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A review by thingslucyreads
Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison, David Tipton, Scott Tipton
5.0
This was made available as a read-now title on Netgalley. The following thoughts are my own honest ones.
I have never met a Star Trek graphic novel that I didn't like, but this one stands far out from all of the others I've encountered. The art, for starters, is breathtaking. Kirk and Spock looked more like William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy than they have in any other ST comic or graphic novel I've ever read. It's a little pet peeve of mine when I feel like the artist hasn't even tried to make them look the same. I understand why they might feel the need to do that, but I don't like it. If I'm reading about Kirk and Spock, I want them to LOOK like Kirk and Spock. But there were no issues with that here. The artists did a phenomenal job at capturing the expressions and emotions of the characters, even and especially Spock's, which I'm sure is not easy.
As for the plot, this graphic novel stands out again. Not just from other Star Trek comics, but non-Star Trek ones too. I understand that this is not based on the TOS episode of the same name, but the original script. (I may be wrong on that count.) I remember very little of that episode, but that was by no means a hindrance.
I often find that the beginning of a graphic novel is a little hard to follow as you're getting used to the styles of the author and illustrator/s. Not so with this one. This was exceedingly easy to follow. The artwork was realistically detailed but also clean enough to be deciphered at glance, the action sequences were not confusing and the plot was well-expressed through the dialogue of the characters. I flew through it in about a half an hour because it was everything that graphic novels should be: gripping, easy on the eyes, and not difficult to read for any reason.
This should be held as the standard for all graphic novels. A lot of authors and illustrators could learn something from it.
Rating: At least 20/5.
I have never met a Star Trek graphic novel that I didn't like, but this one stands far out from all of the others I've encountered. The art, for starters, is breathtaking. Kirk and Spock looked more like William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy than they have in any other ST comic or graphic novel I've ever read. It's a little pet peeve of mine when I feel like the artist hasn't even tried to make them look the same. I understand why they might feel the need to do that, but I don't like it. If I'm reading about Kirk and Spock, I want them to LOOK like Kirk and Spock. But there were no issues with that here. The artists did a phenomenal job at capturing the expressions and emotions of the characters, even and especially Spock's, which I'm sure is not easy.
As for the plot, this graphic novel stands out again. Not just from other Star Trek comics, but non-Star Trek ones too. I understand that this is not based on the TOS episode of the same name, but the original script. (I may be wrong on that count.) I remember very little of that episode, but that was by no means a hindrance.
I often find that the beginning of a graphic novel is a little hard to follow as you're getting used to the styles of the author and illustrator/s. Not so with this one. This was exceedingly easy to follow. The artwork was realistically detailed but also clean enough to be deciphered at glance, the action sequences were not confusing and the plot was well-expressed through the dialogue of the characters. I flew through it in about a half an hour because it was everything that graphic novels should be: gripping, easy on the eyes, and not difficult to read for any reason.
This should be held as the standard for all graphic novels. A lot of authors and illustrators could learn something from it.
Rating: At least 20/5.