Reviews

I’m not keen on spacey focussed books but have been really enjoying the lgbtq graphic novels I’ve read recently so wanted to give this a try. In a short comic it explored a lot and I felt like the characters were well rounded and their reactions authentic.

ros_lanta's review against another edition

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3.5

This is a comic which tries to do a lot and I admire that. Unfortunately ultimately that is also its failing - it tries to do too much in a very short page count.

The author openly states that this is set in a future inspired by that in Star Trek, and is a conscious effort to critique the less savoury elements of Starfleet and the Federation, in particular the expansionism and idea that everyone should want to be a part of it. Unfortunately in this comic the very legitimate criticism is arguably devalued by the fact that the worldbuilding here differs somewhat from Star Trek and far from being a supposed utopia, is actually fairly overtly dystopian - for example anyone who serves in the fleet can retire after a few years and not have to work for a living, while those who don't serve have to "live in the economy". I would rather that either the book remained a more on-point critique of Starfleet (which certainly doesn't have any such form of insidious near-conscription), or avoided mention of the Star Trek connection entirely.

It's a very character-centric story, and I did instantly like and care about the characters and their relationships, and I appreciate the fact that the three main characters are all LGBT. Unfortunately again there is just not enough time to really develop these relationships, particularly towards the end of the comic where years of life-changing events happen in the space of a couple of pages or so.

Overall I liked what this book tried to do, and I also enjoyed the art style quite a lot. I just ended up feeling a bit dissatisfied because I wanted it to be so much stronger than it is.

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