Review by Ian Keogh

The alternate reality known as the Mirror Universe is integral to the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, and its functions were considerably disrupted due to Discovery’s intervention. What happened when Discovery departed is the focus of Kirsteen Beyer and Mike Johnson’s Succession.

It was an odd choice to have Discovery’s leading character Michael Burnham absent from the first Discovery graphic novel The Light of Kahless, but she puts in an appearance here despite the TV show having pronounced her dead in the Mirror Universe. She’s lost none of her lust for power, and that’s probably just as well as the Terran Empire is now run by someone intending to commit genocide on a scale never previously known, meaning she can only be better.

Angel Hernandez provides the art and puts the effort into likenesses of cast members, down to those with smaller roles. His Admiral Cornwell, for instance, is excellent, and he applies the same diligence to spacecraft. Given his storytelling leaves no room for doubt as to what’s going on, there should be no complaints about the art.

Beyer and Johnson don’t give an adequate explanation for the Mirror Universe’s Burnham having survived her reported death, and that’s a major failing. However, they certainly crank up a suitably imposing threat among a back-stabbing, power hungry Terran elite. The crew of the alternate universe Discovery also feature, most only briefly, but they’re relevant to what begins as an intriguing wild card that develops into a major threat.

Burnham’s convenient return notwithstanding, if you enjoyed Discovery’s first season, you’ll enjoy seeing what happened next. And if you enjoy this, you might want to try Aftermath.