Star Trek: Boldly Go Volume 2 is out now, wrapping up issues 7 to 12 into one book. While the first volume of Boldly Go, was serious and Borg-focused, this one has much more fun and lighthearted stories.
In Boldly Go, the Enterprise crew (of the movie-verse) are on break after the events of Star Trek Beyond, waiting for their ship to be repaired. Kirk is piloting the Endeavor with Sulu and Bones on board, while Scotty teaches at Starfleet and Spock and Uhura rebuild new Vulcan.
The first arc of the series is ‘Murder at Babel,’ written by Mike Johnson as always, with art by Megan Levens. Kirk and the Endeavor crew join the Federation and the Romulans for peace talks in the wake of the Borg attack. Scotty and the students of Starfleet Academy (2015) are there visiting, when a Romulan ambassador is killed and Shev, an Andorian student, is blamed for the murder. The kids of Starfleet Academy (now including Star Trek Beyond’s Jaylah) take centre stage in this arc, working to free Shev and clear his name. It’s a fun, exciting story with a classic whodunit mystery to be solved, with some new twists — like Vulcan T’Laan being able to mind-meld with a corpse. Creepy, but could be useful in future stories too. It’s also a smooth transition from the Borg events of the previous volume to the new, more light hearted stories in Volume 2.
The next arc is all about Spock and Uhura’s life on New Vulcan, and it’s certainly less action-based than previous Boldly Go stories. Vulcan is a growing colony and the couple are adapting to their life there, and even contemplating a future. The topic of marriage has come up more than once, as has babies and the idea of Spock staying longer to help the rebuilding efforts. It posits the possibility that the pair might not rush back to the Enterprise, and that a wedding might be imminent as well: Sarek, of all people, hints that they should just make it official already. The art by Tony Shasteen is particularly gorgeous in this one, as he explores both the landscapes of new Vulcan, and images of Uhura’s home life in Africa.
The next standalone story is a humourous one about Kevin, a Teenaxi working in Yorktown with Scotty to help rebuild the Enterprise. It’s a quick, short story with not much plot (other Teenaxi want to sabotage the federation so they ask Kevin to steal the ‘heart of the ship,’ he double-crosses them by bringing the captain’s chair) but it’s still fun and cute. It’s a quick read and a good way to break up the stories before easing into another two-parter and the end of the collection.
The final arc sees the return of Eurydice and her daughter, Thalia, who claims her mother went missing on a nearby planet and needs Kirk’s help to find her. It’s a trap orchestrated by a former Federation captain who was injured and left for dead, only to be ‘rebuilt’ into a shapeshifter. No one is quite sure how that happens, but he’s briefly able to escape as Kirk and take control of the Endeavor, looking for revenge on his own ship. Kirk, Thalia and Eurydice get out of trouble and take back the Endeavor fairly quickly — almost too quickly. This is a good story with a lot going on and needed more room to breathe. Perhaps if it had been a three-part story, it could have done the concept (shape shifting rogue Captain impersonating Kirk!) justice.
Overall, Boldly Go Volume 2 has some of the more fun and exciting arcs of the Boldly Go series so far, with more standalones than Volume 1’s serious, Borg-heavy story.
Star Trek Boldly Go: Volume 2 is now available from IDW Publishing.