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Short Review/Ramble: City on the Edge of Forever - IDW Publishing
*Disclaimer: It has been a while since I read this comic so please forgive any slight vagaries in this review. Includes spoilers for both the comic and the episode mentioned. Other readers; let me know what you thought*
Star Trek: the Original Series had only one two part story in its 79 episode run and even that consisted of episodes in the show's then-present form framed around scenes from the original pilot, The Cage. This is a shame as several of the stories could have benefited greatly from being split over two parts to give them a chance to have a longer resolution. One such episode is the fan and critical favourite, The City on the Edge of Forever. Not only did it attract the guest star with the highest profile, Joan Collins, it was a well balanced, well paced episode with real emotional depth, a genuine moral dilemma and some great comedy moments (Kirk grasping at straws to explain Spock's unusual appearance to 20th century dwellers springs to mind). However, the writer of the episode, Harlan Ellison, has expressed dissatisfaction with the modifications he was asked to make to his initial script in the past and recently published his original vision in the form of a five part miniseries with IDW. I loved the episode and was interested to have the opportunity to see an extended version of the story. Was it good? Yes and no.
The artwork is absolutely gorgeous with a painted style and lovely colours that are very much like those you see on screen in the show. The reason that the crew beam down to the planet to meet the Guardian(s) of Forever is changed to include a couple of new members of the crew and the sinister dynamics between them and the intrigue this entailed were interesting. Obviously, a comic made in the 21st century is able to show more impressive visuals than a 60's TV show that was constantly having budget problems but it is worth saying that the panels showing the Guardians of Forever and their world as well as New York do the settings more justice here. Another thing I liked was the opportunity to see what was happening on the Enterprise back in the 23rd century and Janice Rand's role as a competent, brave crew member in the face of peril. However given the presence of the landing party in the past, and the resulting instability of the timeline I'm not sure how much logical sense this makes but it still gives us some good scenes. The longer format and the dialogue also give Kirk more time to develop a relationship in the past with Depression-era philanthropist Edith Keeler, giving more emotional weight to their romance.
Having said this, I do have a couple of issues with the comic. Doctor McCoy, one of the 'big three' characters beloved by me and many other fans, was largely absent from this version of the story with not many references to him. Most of the characters are well done but that of Spock was handled poorly in my opinion. In the original episode, he engages in his usual half playful, half exasperated digs at human nature but in the comic he is portrayed as harsh, almost mean when going about this. He makes several speeches in the comic that smack of an anti-human, Vulcan supremacist attitude. This makes little sense considering the very real friendships he has with his human colleagues and the fact that he himself is half human. Spock as he is portrayed in the series and other media has a respect and affection for his mother's race even if he is occasionally confused or repelled by aspects of its culture. This makes for a strange direction to take the character in.
Overall it was a visually beautiful, well executed comic and it was nice to see such a great episode expanded upon. However the relative absence of one of the central trio and the poor characterisation of another (that happens to be my personal favourite) marred the experience somewhat.
Handcuffed behind the back close-up
If you love handcuffs behind the back, in arresting positions, and really good CLOSE-UPS, enjoy my shares. Handcuffs, ropes, even NO bondage; I only focus on women's hands shown behind "PALMS OPEN,"
and showing more femininity. None of this tied "PALMS TOGETHER. Prayer position" nonsense. where is the fun in that? đ¤ˇ
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Since I've not read that comics yet (I had no idea it was a comics, I thought it was a novel), and you totally picked my curiosity here, I'll stop reading your review until I've been able to get my hand on that comics XD I'll let you know if I agree thereafter <3