Star Trek New Frontier Comic Turnaround #1 (Spoiler)

I got the first issue a few days after my birthday but nevertheless, I
consider it to be my best present I got this year. Being a big fan of
New Frontier, I have been looking forward to more of this series for a
while now and that this story is a continuation of the so far latest NF
novel is something I welcomed a lot. On top of that, the very first New
Frontier comic by Wildstorm is my top favourite comic book and getting
the continuation in the form of a limited series in comic form was very
exciting news to me.

Now that I have read the first comic of the new series, I am still very
excited. I must admit, I prefer Mike Collins art, especially Mike
Collins Calhoun. Nevertheless, I like Stephen Thompson`s work too in
spite of some flaws. Most of his art is excellent but the faces, that is
pretty much a mix of hit, miss and something in between. It doesn`t
bother me very much because there is a lot of Thompson`s art I like. It
has flaws but at the same time, it has character. His art is certainly
not bland like the Calhoun on the “No Limits” cover. Character with
flaws is something I prefer to boring and uninteresting. I can imagine,
with more experience, Thompson could become a great comic book artist.

I like it that Thompson looked for his own interpretation of the
characters. I don`t think his Calhoun is “strikingly handsome” (PAD in
“Before Dishonor”) and I miss that but his Calhoun is certainly
interesting and showing all the other characteristics mentioned in the
books. Calhoun on the cover has a strong presence and shows the piercing
look PAD described sometimes in the novels very well.

It was interesting to see some of the NF characters in comic form for
the first time and must say, so far it is only Calhoun I have some
problems with. Nevertheless, I am confident that I will get used to
Thompson`s interpretation of Calhoun. It just might need some time. By
the way, I laughed when we could finally see Morgan properly after her
looks had been cleverly disguised in various ways in Wildstorm`s comic
book. After all the teasing about who Morgan is, we have the answer now.

I think PAD set up the story very well. I have followed NF from the very
beginning but from what I can see also a newcomer wouldn`t be lost. Of
course he would see that a lot happened before this comic book but the
most basic information you need for getting a foothold is there.
Hopefully this comic will tell an entertaining story also to the
newcomer and it might make him curious so that he wants to buy the books
as well in order to find out more, filling the gaps.

One of the most important parts is establishing the relationship between
Calhoun and Shelby and I think this first issue shows these basics very
well. One of my favourite scenes was the look at the special bond
between them again, when Calhoun knew immediately that the images he saw
were a trick.

The Wildstorm comic dealt with the topic time and the change of time –
of what is, what was and what might be. I found it interesting and
amusing at the same time that this theme is also part of this limited
series. “Paradox” - I love this name for a time ship. Keeping in mind
what we learned in the very first NF comic as well as from Voyager and
Enterprise, I see a huge potential for this story. I am very curious
where this will go.

I know from PAD`s messages that he wanted to write a Mirror Universe NF
story in comic form and I think that element is part of this series. If
done well, MU stories can be also something I enjoy and in this case, I
am confident that the MU element will add an interesting dimension to
the story and not have the opposite effect as it happened in DS9 Relaunch.

I liked the part with Robin Lefler, Kalinda and the ghostly Si Cwan.
Lefler certainly changed and I must say, Thompson did a brilliant job
here with his art, showing first the confident, strong leader and later
the more vulnerable Lefler. I wasn`t even that surprised that Lefler is
pregnant because it fits so well into the overall story.

McHenry`s apparent fate was disturbing to me but it makes sense.
Hopefully he can be helped but I have to wait and see…

In short – a great start and I can`t wait to get the next part!

Baerbel Haddrell

Yesterday I got issue #2 of the “Turnaround” story and I enjoyed it as
much as the first issue. PAD introduced some new layers to the story but
what I also liked is that a lot of it is not only for the benefit of
newcomers. I am an NF old timer but I was able to learn new things that
will also be interesting in future NF novels – and hopefully, more NF
comics.

Unfortunately Thompson`s Calhoun is not getting better but I loved it
what he did with the rest of the characters. Mueller is spot on. I liked
it that PAD introduced her in a very humorous way. Mueller is a very
complex character and I think it was the right choice to focus on her
likeable side when introducing her. Mueller can be fun and the kind of
flirting shown here is very much typical for her. I am not surprised
that she finds Shelby`s second in command, de Paulo, attractive. I did
in spite of the problems the artist has with faces. Obviously PAD made
another conscious choice to have a more diverse mix of humans. I
welcomed it a lot to see one of Shelby`s staff and I am hoping to meet
more of her people in future within this comic series.

I loved the next part in which Kebron is offering his counselling skills
to Calhoun. Him rolling his eyes and his bridge crew lifting hands like
his school children – I could see again why I love PAD`s sense of humour.

The way PAD dealt with Morgan Lefler and her background impressed me. He
managed to explain who and what she is during this issue in a way that
seems so simple but at the same time touched all the important aspects.
I also wonder how far Morgan will eventually evolve and about the
consequences. With one word Calhoun summarized it: “Great” can mean many
things. I had to think of “With great powers comes great responsibility”
(Spider-Man). There is certainly a lot of potential for future stories.
But this issue also touched Morgan`s humorous part and showed very well
her present relationship with her daughter. The scene on the holodeck is
beautifully done and very touching.

With Soleta, I think this is the first time that I prefer Thompson`s
art. I also liked the way he portrayed Lucius. I could also see again
that the artist is very talented at drawing SF technology: The Romulan
ship and the Paradox together with the unknown strange looking thing is
very impressive.

The end makes me look forward to the next issue – I think I know what
this Jellico was talking about. It must be building on “Cutting Ties”,
the NF Mirror Universe story in “Obsidian Alliances”. In “Cutting Ties”
Calhoun and Soleta had a very interesting relationship and I find the
idea that the comic will continue that story at least on some level
exciting.

Baerbel Haddrell