832. Behind Enemy Lines!PUBLICATION: Star Trek #14, DC Comics, May 1985
CREATORS: Mike W. Barr (writer), Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran (artists)
STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)
PLOT: The mirror fleet turns on Kirk and Excelsior and only the intervention of the Spocks aboard the bird-of-prey allows them to escape. Time for plan B, i.e. mirror David's idea to free a scientist from prison and use his knowledge to fight the Empire. Kirk sends the Spocks and Konom to the mirror Klingon homeworld to convince Emperor Kahless IV to help, which has a chance once Konom passes the Test of Truth. Meanwhile, Kirk and crew infiltrate a prison world and rescue a scientist plugged into the Matrix. Discovered, they barely make it out of the system with a ship on their tail, and Kirk vows to defeat the Empire...
CONTINUITY: The Mirror Universe Saga continues... The Empire has a prison on Gamma Trianguli XII, in the same system as Vaal's world (The Apple). Coming to defend the prison is the ISS Farragut, the mirror version of Kirk's early posting (Obsession).
DIVERGENCES: Punctuation aside, the title is the same as a Deep Space 9 episode's. The bird-of-prey fires its disruptors while cloaked. Excelsior has a cloak too. The Klingon homeworld is called Kash. The mind-sifter (Errand of Mercy). The Farragut is mistakenly called Constellation-class (it is a Constitution).
PANEL OF THE DAY - Just a pic of Saavik cuz I thought you'd like it.
REVIEW: I'm not sure about the new plan, which feels a little like a way to stretch it an extra chapter or two, but there's promise in the Klingons being brought in (and a kind of sense when one has hindsight). Sadly, a number of characters are dumb this issue. It's the case with Ensign Bearclaw, who really has to be given more to do than shoot first and get bitch-slapped by Kirk later. Kahless IV is pretty stupid too, especially for a world leader. And while I do generally like Sutton and Villagran's art, I have to mention how inconsistent they've been for the last couple issues with the women's uniforms. The midriffs and cleavage have a tendency to disappear between panels. Sigh. I do like how they represent a cloaked ship in "white ink" though. The series still has a lot of energy, but definitely the low point of the arc for me.
Comments