Star Trek/Planet of the Apes #1

by RobertJCross on December 31, 2014

Written by: Scott Tipton and David Tipton
Art by: Rachel Stott

This comic is extremely special to me. Firstly, my grandfather, Dennis Cross, was in the Planet of the Apes as a "Gorilla Guard" and my grandmother, Rita Cross, was Gene Roddenberry's secretary for a time. So Star Trek and Planet of the Apes is essentially a culmination of my grandparents. Beyond that, this issue was definitely the bee's knees. The issue began with a shady weapons deal, which you were clued into the shadowy seller not long after, but the reveal was good for Trekkies. Not a huge amount of Ape in this one, but the cover tease in the end of the book leaves no doubt that there'll be a large amount next issue.

The Tipton brothers nailed almost everything from an early Star Trek episode EXCEPT Kirk's pauses in his speech. That was literally, my, only, dis, a, ppoint, ment. Ha. The dialogue between Kirk and Spock was spot on ripped from the 60s, as was the small bits of humor that Kirk would throw around to lighten the mood. Everyone else on the bridge does as they would a regular episode of Star Trek, but I loved how organic that was. My favorite part about the last few panels was knowing that the guys wearing red wouldn't make it through the next issue...just an FYI...

Stott captures every nuance of every actor she's drawing, I have nothing bad to say. Kirk was on point, Spock was on point, the few apes we saw were on point. Her drawings of the Enterprise and of the Klingon horde were spot-on. The action (when it was happening) was smooth and to the point. I loved the expressions she drew on Kirk especially, just amazing. Some of the faces I honestly have never seen Shatner make in real life. The colorist (name escapes me) was also great and for a Star Trek comic that means a lot, colors are how we distinguish the characters. Amazing stuff.

If you're a fan of either, pick this bad boy up!

Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside