Star Trek 818: ...The Only Good Klingon...

818. ...The Only Good Klingon...

PUBLICATION: Star Trek #2, DC Comics, March 1984

CREATORS: Mike W. Barr (writer), Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran (artists)

STARDATE: 8149.2 (follows the last issue)

PLOT: Saavik's diversion allows Kirk and Bryce to penetrate the Klingon space station inside the wormhole, while the Enterprise waits anxiously for the next attack. Even as Saavik is captured, Kirk and Bryce meet Konom, a friendly Klingon who thinks what Captain Koloth is doing is wrong (in fact, he's pretty much against killing). He joins them and an escaped Saavik and they sabotage the station's wormhole generation. Koloth self-destructs the thing rather than be caught, and the Klingon Emperor sends a declaration of war...

CONTINUITY: See the last issue. McCoy is haunted by Spock's "remember" (even if the writer can't possibly know where it's going). Sulu wonders when he'll get a command of his own (prophetic!). The Klingon Emperor at this point is called Kahless IV.

DIVERGENCES: See the last issue. McCoy operated on Konom, which actually would make him incompetent when he fails to save Chancellor Gorkon in ST VI! Koloth apparently dies this issue, but the "ice man" could have made it out to show up later in Blood Oath.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Because I can't get enough of Bryce hand to hand fighting... with thrusters on!
REVIEW: A good second issue, though the outer space battles (or wormhole battles, really) aren't quite as good as the first's. The Klingon support craft just aren't convincing and the action confusing. However, the rest of the comic zips along just fine, with Barr finding a way to give character moments to cast members not as involved in the action. Bryce as the rookie Kirk's taken under his wing gives her an interesting role, while this atypical Klingon Konom (who I know is to play a larger role, but I don't want to spoil you) could be a two-edged sword. Do we know enough about the Klingons of this era yet to explore their culture meaningfully in the comic? We'll see. As for the plot, we get a climax already, but it launches us towards an even bigger one, which is a good way to keep momentum.