Star Trek/Planet of The Apes: The Primate Directive #1 Review by Eblison Grun

Star Trek/Planet of The Apes: The Primate Directive #1

publishers- IDW and Boom! Studios

writers- Scott Tipton and David Tipton

artist- Rachel Stott

Two classic sci-fi giants come together for the first time, to bring us the most anticipated Trekkie cross-over since Star Trek The Next Generation/Doctor Who. From IDW and Boom! Studios, writers Scott and David Tipton and artist Rachel Stott ask the question “What if Captain Kirk's Enterprise found the planet of the apes?” The answer reads like an episode of the 1960's classic TV show.

The Tipton's are obviously fans of both original franchises. The plot is fully believable as a Star Trek episode, and the dialogue is perfect for the characters. Reading Kirk's part, one could almost hear the signature pause in William Shatner's delivery. And the fun little comedic jabs that the characters would give each other in the show are in the book as well. The rapport some of the actors had on the show comes through to this comic adaptation of an episode that never was. So the writing is well done in both plot and scripting.

Rachel Stott's art pulls off conveying likenesses pretty well. Her Sulu and Uhura disguised as Klingons comes across so well, that the reader knows at first glance that it's Sulu and Uhura disguised as Klingons. Luckily, only the reader and not other Klingons notice this. Stott's art has a “soft” feel to its style. At the same time, it's sharp and edgy enough to make any gorilla with a gun look like a menace, and accurate enough show Spock's emotional expression as seriousness and not delight, as some artists manage to do.

I find myself pretty happy with this book. The title is clever, the writing and art are good, but the one thing that makes this book so enjoyable is also its shortcoming. Looking back on all those wonderful episodes of Star Trek, I now find that they're pretty predictable. I still love them, and I'll always be a huge fan, but the truth is that the show followed a sort of formula. You always knew when the away team was going to the planet's surface, you knew the guy in the red shirt was going to get wasted, and you knew that eventually Captain Kirk was going to have to lose his shirt to fight the enemy single handed. The Primate Directive is no different. I knew exactly what was happening right down to the name of the main villain, long before he was revealed. This doesn't entirely take away from my enjoyment of the story, but it does make me think about old sci-fi TV and how they all pretty much did the same stuff, week after week. Gene Roddenberry did a great job at disguising this formula, which is why the show is still so incredibly popular. It was predictable almost without seeming predictable. The Tipton's don't quite pull off hiding that aspect, but they do give us a fun read.

Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive #1 from IDW and Boom! Studios is sold at only the best comic shops. Pick up a copy and tell them Outside The Cube sent you.