Star Trek: Romulans: The Hollow Crown #1

I have to admit up front that I'm old enough to have watched the original Star Trek television series when it first aired on NBC (although I had to talk my Dad into letting me stay up that late).

On the other hand, I've never been too crazy about the comic book adaptations based on any of the TV shows. I didn't care for the Gold Key comics much (though I wish I'd held onto them), and the Marvel series only had Dave Cockrum's art to recommend it (at least for a while). DC got it right for a while with Mike Barr and Tom Sutton handling the book, and they turned in some excellent stories. After that, it all gets hazy in my memory, and I stopped picking up the title.

The series calls IDW home now, and so far, the results have been very solid. D.C Fontana (who worked on the TV show) has done good work writing the Star Trek: Year Four series, and now they have writer / artist John Byrne handling titles like Star Trek: Assignment Earth and this entry, Star Trek: Romulans: The Hollow Crown.

Could someone please explain to me why a top talent like Byrne has time for this? Shouldn't he be inundated with offers from Marvel and DC? Shouldn't he be working on Next Men? I'm just asking is all.

OK, so obviously I'm a fan of his work (both writing and art). And if he isn't going to work for one of the bigger companies, it's good to see him turning in strong work for the up-and-coming IDW.

In "Romulans" Byrne spins a story set during the time of The Original Series (TOS). The series opens immediately after the episode where the Enterprise first encounters a Romulan Bird of Prey - one of my favorite episodes, as Kirk and the Romulan Captain match wits.

If you haven't seen the original shows, it doesn't matter - he gives you enough information to make the story clear, and throws in plenty of references to please the most devoted fans. The story offers a glimpse into the Romulan government and the machinations of allies and enemies.

Byrne manages the difficult task of introducing a number of new characters (along with a few familiar ones) and makes each one unique and immediately identifiable. Not many artists could manage it as well.

This is a book that may not appeal to the casual fan of the series - and it certainly isn't likely to appeal to a non-fan - but it's a strong entry in the comic books based on TOS, and it's always good to see Byrne working at the top of his game.

Grade: B+