Newsgroup: it.fan.startrek
Titolo: Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: Andorians

http://trekweb.com/articles/2007/11/24/Comics-Review-Star-Trek-Alien-Spotlight-Andorians.shtml
The cover(s): As with most IDW books there are several covers you can pick
from, or buy them all if you're a "real fan."  I bought the "A" cover over
the "B" cover because on the "A" you can actually see all of the Andorian's
face, on "B" it's covered by a "ushaan-tor"--a weapon I've never heard or
seen before.  There is also an outstanding photo cover featuring an
Andorian from Enterprise, as well as a sketch version of cover "A".  I
don't know why an Enterprise Andorian was featured on a story set in TNG
universe, but, hey, I like aliens and photo covers, so I'm just nitpicking.
 Overall grade: B-  
The story: Without giving anything away, it's a very interesting plot/idea
put forth by Paul D. Storrie: the only Andorian aboard the Enterprise
(taking place before First Contact, judging by the costumes on the
Starfleet officers), Sharad, is going to be taking some leave on Andoria
and meeting up his family.  Andorians were never featured as crew members
on the television series, though based on the events of Enterprise, and
brought up rightfully so in this story, it's obvious they should be.  Their
lack of presence in the series, and Federation worlds, is nicely justified.
 I have to give kudos to Storrie for explaining this well.  However, once
Sharad gets home the true plot of the story is made evident, with a twist
by story's end.  I just didn't buy it.  This story was made to go over two
issues, not crammed into one--this seems to be a problem with most
"one-shot" stories from IDW.  How can you tell there's too much story for
one issue?  Look at the amount of dialogue shoved onto pages 3, 10, 17, 21,
and, worst of all, 22.  I don't know if the story hurt the artist's
choices, or the artist's layouts hurt the story, but dialogue should
compliment a story, not drown the artwork.  The ending is left open, I
assume (and you know what happens when you assume...) for further
adventures of Sharad.  With the final twist revealed, I thought the lack of
an ending was an obvious attempt for me to want to see what happened next. 
I don't.  The Gorn and Vulcan Spotlights had endings, Andorians should have
one.  Overall grade: C-  
The art: Let me start with stating I love cartoony comic book art.  I love
Kyle Baker, Stephen DeSteffano, Sergio Aragones, Don Rosa, Don Martin, and
Fred Hembeck.  Can "cartoony" comic art work in a "serious" comic book
story?  Yes.  Groo, for all its comic content, has very serious and real
morals, and the epic nature and look of Uncle Scrooge comics comes through
in the works of Carl Barks and Don Rosa.  Can it work in a Star Trek comic
book?  I don't know.  I've never seen a cartoony Trek comic, that wasn't
Manga, until now.  I'll give IDW and editor Andrew Steven Harris credit,
they are experimenting with the look of Trek comics.  This tale, drawn by
Leonard O'Grady in unlike any Trek comic before--it's very cartoony
looking.  It borders on looking like a fan comic.  Is that a bad thing? 
No, there have been plenty of fanzine artists who've hit the big time--Rob
Liefeld was an artist in The Legion of Super-Heroes `zine Interlac before
he hit the big time.  Can it work?  Yes.  "Does it work for Trek?" is the
big question.  In this case, I've got to say no.  If it were a funny Trek
tale, sure.  Maybe if there's to be Spotlight: Tribbles, but this doesn't
work.  Take page 15: it's a very serious moment, and the cartoony look of
panels 3 and 4 ruin any drama the story is aiming for.  And the last panel
on the same page: that's really bad anatomy!  O'Grady's layouts often play
as talking heads for all the dialogue, and, as I stated earlier, is that
Storrie's fault for writing it like that, or O'Grady's?  I can't tell, but
page 22 is just awful because of this.  The last panel is too small to
carry any emotion for the reader.  There's also a lack of backgrounds;
granted it's mostly set on the ice world of Andoria, but couldn't we have
something more that heads, busts, and torso on the last third of the story?
 Nitpick: On an ice world shouldn't we be seeing cold breath in the air
when people speak?  Wasn't it that way on Enterprise when they went to
Andoria? Overall grade: C-  
The colors: O'Grady colored his own work in this issue, and I did like
that.  He has got a good eye for coloring, especially when used to help the
story's mood.  Like the dark tones with Troi in the first few pages,
emphasized Sharad's emotional speech well.  On pages 8 and 9 purple is used
for a bar's background--this harkened back to the coloring of TOS, which I
do like (though the 5th panel's emotion/impact was muted by this).  Biggest
problem with the coloring is that once the interior of Andoria is the
setting, ice doesn't have too many colors, though if the layouts or the
backgrounds had been by the artist, the blue and the white wouldn't have
been so overpowering.  Overall grade: B-  
The lettering: Chris Mowry does a competent job here.  I went back to see
if Mowry had to change the size of the lettering to have it all fit in a
particular panel, and he (she?) did not.  Kudos to a letterer who can
maintain the same size throughout a comic without having to change the size
of some lengthy speeches to fit in a predetermined space!  I would like to
know if Mowry or O'Grady did the sound effects, as the chanting on page 17
and the sound effects on page 19 didn't fit in with the art.  Overall
grade: B  
The final line: So, if you're a Trek fan do you learn anything new about
the Andorians?  That's a capable YES.  If you know nothing of the Andorians
would you understand it?  Also, YES.  However, is this a comic worth
owning?  I've got to say NO.  A political adventure without a resolution
that has art that doesn't emotionally match the story?  Again, thanks for
trying IDW, but better luck with the Orions next month.  Overall grade: C
-- No need to buy this comic.
-- 
Jolan Tru, Filippo "Hytok" Simone
L'oracolo sampdoriano di Sunnydale
http://perestroika.altervista.org/
http://lacasadeglielfi.altervista.org/

 
http://trekweb.com/articles/2007/11/24/Comics-Review-Star-Trek-Alien-Spotlight-Andorians.shtml
Il peggiore della serie fino ad ora. I primi due (Gorn e Vulcaniani) erano
piuttosto carini. Questo decisamente un passo falso.
Per ora la produzione migliore rimane la mini sui Klingon, disegnata da
David Messina.