Primate_Directive_issue_4_coverBy Scott and David Tipton

Art by Rachael Stott

IDW, out now

The Klingons and their ape allies make their move…

Oh, at long last! Finally, this series – with only two issues left – starts to be a story about the characters of Star Trek encountering the Ape civilization on the future Earth that Colonel George Taylor finds himself on, rather than just a Trek tale set there. I suspect that it will be too little, too late for many – although I’ve been quite surprised that this has been as well-received in some quarters as it has – but this issue was the first that really engaged my interest. We get some insight into the class structure of the Ape society, and what happens when primates step outside of the established order.

Ironically, given that the story is more enticing, it’s the issue with the least engaging art of the four to date: Scotty is all but unrecognisable in some panels and there’s at least one shot of Kirk that you can only tell it’s the captain and not Taylor from the dialogue. And the Apes look as if they’re people in costumes.

There’s just a few pages left to wrap this all up – including Kor and Kirk presumably having some sort of slanging match. Rushed, I suspect, is going to be the right word…

Verdict: If the care on the art had been applied to the story in earlier issues and vice versa on this one, this could have been a classic. As it is… 6/10

Paul Simpson

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