Star Trek, Volume 2 by Mike Johnson, Joe Corroney, and Joe Phillips

Star Trek, Volume 2

Collection published: 2013
Acquired: July 2016
Read: November 2025

I should note that I'm reading these stories in chronological order, which means jumping between different collected editions. But I'm reviewing them here one collected edition at a time, which sometimes means—as it does in this post—referencing the events of a story that takes place earlier but was published much later.

Operation: Annihilate, from Star Trek vol. 1 #5-6 (Jan.-Feb. 2012)
written by Mike Johnson, art by Joe Corroney, colors by John Rauch, letters by Neil Uyetake, creative consultant: Roberto Orci

I think my favorite part of this retelling of "Operation -- Annihilate!" (why did you take out the exclamation point, Mike Johnson, you coward) is that when Sam Kirk turns up he is "played" by Chris Pine, just like how in the original episode, he was played by William Shatner. Only here, in a nice twist, he is alive. Other than that, this is fine; we get a couple flashbacks to the Kirks' childhood, but I don't think this story is very much of an interesting variant on the original. I sort of miss the flying pancakes.

In part one, Zahra is a dark-ish skinned woman with black hair. (On screen, the actress who played her was African, though she doesn't read that way to me here; compare her with her fellow security guard Edwards, who definitely is black.) In part two, Zahra transforms into a fair-skinned woman with blonde hair... and also acquires the weird hairdo Rand had in The Galileo Seven.

Vulcan's Vengeance, from Star Trek vol. 1 #7-8 (Mar.-Apr. 2012)
written by Mike Johnson, art by Joe Phillips, colors by John Rauch, letters by Neil Uyetake, creative consultant: Roberto Orci

This story reads weirdly in chronological order, in that parts of it read like a repeat of Legacy of Spock. But Legacy of Spock was published much later, so it's not Vulcan's Vengeance that's the repetitive one in actuality. But it's all about Romulans stealing red matter and Vulcans doing dumb shit, just like Legacy of Spock. And, like that story, I found the politics and character motivations kind of glib and unconvincing. So, good on Mike Johnson for finally writing an original story I guess... but maybe let's do a good one next time? I think this story answers my question of how the Romulans ended up with leftover red matter back in Legacy of Spock, except that story clearly takes place earlier. Oops?

Zahra is in part two. She has dark hair again, but her skin is no darker than Kirk's or McCoy's when they appear in the same panel. I think she also appears in part one; her name isn't used in that part, but she looks pretty much the same... except that John Rauch does color her as dark-skinned in that issue if it is her. I found Joe Phillips's pencils kind of off throughout; his likeness are close enough that you know what he's going for, but often a bit off in a way that distracts.

THE MANY FACES OF ZAHRA 

from Star Trek vol. 1 #5	from Star Trek vol. 1 #6
from Star Trek vol. 1 #7	from Star Trek vol. 1 #8

This is the fourth in a series of posts about the Kelvin timeline Star Trek comics (and novels). The next covers The Unsettling Stars. Previous installments are listed below:

1. The Official Motion Picture Adaptation
2. More Beautiful than Death
3. Volume 1