Review by Frank Plowright
In Star Trek: Next Generation continuity Lore is an android along the same lines as Data, but lacking a conscience and considering himself superior to humanity. As Lore War begins he seems to have taken over an entire quadrant, leaving familiar figures with false memories spouting praise to Lore at every opportunity. Over a foreboding opening chapter we see many Starfleet heroes in disturbing new guises, such as Spock now part Borg, all of them completely believing false pasts and the way things now are.
Christopher Cantwell plots with the writing team of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, and after their tour of the revised galaxy they settle on Kahless and Benjamin Sisko as the revolution’s starting point. They also look in on Lore, interacting with Data and attempting to create the perfect universe, but much as Lore might want perfection, random factors of natural life throw spanners in the works. Vulcans, for instance, never behave as Lore predicts, yet removing them from the universe results in even more complications. It’s literal world building on an extremely ambitious scale, and unites characters from assorted TV worlds, Shaxs from the cartoon Lower Decks being portrayed as a fearsome reality based enforcer of Lore’s law.
In terms of crossovers, IDW show up DC and Marvel by proving it’s possible to arrange the consistency of having the same artist draw the entire story. Better still, Davide Tinto delivers the thrills we want to see as casts mix, Tom Paris alongside Beverley Crusher or from the comics Lily Sato and T’Lir. Tinto draws accurate spacecraft and imaginative battles, whether in space or at close quarters. Some likenesses are better than others, but everyone is recognisable.
The plot of the fightback against a universe controlled beginning with a single person isn’t new, so the success depends not on originality but on character interaction, and the writers deliver plenty of crowd-pleasing moments, while also referencing past adventures. If there’s a disappointment it’s that Lore himself is so rarely seen, the dangers coming from others acting in his name, but when he does feature the scenes are strong and he’s pivotal toward the end.
An interruption occurs two-thirds of the way through as Shaxs sees the light. We then have ‘Shaxs’ Worst Day’ from Ryan North and Derek Charm. It’s back to the cartoon world, and if you thought Shaxs was angry before, just imagine his rage on discovering he’s been serving fascists.
A multitude of artists work on the final chapter, but it’s an epilogue, not essential to the main story, so Tinto not drawing it is excusable. This has everyone back where they ought to be, reflecting on what had been and the losses as well as the gains. Cantwell brings the plots of his Star Trek: Defiant series to an end, and there’s also other closures in what’s a pleasing conclusion to the Star Trek crews from the 1990s, giving most of them the happy endings fans would want.
For those who love the characters deeply the calculated sentimentality of the epilogue may be worth the price of the graphic novel alone, but they’ll also get a rip-roaring adventure.
