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Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive by Rachael Stott, Scott Tipton, David Tipton
rgombert's review
3.0
Mr. Tipton is very good at capturing the original Star Trek character's voices.
lesserjoke's review
4.0
This trade paperback collects the complete five issues of a comic book crossover between Star Trek and Planet of the Apes, and I have to admit that I didn't have very high expectations for it. Franchise crossovers and comic book media tie-ins can each struggle to present significant stakes in the face of a mandated status quo, so I had some skepticism over the prospect of both in one book.
Happily, "The Primate Directive" exceeds my expectations on that front. The plot that brings these two universes together makes sense for both of them, and the ensuing story feels like it really could be either a missing Star Trek: TOS episode or an extended bridge between the first two Planet of the Apes movies. The characters from both franchises are translated believably to this story, and they bounce off one another nicely. The comic even manages to resolve a potential plot hole that has long bugged Apes fans, with the revelation that Dr. Milo based his idea for time travel in part on an offhand comment Scotty makes about the slingshot effect.
You probably need to be a fan of at least one of these media properties already to enjoy this book. But for a project that could have been a lightweight hangout story, it's a surprisingly solid entry to the canon of both series.
Happily, "The Primate Directive" exceeds my expectations on that front. The plot that brings these two universes together makes sense for both of them, and the ensuing story feels like it really could be either a missing Star Trek: TOS episode or an extended bridge between the first two Planet of the Apes movies. The characters from both franchises are translated believably to this story, and they bounce off one another nicely. The comic even manages to resolve a potential plot hole that has long bugged Apes fans, with the revelation that Dr. Milo based his idea for time travel in part on an offhand comment Scotty makes about the slingshot effect.
You probably need to be a fan of at least one of these media properties already to enjoy this book. But for a project that could have been a lightweight hangout story, it's a surprisingly solid entry to the canon of both series.
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