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 #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.