The 29th Century finds the known universe at peace. All species are united in harmony under Locutus of Borg. Locutus still has a remnant of Jean-Luc Picard's soul within him though, and he knows that The Borg have failed at their mission, simply because they have have not achieved perfection. As Locutus/Picard muses, "perhaps individuality was indeed perfection all along."

Star Trek The Next Generation: Hive #1 is a dream come true for TNG fans. Brannon Braga crafts a new story involving The Borg that is fresh and entertaining. The Borg became a bit of a cliche after a while since they were used so much in TNG, Voyager, First Contact, and so forth. Here though, Braga breathes new life into the characters and involves them in a plot that, while being reminiscent of plots used before, veers off into new territory by shifting the setting from the 29th Century, effectively ruled by Locutus, to the 24th Century, where the events unfolded that lead to Locutus' return.

Braga captures the spirit and speech mannerisms of the original characters without rehashing previous dialogue over and over like George Lucas did in the Star Wars prequels. Likewise, artist Joe Corroney recreates, with spot on perfection-while adding his own unique touch, the ships and technology of The Borg and The Federation. He also does an excellent job bringing to life the new species that threatens the galaxy and drives The Borg to enter Federation Space. He also captures the physical visages, body language, and physical quirks of each of TNG's highly familiar characters. All in all Corroney's art is a feast for the TNG fan's eyes.

This fan, who still pines for more live action TNG 18 years since TNG went off the air and 10 years since the last TNG movie, is partially sated by Star Trek The Next Generation: Hive. Comic books like this are really about the best things we're going to see out the franchise at this point, beyond the prose novels of course.

Rating: 9.5/10