STAR TREK: PICARD'S ACADEMY--COMMIT NO MISTAKES - graphic novel


 We look back at the Academy days of Jean-Luc Picard and see that he's quite the loner, focused solely on doing well and getting ahead. But his instructor, Mr. Spock, informs him that getting to know the people on his team is important when making leadership decisions and orders Cadet Picard to attend a party with his fellow cadets. Well ... Spock can order him to attend but there's nothing that says he has to enjoy it or participate in shenanigans!

Through a series of incidents, young Jean-Luc discovers that there's more to being command than simply giving orders and knowing 'the book' backward and forward.

This is a pretty simple story (hard to believe it makes up six issues of a comic) and frankly pretty obvious. I never felt like we were following the same Jean-Luc Picard who would go on to captain the USS Enterprise or become a Starfleet Admiral. That's not to say I think we are the same at age 19 as we are at 50. Of course we learn and grow, but I don't see anything of the Picard we know in the television shows and movies in this comic/graphic novel.

Because it's a graphic novel, the art is just as important in telling the story as is the writing (otherwise why not just make it a novel?) and the art here is ... I suppose 'cartoony' is the best way to describe it.  If we weren't introduced, by name, to Jean-Luc Picard or Mr. Spock, I'd never know that's who we were looking at. 

This style works in some graphic novels, but I definitely don't feel like it enhances the story in any way.  This looks like a Veronica and Betty style comic meant to appeal to sixth graders.

Which brings me to: Who is this for?  Based on the simplicity of the script, the whole 'academy days' (ie being in school) and the over-the-top message, along with the artwork, this looks like the target audience is middle schoolers and younger.  But do these kids know Star Trek: The Next Generation?  Why not a story using the more recent Star Trek series' characters?  Did Janeway (featured in the animated Star Trek: Prodigy) learn some important lessons about getting to know her crew?  What about Michael Burnham? Based on her current character she had to have had some hard lessons in the academy.

I enjoy reading new stories and adventures featuring my familiar Star Trek 'friends' (they often feel like friends when you've watched the episodes over and over) but when they no longer look or feel familiar but instead are used to make a moralistic message to kids (who probably don't know them at all), I don't feel good about the book.

Looking for a good book? The graphic novel Star Trek: Picard's Academy--Commit No Mistakes written by Sam Maggs and illustrated by Ornella Greco, doesn't feel at all in line with the Star Trek universe.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2 stars

* * * * * *

Star Trek: Picard's Academy--Commit No Mistakes

author: Sam Maggs

artist: Ornella Greco

publisher: IDW Publishing

ISBN: 9798887241210

paperback, 144 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more