Space: the ol’ near infinite panel gutter. These are the carefully recorded Star Trek voyages of Ensign Avery Kaplan. Her mission? To dutifully observe and analyze the various arms and evolutions of the best sci-fi Franchise to ever grace the screen. This week, she hands control of the con to George Carmona 3rd for his review of the new one-shot Star Trek: Deviations – Threads of Destiny #1, available at your Local Comic Shop (LCS) today.
Star Trek: Deviations – Threads of Destiny #1
Writer: Stephanie Williams
Penciller: Greg Maldonado
Inker: Anthony Fowler Jr.
Colorist: Charlie Kirchoff
Letterer: Jodie Troutman
Cover Artist: Mark Alvarado
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, and coinciding with Black History Month, IDW is publishing Star Trek: Deviations – Threads of Destiny #1, centered around Lt. Nyota Uhura. Written by Williams, with pencils by Maldonado and inks by Fowler Jr., this creative team crafts an alternate story to the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode “City on the Edge of Forever.”
Considered one of the pivotal episodes of Star Trek, “City on the Edge of Forever” starts with the Enterprise exploring an anomaly in space that produces time quakes. Dr. McCoy subsequently altered history because of psychosis related to a near-fatal accidental injection, requiring Kirk and Spock go back and undo what McCoy did to return the timeline to its previous incarnation.
This time, as part of the landing party that encounters the Guardian of Forever (a.k.a. Carl), Uhura falls through a time portal during another time quake, landing in the early ’60s during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Fortunately, she doesn’t end up completely by herself. As she appears in ’63, there is another Black person there to help her navigate her way out of a sticky situation: a white person about to showcase the dangers of the time. Recognizing where and when she’s found herself and what’s going on, she leans into her family history and knowledge of this time period to help her navigate these waters.
This is where Williams writing shines, as Uhura’s time traveling is a matter of understanding that she’s no longer reading these events of the distant past; she’s there, living in a period that is so far from the world of the Federation that she knows.
In the original story, McCoy’s trip into the past erased the Federation and its timeline. I could only imagine how difficult it would be to know about events and not interfere in the outcome, especially after coming face-to-face with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Could I be as strong as Uhura and resist interfering?
Working in conjunction with the plot, Threads of Destiny does a great job of giving a lot of information, but not in the way a typical info dump works. There is a connectivity through Uhura to the era, the people, their names and the places that she visits. And as much as I love Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Celia Rose Gooding‘s interpretation of Uhura, while reading this, I could only hear Nichelle Nichols‘ voice delivering the dialogue.
As far as the artwork goes, Maldonado and Fowler do an amazing job of creating an aesthetic that is a modified 60’s look, from the figures and perspective to the layout of the panels, with 5 or 6 panel grids. Add to that Kirchoff’s color palette, which also gives that 60’s vibe, and there is a solid visual component that helps the story.
Star Trek and Black History have a definitive connection, and not just because Nichols stayed on Star Trek thanks to Dr. King convincing her to stay. Her work after Star Trek helped NASA recruit more women and people of color, including significant individuals like astronaut Mae Jameson. This one-shot is a perfect salute to Star Trek, Black History and one of Blerdom’s GodMothers, Nyota Uhura.
Star Trek: Deviations – Threads of Destiny #1 is on sale now.
Keep up with all of The Beat’s Star Trek coverage here.
