Scott's Take: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds- The Seeds of Salvation by Robbie Thompson and artists Travis Mercer and Serg Acuña

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds- The Seeds of Salvation by Robbie Thompson and artists Travis Mercer and Serg Acuña and more is set, apparently, sometime before season 4 of the television show, but the story is not clear on the timeline. The author, Richie Thompson, is one of the writers for season 4 which started airing in late July 2026. I read this collected five issue comic book through Hoopla.

 

In this story, Chapel (one of the medical team) is bored after a series of uneventful missions and decides to visit an old friend at an arctic research lab on some planet. She convinces Captain Pike to take the Enterprise there and send her down with an away team.

 

In this Lovecraftian horror story, the Enterprise away team arrives at the facility and discovered everyone missing. That is except for a  lone robot that states that all the staff of the research station has gone into the dark waters below. Part of the group went down in a mini sub and all contact was soon lost. So, the rest of the station personnel went down in the second mini sub and contact was lost.

 

There remains a third mini sub available for use so the usual suspects on the away team will use that to go hunt for the station personnel. Led by the XO with Chapel, Spock, and others, they go down while Captain Pike aboard the Enterprise monitors their efforts. Of course, there are things down below that are more than willing to greet the crew of the Enterprise…

 

The read is advertised as focusing on Chapel and Spock, but that’s not really true. The read is mostly focused on Chapel. Spock does get some of the spotlight, but he is not a focus. The characterization of everyone is really good and it feels like an episode of the show in the short five issues of this miniseries.

 

The art is good, but has one main problem the characters don’t look exactly like themselves. While the Enterprise is right, every person on the crew is just a little off. I get who they are supposed to be but the art style does not help. Pike and Scottie especially suffer from this. I think it’s just the style of art is the problem, but it is good art.

 

This is action themed and horror episode with an optimistic ending that kind of feels unrealistic. Overall, I enjoyed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds- The Seeds of Salvation even with these minor flaws.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4fudD6o

 

 

My reading copy came by way of Hoopla through the Dallas Public Library System.

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026

Scott's Take: Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum by W. Maxwell Prince and artist Martin Morazzo

 

Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum by W. Maxwell Prince and artist Martin Morazzo is a Black Label Elseworlds tale. Black Label is supposed to be for more mature Elseworlds tale so this is a non canon adult story, but usually despite the Black Label they are not really that mature. In this case, the Black Label is not really used to its full extent.

 

Superman is dealing with 4 new Kryptonite variants and has the brilliant idea to test them on himself to figure out what kind of threat they represent. Yes, there are safer ways, but this is what he decides to do. Batman goes along with this idea. So, a buddy cop adventure ensues exploring trauma, the damage caused by home (since Kryptonite is made from Krypton), grief, and more. Making things more complicated is that Lex Luthor has his own plans to take advantage of Superman’s idea to do this testing.

 

This is a five issue miniseries with action, comedy, and character exploration. The art is strange and Lois Lane looks the worst she has ever looked in my opinion. Her story arc is dealing with the fact that she is forty and wants kids. Something which, depending on the version of Superman, he can or can’t provide. Somehow, she is drawn more like she is fifty plus. The ending of her story arc is divisive.

 

Also,  I don’t get why Bruce, Alfred, Lex, and Jimmy, look the same as they typically look. If Lois is way older than usual, they should be too. This version of Lex is quirky and never feels like Lex. His version of Superman and Batman are the closest to what one would expect, but they are off too. Supergirl never plays any role in this story which one would expect. Krypto does. I think Krypto might have been the smartest character in the book.

 

The ending sets up the potential for more series, but I am not sure if there will be more. This is a sliver age inspired wacky adventure with an ending that left me with mixed feelings. I don’t know how I feel about the very strange ending.  It is really weird. 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/458LWv3

 

I read this through the DC Universe Infinite app.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026

Scott's Take: Cyberpunk 2077: Psycho Squad by Dan Watters, Kieran McKeown (Illustrator), and Giada Marchisio (Illustrator)

  

Cyberpunk 2077: Psycho Squad by Dan Watters, Kieran McKeown (Illustrator), and Giada Marchisio (Illustrator) is a short four issue series set in the Cyberpunk 2077 world. In this dystopia, humanity is ruled by corporations and people have become increasingly cybernetic. Sometimes people cut too much of their organics off and replace them with robot parts and end up losing their minds. When that happens, they tend to go on murder sprees as they are super powered invincible super soldiers that slaughter civilians and cops alike.

 

To stop these rampages, Maxtac (cyborg cops themselves) are sent in to stop them. Unfortunately, Maxtacs tend to be just as violent and crazy as the psychos they allegedly are supposed to stop.

 

This book is basically a series of missions for one of those squad members as they attempt to function under the leadership of a new leader. The overarching problem is that their new leader is just as nuts as the enhanced people they are supposed to stop. Of course, things go badly for everyone involved.

 

This is a violent, dark book with mediocre art, and an ambiguines ending that is pretty abrupt. Overall, this is a good read if you are familiar with the Cyberpunk 2077 universe and can follow all the slang they use.  If one is familiar with the Cyberpunk 2077 universe than you already know going in that things are not going to go well for the characters involved and you are just here for the car crash. I think if you are not familiar with this universe, you will not enjoy the book as much since they do not do a good job of explaining things to new readers. I think only fans of this universe will like this read. If you are familiar, I think this read is worth your time despite the caveats.

 

I read this through Hoopla, by way of the Dallas Public Library System, so I did not have to spend my eddies (the term cyberpunk uses for money).

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4pg4GQW

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026