Doctor Who: Prisoners Of Time #9
Written by Scott Tipton and David Tipton
Art by David Messina, Giorgia Sposito, and ScarletGothica
Covers by Francesco Francavilla, Dave Sim, Charlie Kirchoff
IDW Publishing
Release Date: October 2, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Entering into the new era of Doctor Who, Prisoners Of Time centers on the Christopher Eccleston Doctor, and his companion Rose – in a standalone adventure that would have made a great television episode. But more importantly, we finally get some answers in this chapter, including the identity of the previously unknown nemesis that has been kidnapping the companions of all the Doctor’s incarnations.

Sometime after the Doctor’s first visit to Satellite 5 and before his return to it, he takes Rose to the Grand and Glorious Monument to Drake Ayelbourne of Altair VII. Suggested to be the wealthiest human in the galaxy, the Doctor claims the man dwarfs the likes of Bill Gates, Howard Hughes, and Scrooge McDuck combined.

The Bounce #1
Written by Joe Casey
Illustrated by David Messina
Colored by Giovanna Niro
Lettered by Rus Wooton
Image Comics
Release Date: May 22, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

Producing originality in the superhero genre has seemed to be a difficult task for creators over the years. To pull off a new concept while granting unique abilities to characters requires a good deal of ingenuity that, quite simply, seems to be lacking these days; however, the creative team of Joe Casey and David Messina have managed such an accomplishment with The Bounce #1 from Image Comics.

Jasper Jenkins is a professional slacker and stoner””the perfect cover for his other occupation: a superhero. Dressed in a black and yellow spandex suit, he curls himself into a ball and bounces off walls. Through the momentum gained from the impact, Jasper can remain spinning in the air as long as he keeps bouncing; kind of like a bouncy ball. It seems he also has the capability to make a person’s insides bounce around in a very painful manner, as demonstrated while fighting a super strong villain who just murdered the police commissioner. He may have some exceptional aptitudes, but Jasper isn’t the only one. Super powered beings are showing up all over the city””good and evil””many with very unique skill sets; and if that isn’t enough, an underground organization is trying to break the barrier between realities using an ultimate, secret weapon.

Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness
Trade Paperback
Story by Roberto Orci and Mike Johnson
Script by Mike Johnson
Pencils by David Messina
Inks by Marina Castelvetro
Colors by Claudia Scarletgothica
Cover by David Messina and Claudia Scarletgothica
IDW Publishing
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Cover Price: $17.99

Anticipation is running high for the upcoming summer blockbuster season, and Star Trek Into Darkness is most certainly at the top of most fans’ lists as “˜must see’ material. The buzz surrounding the film has been so huge during the last year that it certainly feels to be an enthusing time to be a sci-fi geek. And in tradition to form with the previous Star Trek movie, IDW Publishing has released a prequel to the upcoming movie entitled Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness.

Prior to the events of the upcoming movie, the crew of the USS Enterprise, under the authority of Captain Kirk, arrives at the planet Phaedus to conduct a survey of the development of the intelligent race on the surface. Observing the protocol of the Prime Directive, the crew aims to observe the “iron age” home-grown species from orbit – until a high tech jamming signal from the planet disables communication and transporters.

Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness #3
Story by Roberto Orci & Mike Johnson
Script by Mike Johnson
Art by David Messina
Ink Assist by Marina Castelvetro
Colors by Claudia Scarletgothica
Letters by Chris Mowry
IDW Publishing
Release date: March 20, 2013
Cover price: $3.99

In the penultimate issue of Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness, the Enterprise hovers over the planet Phaedus, where on the ground, some of the crew’s Away Team is being held captive, while Kirk and Spock are still trying to figure out what the presumed dead Robert April is up to. The ship’s communications are still being jammed, so Uhura, who actually has the Conn, decides to leave her post to go in search of her comrades. And who does give the Conn to when she leaves? A most unlikely crew member, to humorous results.

But, there’s nothing funny about what’s happening down on the planet’s surface, where there’s two warring factions and everyone’s life is in danger. In Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness #3, Spock, who’s still reeling from the destruction of his home planet, Vulcan, risks his life once more in an attempt to free Sulu and Hendorff (“Cupcake”), who were part of the away team that was immediately captured. Meanwhile, Kirk has to decided whether to get involved in the Phaedus civil war, while also trying to figure out what to do about April, who’s technically a Starfleet deserter, and whose story seems to change with each issue.

Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness #1
Story by Roberto Orci & Mike Johnson
Script by Mike Johnson
Art by David Messina
Ink Assist by Marina Castelvetro
Colors by Claudia Scarletgothica
Letters by Chris Mowry
IDW Publishing
Release date: January 23, 2013
Cover price: $3.99

There’s a lot of anticipation for this summer’s Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to 2009’s Star Trek, which rebooted Gene Roddenbury’s beloved scifi universe and showed the popular crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise back in their Starfleet Academy days. For the 2009 film, IDW Publishing released Countdown, a limited comic book series that served as a prelude. For the sequel, IDW is doing the same, with the Countdown To Darkness, a 4-issue miniseries that bridges the gap between the two films.

Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness #1 finds the newly assembled Enterprise crew months into their mission to explore strange new worlds. Unlike the experienced crew we’ve come to know from the original Star Trek series starring William Shatner, these officers are novices, having only recently graduated from the Academy. Sure, they’ve been through a lot in their young careers – having to face the vengeful, planet-destroying Romulan Nero, for example – but the fact remains, they still have a lot of growing up to do. Therefore, it’s no surprise that James T. Kirk, now Captain of the Enterprise, is still getting acclimated to the loneliness of command, while First Officer Spock, whose Vulcan heritage dictates that he keep his emotions in check, is subconsciously struggling with the outcome of the rescue mission he embarked on while his home world was in the process of being imploded.