star trek romulans pawns of war

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Star Trek: Romulans: Pawns of War Paperback – March 2, 2010

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 164 pages
• Language English
• Publisher IDW Publishing
• Publication date March 2, 2010
• Reading age 13 - 16 years
• Dimensions 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• ISBN-10 1600103693
• ISBN-13 978-1600103698
• See all details

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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ IDW Publishing (March 2, 2010)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 164 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1600103693
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1600103698
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 - 16 years
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• #8,564 in Media Tie-In Graphic Novels
• #9,147 in Science Fiction Graphic Novels (Books)
• #240,080 in Science Fiction & Fantasy (Books)

About the author

John Lindley Byrne (born July 6, 1950) is a British-born American comic-book writer and artist. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on many major American superheroes. Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics’ X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise, the first issue of which featured comics' first variant cover. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He scripted the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing. In 2015, Byrne and his longtime X-Men collaborator Chris Claremont were inducted into the comic book hall of fame.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Corey Bond from United States (John Byrne. Cropped prior to upload.) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Romulans: Pawns of War

• View history

• 1 Publisher's description
• 3.1 External link

Publisher's description [ ]

Contents [ ].

• " Alien Spotlight: Romulans "
• " Balance of Terror " adaptation
• " Romulans: The Hollow Crown, Issue 1 "
• " Romulans: The Hollow Crown, Issue 2 "
• " Schism, Issue 1 "
• " Schism, Issue 2 "
• " Schism, Issue 3 "

Appendices [ ]

External link [ ].

• Romulans: Pawns of War article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 USS Triumph (NCC-26228)
• 2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 3 Odyssey class

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Star Trek – Romulans: Pawns of War by John Byrne (Review)

To celebrate the release of Star Trek: Into Darkness this month, we’ll be running through the first season of the classic Star Trek all this month. Check back daily to get ready to boldly go. It’s only logical.

We’ll be supplementing our coverage of the episodes with some additional materials – mainly novels and comics and films. This is one such entry.

Where were the Klingons? That seems to be one of the most frequently asked questions when a modern writer re-visits the early part of the first season of Star Trek . It makes sense. The Klingons are the franchise’s flagship aliens, and their long-term relations with the Federation mark one of the show’s earliest examples of continuity. The Organian Peace Treaty from Errand of Mercy is mentioned once or twice, but it informs a lot of the appearances of the Klingons in the classic Star Trek , as the warriors are prevented from engaging in direct warfare with the Federation.

However, when first introduced in Errand of Mercy , towards the end of the first season, the Klingons have just declared war on the Federation. However, it seems like this has been expected for a long time. Kirk speaks of the Klingons like old enemies. Kor knows that captain of the Enterprise by name. There’s a sense of a pre-established history, which makes their appearance towards the tale-end of the season all the more perplexing. Apparently they have been there all along, even if we haven’t seen them before.

John Byrne’s Alien Spotlight issue might have been themed around the Romulans, and the collected edition might be Romulans: Pawns of War , but it seems more devoted to exploring what exactly the Klingons were up to behind the scenes between their appearances on Star Trek .

Cry havok, and let slip the dogs of war…!

First, a note on Byrne’s art. Byrne is one of the greatest comic book artists of his generation. However, he argues that he isn’t well-suited to likenesses. I would generally concede that (with the appearances of familiar characters in Crew being passable rather than exceptional). However, his work on recognisable Star Trek characters here is quite remarkable. He draws Koloth as if the Klingon were still being played by William Campbell from 1967. When Kor grins, he looks just like John Colicos.

Byrne might not offer the best depiction of Mark Lenard ever to appear on the comic book page, and his version of Majel Barrett Roddenberry is recognisable rather than identical, but his work with the Klingon characters here is absolutely stunning. It also gives Byrne a chance to show off his familiarity with Star Trek lore, drawing in two of the show’s most memorable Klingons to show what they were up to between sparring matches with Kirk.

Getting to the Kor of the problem…

And Byrne hits on something that should be quite obvious to most modern viewers, an irony which is striking on re-watching those classic Star Trek episodes. The Star Trek spin-offs generally characterised the Klingons as a race obsessed with duty and honour. Sure, Ronald D. Moore had great fun subverting that from time to time, but  “honour” was their mantra. In contrast, from Star Trek: The Next Generation onwards, the Romulans were defined as manipulative cowards. The irony, of course, is that their roles in the original Star Trek were somewhat reversed.

The Romulans were obsessed with duty above all, serving as very thinly-disguised space! Romans. The anonymous Romulan commander from Balance of Terro r comes close to being the most noble foe that Kirk ever faced. Similarly, we’re meant to feel a hint of pity from the other anonymous Romulan who is tricked by Kirk and Spock’s subterfuge in The Enterprise Incident . The Romulans are warriors, but they are honourable. It just seems a bit ironic, then, that the Romulans should be the Star Trek race to develop the cloaking device, a weapon which allows them to strike their enemies hidden from sight.

Seeing eye-to-eye…

In contrast, the Klingons from the original Star Trek were generally scheming rascals. In Errand of Mercy , Kor lamented the fact that he wouldn’t meet Kirk in battle, and that he was stuck governing an occupied planet. However, he was perfectly willing to slaughter civilians and engage in torture. Throughout the show’s second season, in stories like Friday’s Child , Private Little War and The Trouble With Tribbles , the Klingons were established as duplicitous, manipulative and underhanded. Indeed, the Empire wasn’t obsessed with honour so much as perpetrating a campaign of subversion against the Federation’s interest.

It was only with the introduction of Kang in The Day of the Dove that we truly got a sense of an honourable Klingon. In the long gap between The Turnabout Intruder and Encounter at Farpoint , John Ford’s The Final Reflection established that Klingons adhered to their own code of honour and value system. Then episodes of The Next Generation like Heart of Glory and Sins of the Father established honour as the Klingons’ defining character traits. That was the point at which characterisation shifted.

Prey, tell…

So it’s telling, then, that Kang is the only one of the “big three” Klingons from the original Star Trek not to feature in Byrne’s Pa wns of War . In one sequence that rather efficiently establishes the Klingon character, they assure a Romulan colleague, “There is no such world as ‘cheat’, young Romulan. There is only to do whatever must be done to win!”

Byrne’s Pawns of War – comprised of an Alien Spotlight one-shot, two Hallow Crown issues and a three-part Schism miniseries – essentially charts out the relationship between the Klingon Empire and the Romulans over the course of the classic Star Trek , from Balance of Terror well past The Enterprise Incident . Byrne has gone on record about the fact that he’s not a fan of any Star Trek beyond the original television show, and so it feels about right that Pawns of War charts the secret shared history of the Klingons and Romulans only to that point.

How very unKoloth…

So the Klingon and Romulan divide does not occur over the Khitomer Massacre, as The Next Generation would officially establish. The Klingon Empire is apparently controlled by an emperor, which makes sense – but is also in sharp contrast to the history of the Klingon Empire established in Rightful Heir . And yet, despite this, Byrne still makes sly references outside the classic Star Trek .

Bumpy foreheaded Klingons appear, apparently belonging to the ruling caste in Byrne’s interpretation of Klingon politics. They are drawn to resemble the more subtle ridges of The Motion Picture than the later Star Trek shows. Koloth is punished for his failure in The Trouble With Tribbles by being forced to hunt down the fluffy creatures. This is perhaps a shout-out to his appearance in Star Tre k: The Animated Series ‘ More Tribbles, More Troubles , but may also reference “the great Tribble hunt” alluded to in Trials and Tribble-ations .

I shall blow you out of the stars!

Byrne also indulges his own Star Trek preferences here. When the final three-issue miniseries, Schism , draws in the Federation, Byrne uses Number One as the protagonist of his story. He puts her in command of a starship with the cloaking device stolen in The Enterprise Incident , giving her the rank of Commodore so as to slyly subvert that infamous line from The Turnabout Intruder . The joke, of course, being that there may not be any female captains, but there are female officers who outrank captains.

Byrne also relies heavily on the characterisation of the Romulans in those early Star Trek episodes. He takes the idea of space! Romans, and carries it to its logical conclusion. The young Praetor discussed in Balance of Terror is revealed to be dangerously insane and inconsistent, and a manner clearly designed to evoke Caligula. One observer comments, “He totters ever on the brink of complete madness. When he slips over the edge…”

Later on, we meet a Romulan “witch” who brews a particular poison in a manner that seems more like magic than chemistry. In another visual reference outside the classic Star Trek , the poison seems to work a lot like the weapons from the start of  Star Trek: Nemesis , decimating the Romulan Senate. As the Praetor decomposes, it’s hard not to recall that striking opening to a very mediocre film.

If Pawns of War has a problem in terms of structure, it’s an over-reliance on continuity, which sounds funny when you’re talking about a story very clearly woven between existing episodes of the show. However, while those episodes provide a context that Byrne structures into his story, there is a sense that the universe is very small. Everybody knows everybody. The presence of Kor and Koloth, as much fun as they are, is an example of this, albeit a mild one.

Deep space charges…

The real problem is that the story is anchored in the family of a character who died at the end of Balance of Terror , with the son holding a grudge against James T. Kirk. However, since Kirk never appears, that grudge never pays off. At the climax of Schism , when the stakes seem to be getting very real, Byrne draws in the Organians from Errand of Mercy .

It’s not a bad idea per se . After all, they’ve been mentioned before within this story, and their presence makes sense, but it feels like a clumsy deus ex machina . At least in  Errand of Mercy they were around for the story before intervening at the end. Gene L. Coon’s script hinted that there was more to them, so the final reveal didn’t come out of nowhere. Here, however, they simply show up and end the story. And that is apparently acceptable because they are established characters.

It’s all very cloak and dagger…

Still, Byrne seems to be having a great deal of fun fleshing out the culture of these three worlds. He even gets to do a nice little scene on board a Federation base along the Neutral Zone, hinting at what life must be like waiting for a war that you hope never arrives. Wiggins explains, “… and since these stations have been here more than one hundred years, they have become quite homey. Each rotation from Earth has brought a little something to improve the living conditions. And as long as the Romulans were behaving themselves, this was a relatively soft assignment.”

Byrne fumbles the ending a bit. He raises the stakes to the point where there is no satisfactory way to resolve all the dangling threads. He uses a toy from the Star Trek box to help wrap everything up, but it still feels like a bit of a cop-out. However, aside from that, it’s a fun attempt tie together a version of events that could have been occurring in the background of Star Trek , all the intergalactic politics and scheming that we could only infer from a casual line of dialogue here or a sly reference there.

A crash course in Star Trek history…

It’s not Byrne’s best Star Trek work, which remains Crew , but it’s an entertaining piece of world-building offering a unique vision of a Star Trek back story. It’s well worth a look for anybody interested in the classic versions of Star Trek ‘s two earliest iconic alien adversaries.

You might be interested in our other reviews from the first season of the classic Star Tre k :

• Supplemental: Vulcan’s Glory by D.C. Fontana
• Supplemental: Early Voyages #1 – Flesh of my Flesh
• Supplemental: Crew by John Byrne
• Where No Man Has Gone Before
• The Corbomite Manoeuvre
• Mudd’s Women
• The Enemy Within
• The Man Trap
• The Naked Time
• Supplemental: My Enemy, My Ally by Diane Duane
• Supplemental: Romulans: Pawns of War by John Byrne
• Supplemental: Errand of Vengeance: The Edge of the Sword by Kevin Ryan
• Dagger of the Mind
• The Conscience of a King
• The Galileo Seven
• Court Martial
• Supplemental: Early Voyages #12-15 – Futures
• Supplemental: Burning Dreams by Margaret Wander Bonanno
• Shore Leave
• The Squire of Gothos
• Supplemental: Requiem by Michael Jan Friedman & Kevin Ryan
• Supplemental: The Fantastic Four #108 – The Monstrous Mystery of the Nega-Man
• Tomorrow is Yesterday
• The Return of the Archon
• A Taste of Armageddon
• Supplemental: The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volumes I & II by Greg Cox
• This Side of Paradise
• The Devil in the Dark
• Supplemental: Spock Must Die! by James Blish
• Supplemental: The Final Reflection by John M. Ford
• Supplemental: The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison/Cordwainer Bird
• Supplemental: Crucible: McCoy – Provenance of Shadows by David R. George III
• Supplemental: Star Trek (Gold Key) #56 – No Time Like the Past
• Operation — Annihilate!

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Filed under: Comics , The Original Series | Tagged: Enterprise Incident , Federation , idw , IDW Publishing , John Byrne , Klingon , pawns of war , Romulan , romulans: pawns of war , Romulus and Remus , science fiction , Ship , star trek (comics) , Star Trek Into Darkness , Star Trek Online , star trek: the next generation , StarTrek , Tribble , Trouble With Tribbles |

6 Responses

Sounds good. I loved Crew, so I’ll have to track down a copy of this series.

I think Crew was quite a bit stronger, but Romulans is still fun. They’re releasing a nice deluxe collection of Byrne’s Star Trek comics at the end of the month. I’ll be double-dipping on Crew and Romulans, but I don’t have “Frontier Medicine” or Assignment Earth yet, both of which I am keen to check out.

Ah – I shall wait, as they say, for the trade.

or, in this case, the deluxe edition!

I think, but I’m not 100% sure, that it is one of IDW’s lovely massive hardcovers, like the superb Dave Gibbons Doctor Who collection they put out a year or two ago. (A thing of beauty, that.) I’ll be disappointed if it’s not oversized, as Byrne remains a pretty great artist.

Reblogged this on queenofshebaformulary .

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TrekInk: Review of John Byrne’s ‘Romulans: Pawns of War’

| February 28, 2010 | By: Alex Fletcher 15 comments so far

REVIEW: STAR TREK: ROMULANS – PAWNS OF WAR REVIEW

Star Trek Romulans: Pawns of War written by John Byrne, art by John Byrne Trade Paperback comprising John Byrne Romulan comics List price: $19.99

John Byrne’s "Romulans: Pawns of War" is a collection of John Byrne’s six Romulan-themed comics from three different series released in 2008 and 2009. It also includes a brand new story just for the trade paperback.

The first issue in the "Romulans: Pawns of War" collection was originally part of the first Alien Spotlight series back in February of 2008. It told the story of the events leading up to the first encounter with the Romulans  in the classic Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror", but from the Romulan point of view. Byrne took the characters from the Romulan ship and gave them stories and a reason to understand who they were.

That issue was followed in September of the same year with the two-issue story "Romulans: The Hollow Crown" that picked up shortly after the events of "Balance of Terror" and spanned over the course of most of a year, including the events of "The Deadly Years", as one of the Romulan ships that surrounds the Enterprise has Gaius, the Romulan Commander’s son on board. These two issues allowed Byrne to present even more of the capital city of Romulus than he was able to in the first story, showing us skylines, buildings, and even the harshness of some of the weather, giving us a very rounded view of the Romulans and their homes.

Almost a year later, the last part of the trilogy "Romulans: Schism" was released starting in September 2009. Gaius has taken over as Praetor to the Romulan Empire, has married, and the Romulan/Earth cold war has dragged on. Oh, and the Federation has somehow managed to get their hands on a cloaking device. The third series deals with the three parties involved in the cold war, the Humans, Romulans, and Klingons, with one issue telling the story of each. With these issues, the timelines jump about, but the story carries out quite logically.

Throughout the series, the characterizations throughout the six issues are strong, and Byrne could have been a writer on the original series, he understands the characters that well. The best part of this story is the way the climax comes together with the most logical conclusion, one that harkens back to an offhand comment made in the first issue of "The Hollow Crown"

The real bonus on this trade paperback is the addition of Byrne’s "Balance of Terror" adaptation. Byrne’s tale tells the story from the Romulan point of view and bridges the gap between the first two chapters of the overall tale. It may only be fourteen pages long, but the entire forty minute episode is covered, and the story does not feel like it has been shoehorned into the book. In short, if you’re a Byrne fan or a Romulan fan, this book cannot be missed.

Note: There was a coloring error made in the original comic issue release that appears to have been fixed in this trade paperback. It was on page 8 of the original comic (Hollow Crown #2) and is on page 66 in the trade paperback release.

Star Trek: Romulans – Pawns of War is available in comic stores now. You can also pick it up at Amazon. 

First! Wicked cool – I love Byrne stories and art!

Can’t wait to read this.

Byrne is the best thing to happen to Star Trek comics.

‘Nuff said.

Loved “Crew”, will look forward to picking this up too.

I’m sure one of our resident nitpickers found the coloring error and quickly began harassing IDW until they agreed to correct their mistake in the trade paperback edition. :)

Did anyone see the Shat tonight at the Olympics??

A once in a lifetime experience!

#5 He was at the gold medal hockey game between the U.S and Canada. Then he was at the closing ceremonies giving a “speech” during the “I Am Canadian” segment of the show. Classic Shat. :-)

Byrne’s simplistic artwork and amateurish writing hasn’t improved one iota in 30 years.

Probably Byrne hasn´t improved in 3 decades, but that doesn´t matter. He´s s still a cultural patrimony of mankind and he´s doing us all a favor by still crafting cool comics set in the real TOS timeline.

I loved this book. A big fan of Brynes work, espec ially on Star Trek. Waiting for Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor eagerly!

@4: Actually, Byrne mentioned it before the original issue even came out.

I’d totally forgotten about it until I skimmed my prior reviews of the series and came across it. I compared the TPB with the issue, and the colors did change.

Three Byrne series coming this year from what I’m told: McCoy, Assignment Earth 2, and another “TOS series”

Please, Alex… Proofread, proofread, proofread…

That first paragraph gave me a headache as I was trying to figure out what you were trying to say. SpellChecker can fix misspelled words, but not correctly spelled words used in the wrong places…

I definitely want to squirrel away some cash to pick this trade book up. Looks great!

With ‘Crew’ and this one, Byrne is hereby promoted to my favorite Trek comic author.

ST09 being a geenormous disappointment to me, it’s Phase II and these superb IDW comicbooks which keep Trek alive for me. I’m glad IDW is publishing such great quality on a regular basis.

I hope they do another Mirror Universe series. Perhaps one telling a story of the last days of the Terran Empire.

I’ve always said that I’m more of a Trek fan than a comics fan, but IDW has really done well these last few years. So far, my least favorite has been the Mission’s End series. There was just something off about the feeling in that one.

But their other TOS stories have been wonderful. The TOS Mirror Universe book and Klingons:Blood Will Tell were both excellent. I’ve just read this Romulan trade from Byrne and I really enjoyed it. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Romulans and I think he did a great job. I think that Byrne has a wonderful feeling for the era and those characters. I always enjoy good ST stories that exist outside of the Enterprise, letting us see the rest of the ST universe from different perspectives. And I think Majel would have been thrilled with Number One’s performance (and rank)! Thumbs up! Even though Byrne’s dialogue can get a bit theatrical and his ending was a bit of a deus ex machina, the rest of the book certainly made up for it. Great job!

I didn’t buy the seperate issues & waited for a trade- finally got it & read it today.

Loved it- loved the old school art & storytelling-loved being back in the TOS timeline.

getting Crew & cant wait for the other TOS era JB stories!

Star Trek Book Club

Star trek: romulans: pawns of war.

Collecting legendary creator John Byrne’s tales of STAR TREK’s Romulans in one volume. This special edition tells tales leading up to the seminal “Balance of Terror” episode. Included within is the Romulans Alien Spotlight , the two-part Hollow Crown story, and the three-issue Schism series. As an added bonus, Byrne writes and draws an all-new 12-page “Balance of Terror” adaptation just for this collection.

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Romulans - Pawns of War

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Type: Softcover

Product Line: Star Trek Graphic Novels (IDW Publishing)

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Star Trek: Graphic Novel Collection Vol. 104 - Star Trek: Pawns of War HC

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IDW's Romulan saga -- which began with Alien Spotlight: Romulans -- continues, including an adaptation of "Balance of Terror."

Writer-artist John Byrne is a household name among Star Trek fans for his work on Assignment: Earth, Crew, Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor, and New Visions.  His stories featuring the Romulan Star Empire have received particular acclaim.

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Star Trek: Romulans

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In addition to collecting the Romulan arc, it features a twelve-page adaptation of the episode " Balance of Terror ", told from the Romulan perspective, as the episode forms the basis around which the arc was created.

Summary [ ]

Contents [ ].

• " Alien Spotlight: Romulans "
• "Balance of Terror" (adaptation)
• " The Hollow Crown, Part 1 "
• " The Hollow Crown, Part 2 "
• " Schism, Issue 1 "
• " Schism, Issue 2 "
• " Schism, Issue 3 "

Credits [ ]

• Paul Schneider (BoT adaptation – based on original teleplay)
• Leonard O'Grady
• Lovern Kindzierski (BoT adaptation)
• Neil Uyetake
• Robbie Robbins
• Chris Mowry (BoT adaptation)
• Chris Ryall
• Justin Eisinger
• Mariah Huehner
• Chris Mowry
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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Star Trek: Romulans: Pawns of War (2010)

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[no title indexed] (Table of Contents)

Romulans / cover / 1 page (report information).

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Star Trek: Romulans: Pawns of War

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Star Trek: Romulans Pawns of War TPB 1 (IDW Publishing) Comic Book Value and Price Guide

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Star Trek Romulans Pawns of War TPB (2010 IDW) comic books

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1st printing. Collects Star Trek: Alien Spotlight - Romulans (2008), Star Trek: Romulans - Schism (2009 IDW) #1-3, Star Trek: Romulans - Hollow Crown (2008) #1-2 and an original 12-pages adaptation of "Balance of Terror". Story and art by John Byrne. Collecting legendary creator John Byrne's tales of STAR TREK's Romulans in one volume. This special edition tells tales leading up to the seminal "Balance of Terror" episode. Included within is the Romulans Alien Spotlight, the two-part Hollow Crown story, and the three-issue Schism series. As an added bonus, Byrne writes and draws an all-new 12-page "Balance of Terror" adaptation just for this collection. Softcover, 164 pages, full color. Cover price $19.99.

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Star Trek: Romulans: Pawns of War

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TOS Comics....

Discussion in ' Trek Literature ' started by Warped9 , Mar 14, 2010 .

Warped9 Admiral Admiral

Has anyone read Star Trek: Romulans - Pawns Of War by John Byrne? How about Mission's End and Crew? They've been suggested to me and I'd like some opinions.  

Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

Pawns of War , the trade collection of Byrne's Romulan work, is definitely worthwhile. He takes a very Roman viewpoint to the Romulans, there's a lot of politics, skullduggery, and the like. I enjoyed it a great deal. Mission's End I read, but I remember absolutely nothing about. Which may tell you something right there. *shrug* Crew is my favorite of IDW's Trek projects. It's a retro kind of take on the classic Trek era, using the character of Number One.  

seigezunt Vice Admiral Admiral

I've enjoyed the bits of the Romulans work, and plan on getting the TPB. I have the other two. Crew is amazing and, as said, retro in a cool way. Mission's End is beautifully draw, really a marvel to look at. I also found the story quite forgettable, particularly as a "final mission of the original 5YM" story. There have been better versions of that story.  

BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

Warped9 said: ↑ Has anyone read Star Trek: Romulans - Pawns Of War by John Byrne? How about Mission's End and Crew? They've been suggested to me and I'd like some opinions. Click to expand...

RookieBatman Commodore Commodore

I read Mission's End , and I basically agree with the above comments. I will add that, as far as the apparent purpose of a little fan service with the end of mission stuff (the different paths that the Big Three end up taking), it seemed to be that those elements were pretty much just stuffed into the last five pages or so. I thought all of their decision came off pretty hasty, and I felt the justifications were weak. I liked the DC Annual better, even though it did have its share of problems and hastiness.  

Well, yesterday evening I ordered Romulans: Pawns Of War and Crew from Amazon.ca. I should have them within a few days.  

Dayton Ward Word Pusher Rear Admiral

Good picks, the both of 'em.  

A friend recommended them both saying that pretty much anything by John Byrne was worth picking up. He says Byrne's treatment of the TOS universe and Trek in general pretty much parallels how my friend and I see it. Even if we can quibble on details he says the overall feel and sensibility is right.  

I think Crew is the better of the two sets of stories in that regard, but I still dig what he did with the Romulans. I've been buying the comics as single issues so far (gotta support my local comic shops!), but I did go for the Romulans trade simply for the extra 12-page "Balance of Terror" adaptation.  

Mysterion Vice Admiral Admiral

Warped9 said: ↑ A friend recommended them both saying that pretty much anything by John Byrne was worth picking up. He says Byrne's treatment of the TOS universe and Trek in general pretty much parallels how my friend and I see it. Even if we can quibble on details he says the overall feel and sensibility is right. Click to expand...

Mysterion said: ↑ Very much looking forward to his upcoming McCoy books. Click to expand...

JonnyQuest037 Vice Admiral Admiral

Warped9 said: ↑ And what has Byrne done Trek wise, if anything? Click to expand...

Link to a review of the Romulan trade: http://trekmovie.com/2010/02/28/trekink-review-of-john-byrnes-romulans-pawns-of-war/ If you a search on "John Byrne" at trekmovie.com, you can find several 5-page previews of the various series.  

^^ That was my first reading on his works and led me to seek further opinions. The McCoy stuff sounds intriguing. Any opinions on the Star Trek: Klingon s trade collection?  

andersonh1 Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

I've just recently gotten into IDW's Trek comics as well, and apart from the current DS9 mini series, about all I've read are the TOS comics. - Crew - Pawns of War - Final Mission - Enterprise Experiment Crew is really good, even if I do find some fault with it here and there. I'd gladly read any number of stories like it. The same with Pawns of War. John Byrne seems to have a knack for filling in some of the "unfinished" areas of the TOS era. It's quality Star Trek, in my opinion. I really enjoyed Enterprise Experiment, but I think I liked Mission's End even more. I'd agree that the path that led to Kirk, Spock and McCoy's decisions could have been emphasized a little more over the course of the story, but the reasons are there. And the art is really strong. I don't think you'll go wrong with any of these.  

The only TOS comics I have presently are the Gold Key collection trades and Marvel's Star Trek: Early Voyages single issues. I might pick up the trade of Early Voyages even though I don't think the latter issues are as good as the beginning. For me it started to go south when Yeoman Colt goes forward in time to the movie era with Pike still alive and in command of the refit E. Not long after the art started to get crappy too. But there was a feel to the early stories that I liked even if I could quibble with some continuity details.  

I liked The Early Voyages series quite a bit. Never got the last couple of issues, though. As you said, the art went REALLY south, and I knew the series ended on a cliffhanger, so I figured, why torture myself?  

JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

I did the same thing with the DVD, I stopped at the end of the Colt in the atl-futurre arc, since I knew the last arc was never finished.  

JD said: ↑ I did the same thing with the DVD... Click to expand...

Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

There was a recent DVD release that contained every single Trek comic ever produced (Gold Key / Marvel /DC /Wildstorm) up until the current IDW license.  

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Star Trek: Why The Romulans Were Bald In The J.J. Abrams Movies

A s J.J. Abrams took the helm of the "Star Trek" franchise, there were plenty of twists and tweaks he applied to the point in the timeline when James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) met his green-blooded BFF-to-be, Spock (Zachary Quinto). One detail involved Romulans, the biological cousins of Vulcans, who shared similar eyebrow styles and pointy ears. In Abrams' "Star Trek," the species have a considerably different appearance from what we had seen in the shows previously. Led by Eric Bana's Nero, any Romulan on-screen was bald, bearing facial and head tattoos. While it might appear like a subtle and interesting detail applied to the Kelvin timeline of "Star Trek ," the truth is that the design was so that audiences could tell them apart from Vulcans.

It is certainly a logical approach to making it easier for casual audiences to decipher which pointy-eared alien to keep an eye on. According to TrekMovie.com , back when they were trying to snag any rumor they could in their tractor beam before the film's release, it was confirmed that all actors playing Romulans -- whether Bana, his on-screen number two played by Clifton Collins Jr., or background performances -- had to give themselves a trim. It was slightly before the film's release that a reason was also established for the Romulan's tattoos, which were backed up by a heartbreaking expansion on events set before the film.

Read more: Star Trek Stories That Are Actually Horrifying

A Clear-Cut Explanation Revealed The Romulans New Look

Before the 2009 film's release, IDW Publishing released a four-issue comic book series called "Star Trek: Countdown," exploring the events that led Nero to get his revenge on the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy). As explained in "Star Trek," Nero's blind rage for the legendary Vulcan is born out of the destruction of Romulus, for which he holds Spock responsible. As captain of the mining vessel, the Narada, Nero and the rest of his crew shaved their heads and inked themselves as a sign of mourning for losing their home planet.

As explained in "Star Trek: Countdown #3," a Romulan tradition during a time of loss saw mourners paint symbols onto their skin, and their gradual fading would signify the passing of the sorrow felt as their own life carried on without those who were lost. Nero and his crew, however, made the tattoos permanent, believing that their lives were over when they lost their home and family. As a result, the ink would never fade.

It's an excellent little detail that "Trek" fans may only have been aware of if they snatched up the books before the film's release. Also, along with "Star Trek: Picard," which expanded on  the untold truth of "Star Trek's" Romulans  and the failure of the planet being saved, it certainly paints an even stronger argument as to  why Eric Bana's Nero is the most dangerous villain in "Star Trek" history . 

Read the original article on Looper