I read the first issue of IDW’s Picard Countdown last night, and all I can say is WOW! I’m not a huge TNG fan. I like 99% of the characters, but the show is the last on my list whenever I grade the series. It was so ‘humans are better than everyone else and don’t you want to be like us?’ Thankfully most of that attitude went away in the movies and in the later series.

But while TNG isn’t my favorite, I do love IDW’s Countdown issues. They add so much background information to fill in the gaps. Seriously if you read the Countdowns for the Kelvin timeline, you’ll like it a hell of a lot more.

The Picard series starts out strong. Jean-Luc is caught between his ingrained beliefs of right and wrong, faced with a powerful adversary with different values than his own. The Federation is trying to save as many Romulans as they can before the supernova, but Picard is challenged when he is caught wondering if they deserve it.

The Romulans are not human. They don’t have that innate humanity the Federation prides itself on, and I’m hoping they have enough panels to explore how that fits into the Prime Directive. How do you swallow your human pride to help people who are just as proud not to be like you?