Star Trek/Green Lantern: Stranger Worlds #4 Review

Star Trek/Green Lantern: Stranger Worlds #4

Writer: Mike Johnson
Artist: Angel Hernandez
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Publisher: IDW

A review by Rich Schepis

Feverish in its pace, Star Trek/Green Lantern: Stranger Worlds #4 takes readers on a pure thrill ride. Mike Johnson and Angel Hernandez’s six-issue mini-series passes the midway point, presenting a story with its most intense action, coupled with discovery and continued quest for power. Sinestro is getting closer to beating Hal Jorden to Oa, in a race akin to the Cannonball Run, while Khan learns just how much stronger he has become now that he is in possession of the deceased Atrocitus’ red ring.

Supremacy is at the core of Sinestro and Khan’s ultimate quest – to rule the universe. Although the two antagonists share a common goal, their thirst for dominion over all will ultimately bring them to loggerheads. Despite each owning a power ring (Sinestro – fear, Khan – rage), each also has an advantage over the other. The only question, which will be more significant?

Khan holds the numbers over Sinestro, the Emperor of the Klingon Empire. True, Sinestro now commands a legion of bloodthirsty warriors, but Khan’s army of Augments is significantly more powerful. The lone edge would appear to lean towards Sinestro, as he knows how to refresh his ring’s energy levels. Khan’s ring is destined to suffer the same fate of all those in the newly-created alternate Kelvin Timeline, to lose its charge and become a piece of bling for his hand.

Three versions of Khan have been presented to fans over the years; the ruler seeking to regain his throne, one who sought revenge with a blinding lust and in Star Trek: Into Darkness, a Machiavellian foe manipulating the chess board always to his advantage. In Stranger Worlds, Johnson has now decided to give him a red power ring. Readers will learn just how powerful Khan has become in issue #4, as he channels all his strength and thirst for revenge into the ring.

Despite its mostly breakneck pace, issue four finds itself largely in the same spot issue three ended – Kirk, Hal Jordan and the remaining Green Lantern Corps facing off versus Khan, while Sinestro appears destined to arrive at Oa first. The standoff with Khan accounts for the issue’s whirlwind speed, as it is uncertain whether the failing power rings of Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Kilowag are a match for Khan’s ring and followers. Meanwhile, Sinestro appears destined to arrive at Oa first, and therefore gain the upper hand towards total victory.

The Verdict
Buy It! Johnson and Hernandez’s joy at being allowed to play in both the DC and Star Trek sandbox has never been more evident. Johnson appears to have received a large amount of glee writing this issue, throwing everything besides the kitchen sink at the Enterprise crew and Green Lanterns, which leaves Hernandez left to illustrate everything. Star Trek/Green Lantern: Stranger Worlds #4 is the series best yet, and only begs one question of comic book and Star Trek fans – why isn’t everyone reading this mini-series, the most enjoyable company crossover ever produced.