This time, the Enterprise and her crew will boldly go ... to Japan.

As part of an ongoing manga invasion of the West, TokyoPop has tackled the original Star Trek series with a collection of tales infused with new energy for a generation that adores Eastern cartooning. A Trek fan from way back -- particularly the Kirk years -- I was intrigued and, yes, a little excited to set out on this new set of action-packed missions.

Unfortunately, it's not very good.

The black-and-white art isn't bad, really, although the five artists at work here don't have anything close to a unified style, making it hard sometimes to keep characters straight. It doesn't help that the artists apparently have no idea what McCoy or Chekov look like; someone even thinks McCoy was a blonde! At least you can always recognize Spock, because of his ears; Uhura, because she's a shade darker than the rest; and Kirk, because he's always in the thick of things and giving orders.

But the stories range from bland to tedious. The new origin of the Borg queen in "Side Effects," for instance, lacks even a hint of lasting significance, while the main threats in "Oban" and "Orphans" look more suited, respectively, for Pokemon and Transformers.

Star Trek: The Manga is not a success -- but maybe, like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, it can learn from its failings and launch a successful series in its wake.