Wired's "mysteries and puzzles" issue hits stands today with a guest editor: Star Trek director J.J. Abrams. He's included a (mysterious) comic that fills in Spock's new backstory for the flick. We've got a peek.

Here are a few panels from the gorgeous 6-page comic, drawn by comics legend Paul Pope. Basically we get a snapshot of how Spock grew up dealing with various puzzles - and a pretty scary lion-thing - during his adolescence. And then we see that as an adult, he continues to enjoy using the puzzle part of his brain on 3-D chess (which he plays with Kirk). There's also a mysterious hint that Spock has to make an enormous decision that will change the course of the Enterprise's history. Hmmm, could this be linked to the time travel plot in the new movie?

To see the full comic, grab the new issue of Wired at your local newsstand. Guest editor Abrams has helmed an intriguing issue, packed with stories on the theme of "mysteries and puzzles." Which makes sense coming from the guy who created Lost, the most puzzle-tacular show on TV.

Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, at annalee@io9.com.