Star Trek | Planet of the Apes: The Primate Directive [2015]

Star Trek crosses over with the Planet of the Apes franchises in the Primate Directive. The Klingons have found a way to travel to other dimensions to a different universe on a future Earth where Apes and Klingons are working together. The majority of this issue is a set up for the set of the series and this issue has no interaction between the crew of the Enterprise and the Planet of the Apes. It would have been acceptable if the narrative was told in a Starlog where Kirk explains the situation and immediately arrives on the Planet of the Apes where the action takes place. 

The second issue of Star Trek/Planet of the Apes brings the crew of the Enterprise in contact with Colonel George Taylor who wants to use Kirk’s crew and ship to overthrow the apes. Kirk refuses but Taylor has other plans as he takes Chekov’s communicator and runs off into the woods. The second issue picks up the pace however the ending falls flat as the reader is asked “What can Taylor do with a communicator?” Taylor takes Chekov’s communicator and boards the Enterprise as Kirk follows and confronts him. They come to a mutual agreement as the Ape General Marius and the Klingon Kor work together to bring the Planet of the Apes into the Klingon Empire.

Kirk and Taylor return to Earth to discover a civil war between the apes is about to begin. Dr. Zira warns her fellow people the gorillas are launching an attack to claim dominance over them. However Kor is using a sniper rifle to start the civil war himself but Kirk and Taylor stop him. Civil war is averted and Kirk and his crew leave the Planet of the Apes. Kirk is chasing Kor’s ship who is heading towards the portal until Earth’s atmosphere is consumed by a Doomsday device as the events unfold from Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Thanks to the interference of the Enterprise crew, the events of Escape of the Planet of the Apes unfold revealing how they managed to slingshot back in time. The first 4 issues of the crossover was less exciting but the final issue gave us the pay off the readers needed.