Thursday, April 7, 2016

Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War #5 Review

Green Machine


Written By: Mike Johnson
Art By: Angel Hernandez, Alejandro Sanchez and Neil Uyetake
Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: November 18, 2015

This book has been such a pleasant surprise for me.  I mentioned in my first review that I was not a huge Star Trek fan and that I may be the least qualified of the Weird Science Get Fresh Crew to review this book, but I'm glad I threw caution to the wind and did it.  Mike Johnson must have given me a Vulcan Mind Meld (references!), because he nails the thing I like the most about crossovers...tons and tons of cool characters. This series has them in spades and the bonus is, they all make sense in the story.  The story itself is epic and while it looks like every issue is just setting up a huge finale, I'm okay with that and can't wait until we get there.  I won't have to wait long as this is the penultimate issue and I am reviewing this months after the series actually ended.  I guess i could just grab issue #6 and peek at the end.  It's right here on my desk...no, I won't do that (I totally did) because it would ruin it all for me (it didn't ruin it!)  So, I will review this issue before moving on to the finale (I'm a liar!)


The issue starts with all hell breaking loose as Starfleet Command is trying to figure out what is going on amid the very colorful destruction.  Hal Jordan has christened himself the new Captain of the Enterprise and I have to admit it, he looks pretty good in the chair.  After Uhura shows she's a quick learner and that love is the opposite of fear (tell the 7th grade version of me that), Kirk is back in the chair and ready to go.  It's actually at this moment where it finally dawned on my how cool it is to have Hal and Kirk working together to defeat their combined enemies.



Mike Johnson then gives us a close look at the main problem with the enemy...they are not a unified team.  It's all the new ring slingers fault as they can't put their differences aside for the common good...or bad in this case. Enter Sinestro who wants the baddies to form a truce to defeat Hal Jordan.  That's when Hal drops the bomb that Nekron has followed them, but Sinestro ain't got time for that and actually blames Hal for their earlier lose to the Black Lantern.

Mike Johnson has really nailed every character in this series, but I think he has done his best work with Sinestro.  The fact that Sinestro had joined with Hal earlier felt a little weird, but this makes up for it a hundred times over.  This is just pure Sinestro.



While I loved seeing an arrogant Sinestro act like an ass, that is not even close to the best part of this issue.  I won't spoil it, but it goes hand in hand with what I already told you is my favorite thing about crossovers and features my favorite Green Lantern.  

Mike Johnson keeps the pedal to the metal as Spock learns the fate of his dead up until now birth planet, Sinestro makes a sensible offer to save his own ass and Scotty has finished his science project that he not so subtly started at the beginning of the series.  The issue ends with a very dark cliffhanger that is personal for some, but just plain awesome for the reader.



I would say that this is the quickest read of any book in the series so far.  It's non stop action that is fun from start to finish and even gets some more great characters involved.  That being said, it is also the most setup heavy issue as we put the final pieces of the puzzle together before next issue's finale.  I can't wait (I already read it!)

Angel Hernandez and Alejandro Sanchez continue kicking ass on both the Star Trek and Green Lantern front.  If the fun of crossovers is all the cool characters, then the stars of the show are these two guys who make them look so great.  There isn't a dud in the lot and that's helps make this entire series so much fun.

Bits and Pieces:

While some may argue that this series has been nothing but setup, I'm having too much time to really care.  This issue continues the fun of seeing tons of characters interact with each other (a nicer way of saying, "beat the crap out of each other") and it all leads to the final battle that will be next issue.  The art looked fantastic and we get enough cool moments and new characters to recommend this issue to any fan of either franchise.  


8.5/10


2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this series. Wish there was more Ganthet time though.

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  2. So glad that I picked up hard copies for this series. Thanks Jim, these reviews got me pumped to pull out my hard copies (heh heh) and enjoy this story all over again.

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