IDW and DC Boldly Go Into Green Lantern's Light

Someone -- and by the word balloons, we know that someone is a Black Lantern -- is chasing Ganthet, who carries with him six rings of power, each a different color. He escapes in the nick of time to another universe... the Star Trek universe!

Specifically, the J.J. Abrams STAR TREK universe, because that's important to people.

Ganthet's fate is discovered by the crew of the USS Enterprise, and the rings are taken for analysis. Of course, this would correspond with the sudden appearance of a Klingon vessel, captained by someone with a mad-on for Kirk. And with emotions running high... people on each side get CHOSEN!

Mike Johnson and Angel Hernandez's STAR TREK / GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR looks like it's all a setup for "What if the Federation and the Klingons went at each other with power rings?" Trust me, it's more than that, and you will get an appearance by a familiar face from the DC Comics series (other than Ganthet's wrinkly blue one). However, I have to admit that sometimes Alejandro Sanchez's colors threw me off a bit -- because as all fans of the Lanterns know, color is important. It was difficult for me to tell exactly which six color rings were operative in the story, because naturally you want to focus on the green one. I'll save you the squint-induced headache. The green ring is not among the six.

I've seen a number of these STAR TREK crossovers from IDW in the past, and I've had a mixed amount of enjoyment and bemusement. While I thought I'd enjoy the DOCTOR WHO crossover more, I was particularly happy with the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES one. However, I find my expectations for STAR TREK / GREEN LANTERN remain high after this first issue. The coloring is exquisite, the plot can be followed and gives just enough mystery to leave us asking "Huh?" without asking "WTF?" The artwork is extremely enjoyable, as Hernandez pulls of the rare stunt of drawing characters who resemble the actors without getting that immovable posed quality that often comes from adapting real figures into the comics form.

So set phasers for stun and charge your power rings. STAR TREK / GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR lives up to the hype of being the crossover event of 2015.

Appreciative shout out to my newly met friends at Tenth Planet, who sold me my comics fix for this evening.