Playing off the original Star Trek series episode “Mirror, Mirror”, Star Trek The Next Generation : Mirror Broken #1 is a brand new story in the opposite universe in the Star Trek: TNG world. We find Captain Picard, Commander Data, Counselor Troi, and Lt. Barclay aboard the star ship I.S.S Stargazer. The Federation is an “Empire”, protecting the planets that are not beyond the Milky Way, the crew of the Stargazer are given the mission to protect its borders. During their journey, Inquisitor Troi senses hopelessness in the crew. Like any captain of a ship, Picard wants his people he commands to believe in their mission. When they attack and kill most of a crew of a Cardassian ship, they haul they wreckage hoping to make some money. While stationed at a Mars outpost, they learn of a galaxy-class star ship, thanks to Commander Data’s handy work, that had only been rumors throughout the Empire. Picard sees an opportunity to inspire hope that lays beyond the Empire. Picard and Data seek out Lt. Geordi La Forge, the engineer of this star ship, to seek an agreement that would satisfy all involve.
Full disclosure, I am a TNG trekkie, I wanted to see how they were continuing my beloved series. One of my favorite tropes in sci-fi is the alternate 
timeline stories and Star Trek was one of the originals that used that theory. This issue follows along the same “Mirror, Mirror” timeline, the crew is nothing more than pirates collecting and salvaging ships for money and recognition from the Empire. I am glad to see that Star Trek: The Next Generation Mirror Broken #1 used Lt. Barclay. He was an underused but regular on the show played wonderfully by Dwight Schultz. I loved reading the issue, it brings me back to the excitement I had whenever there was a new episode.
The story from David and Scott Tipton is on point with the characters and the story arc. From Picard’s thoughts, Data’s android innocence, and La Forge’s passion for his job; all these elements are there from the TNG series. Even in a dreadful Empire, Picard still cared about the feelings of his crew, wanting them to trust in his judgement and his leadership. This issue is heavy with dialogue, inner thoughts and story text. The Tiptons were trying to catch the reader up from the timeline from the original series to TNG series causing a lot of small tidbits of different stories and aspects. One hopes there is less to get through in the next issue.
J.K. Woodward is a genius! Art and color in this issue was like it was done with paint on a canvas then scanned in to create this beautiful issue. Woodward captures the character’s facial expressions wonderfully, the grim, dreary background of the Stargazer then the bright, hopefulness of the outpost laid out in panels formatted with great precision. Even the lettering by AndWorld Design does not overtake the imagery. As a matter of fact, even with all of the dialogue and story, the lettering does not crowd the issue. The letters act more like framing, so the reader can appreciate the artwork.
