I received Star Trek: The Manga (Ultimate Edition) for my birthday this summer and have to admit to disappointment. If this represents the "cream of the crop" of recent Star Trek manga it doesn't speak well of what was left out. Most of the stories simply force the Original Series cast into bland manga storylines. The result feels slap-dash and out of place and doesn't service either genre particularly well.

That having been said, the volume is worth the price for Wil Wheaton's excellent Klingon-centric contribution, Art of War. Complimented by some fine artwork, Art of War doesn't attempt to force Japanese tropes into the Star Trek formula, but rather allows a first-rate Star Trek story to be illustrated in the Japanese style. Wheaton knows his Klingons and this story is the only one in the book that feels like it would play well as an actual episode of the Original Series. ( )