in this story, it is essentially flashbacks and character moments. That kind of quiet and contemplative story is too rare in comics beyond a single issue. The problem is that I am not the ideal audience for this book. I only have seen the movie and know almost nothing about the various TV series. While I learned a lot about Spock, many of the emotional moments did not resonate for me as much as they would with a less casual fan. I had no idea Spock had gone through so much in the various Star Trek series. That did make me respect him as a character even more however. The art is also fantastic like each of the tie-ins. Reflections is essentially all people talking, but I think every character looks really great. This is the one volume of the three move tie-ins that diehard Star Trek fans will like more than a casual one like me.
Profile Image for Thomas.
349 reviews1 follower
October 8, 2017
What a great character piece for Spock, kind of a "Lonesome Dove" feel as the Spock in the era of TNG finds out about the events of Star Trek: Generations. Great character bits in flashbacks, not a lot of dialogue which can be extraneous in Trek sometimes. The pacing is ideal, comics being a visual medium works very well for this story. I don't think it would have worked as well in prose.
Profile Image for Evamaria.
155 reviews6 followers
March 20, 2010
A movie prequel All About Spock and therefore automatically a must-read. We learn some more about this life.
Profile Image for Kieran McAndrew.
3,079 reviews20 followers
April 27, 2021
On receiving an unexpected message from Captain Picard, Spock risk all to escort an old friend on his final journey.

A poignant look at Spock's life as he learns to accommodate humans into his Vulcan outlook, the story is well told and the images help provide a sense of dynamism and movement. Beautifully coloured, this graphic novel by the Tiptons is essential reading.
Profile Image for dragonkeeper22.
10 reviews
October 17, 2011
I really liked this, the flashbacks gave spocks character depth and the parts concerning spock and kirk should be considered canon. I believe that it was a more fitting end to captain kirk (I admit I teared up a little) than shatners version.
Profile Image for Em.
38 reviews36 followers
March 25, 2018
Spock flies to Veridian III after Star Trek Generations to see Kirk's grave and remembers flashes of better Star Trek stories you wish you were reading about instead. It goes on for four issues. Intolerable.
44 reviews
December 20, 2013
don't remember it much.
inferior art, not too thrilling story, but good insights into the characters lives.
Profile Image for Ian.
1,333 reviews6 followers
February 13, 2023
The Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection Volume 4.
Two stories wherein Spock is the central character. Set shortly after the events of 'Star Trek: Generations', 'Reflections' sees Spock recalling formative moments from his past as he embarks on a pilgrimage to honour his best friend, James Kirk. The throwback story from the 1960s sees Spock being mentally controlled by incorporeal beings on a planet whose environment is ever-changing.

First of all I'll address the Gold Key Comics story from the 60s which, like most of the ones featured in the Graphic Novel Collection books, is utter garbage.
The writer clearly had little grasp of what made Trek what it is and the artist had even less of an idea (to be fair, Alberto Giolitti had never actually seen Star Trek when he illustrated these comics - but that doesn't make them any less off-brand).

Luckily, despite the low quality of the preposterously-named 'The Peril of Planet Quick Change', this book overall is largely redeemed by the main story; 'Spock: Reflections'.

I've noticed that the Tipton brothers, more than most of IDW's Trek writers, seem to have a genuine love of the source material that infuses their stories with genuine heart that is missing from others. Here we get to explore how Spock, who has worked hard to free himself of his emotions, is affected by the discovery that Kirk was brought back from apparent death, only to die once more on Viridian 3 (in 'Generations').
Whilst the story claims to be a prelude to J. J. Abrams' awful reboot, in reality it's a love letter to Spock as he was portrayed across the decades by the great Leonard Nimoy (I'm sorry, by Zachary Quinto never even comes close). As a lifelong fan of The Original Series and its movie continuations (even more so), this was just the right amount of nostalgia and pathos for me.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *
Profile Image for Kacey.
1,445 reviews6 followers
June 1, 2018
This is an excellent comic if you're a fan of Spock's character. It showcased some moments in his life both when he was younger and as he grew older. I liked it well enough, but I couldn't help wanting more. While I do feel like it captured Spock's various struggles through his years, I would've loved seeing any more.

This is probably the first graphic novel I wanted as a novel. Or at least more time given to each moment reflected on here. Character development, and especially stuff that taps into the psychology of the character, is my jam. I'm always going to want more of it than I get.

This was still very enjoyable, though, and really showed the strength of the relationships Spock formed in his years.
Profile Image for Irene.
133 reviews1 follower
January 14, 2021
Este cómic se mantiene en la línea de los anteriores volúmenes sobre los que ya he escrito aunque me gusto mucho más que el tercero. Ahonda en la historia de Spock mostrando diferentes recuerdos de su pasado, me gustó mucho cómo se plantea y cómo se trata gráficamente.

En general muy entretenido, como en los anteriores contamos con una galería de ilustraciones al final y uno de los cómics de Golden Key. He disfrutado de la lectura y me ha proporcionado su ratito de entretenimiento pero poquito más, dudo que continúe con estos cómics a no ser que lleguen a mí de nuevo de forma aleatoria.
Profile Image for Michael.
131 reviews12 followers
August 15, 2017
I expect the ST Graphic Novel Collection to be hit and miss as it is supposed to incorporate all the previously published Star Trek comics out there. This didn't strike me as that good at first, but I warmed to it as I went on. Spock's journey is accompanied by memories of his past and shows good insight into his character. Definitely worth the read.

The Key Comic has a silly plot and not fantastic art, but the introduction to explains the context in which these older comics were written.
Profile Image for Art.
2,447 reviews16 followers
October 23, 2023
Another look at Spock. I am uncertain why Goodreads has this in the Kelvin Universe series. It is set in the ST:TOS/ST:TNG Universe. It is set shortly after the movie Star Trek: Generations where the movie franchise switched from TOS to TNG. Spock mourning the death of a friend and reflection on his own life. Well done. Not sure why Hoopla has it listed as a different author/illustrator, but at least Goodreads got it right.
294 reviews3 followers
January 24, 2024
Some nice character work in places but lacks substance and doesn’t feel enough to fill 4 issues.
Structurally a bit of a mess.
Lack of detail in art leading to characters all looking the same and settings lacking any sort sense of place.
Not helped by terrible colouring, no variation on skin tone, scenes range from dull to very dull and no change in colour palate to help signify transitions and flashbacks.

.
Profile Image for Andrew Geczy.
Author 15 books2 followers
April 30, 2024
An emotional look at Spock

This book was all about Spock, as he left his duty on Romulus to make peace with Kirk's death in Generations. As he crosses into federation space, he reminisces on moments in his past that shaped him,

It was an interesting perspective, and filled in some cool gaps in the canon. It also gave some fun perspective into Old Spock's headspace.

It's kinda sad, really.

Life is sad.
Profile Image for Kate.
1,468 reviews62 followers
May 2, 2018
I will admit that the high rating corresponds mostly to my feels about older Spock. He's all alone and out on Romulus on his own and away from everything he knows. Then the reason for his travels is revealed and you kinda want to die. I enjoyed the flashback stories but the main one just breaks me.
Profile Image for Rick Zinn.
184 reviews1 follower
September 28, 2018
A Solid Spock story told in flashback. As always, especially if you remember the Gold Key, the treat of the collection is from Gold Key, written and art that was often done by people who hadn’t seen an episode. This is one of the more interesting stories in terms of action and plot.
Profile Image for Chad.
10.4k reviews1,061 followers
July 15, 2023
This wasn't nearly as interesting as the lead-in to the Star Trek reboot. It's cherry-picked moments from Spock's life as he ventures back to Earth to lay an old friend to rest. I like what the Tiptons are doing but there's just not a lot of meat on this bone.
1,805 reviews7 followers
March 10, 2024
As Spock is on his mission to take his friend home he looks back (reflects on) his life from a small child to his years on Romulus. It's a journey of remembering. An emotional trip for star trek fans. Very well done.
Profile Image for Tom.
1,189 reviews3 followers
April 8, 2024
A moody Spock shuffles through a selection of set pieces from Trek's past while doing his titular reflecting. The art is a bit on the rough side, and I don't see anything here that adds to my enjoyment of either to the original material or to the IDW Trek comics.
Profile Image for Danny.
199 reviews
June 28, 2020
A series of vignettes (some of which directly foreshadow events in Star Trek 2009) anchored by a story of Spock returning to Earth following Kirk's death in Generations. pretty good actually.
Profile Image for Yvette.
102 reviews
April 4, 2021
I read the single issue but I got the graphic novel yesterday. Still good.
Profile Image for Aaron Eichler.
773 reviews
January 28, 2022
Fascinating

It was interesting to see the memories from Spock’s point of view, that Spock left Romulus just to bring Kirk home was truly touching.
Profile Image for Gabriel Mero.
Author 5 books7 followers
May 3, 2023
A quick read about Spock leading into the reboot ST movie
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews

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