Star Trek 921: Mission: Muddled

921. Mission: Muddled

PUBLICATION: Star Trek v.2 #22, DC Comics, August 1991

CREATORS: Howard Weinstein (writer), Gordon Purcell and Arne Starr (artists)

STARDATE: 8535.6 (follows the last issue)

PLOT: The Enterprise investigates a mining colony complaining of Klingon ships flying too close and a Nasgul agricultural settlement being up to no good. The Nasgul are led by the Salla's half-brother, but she makes like he's an ass to get on Kirk's good side. She IS up to no good, however, in cahoots with the Klingons. A precious Nasgul artifact is stolen by a rogue who is then pursued by a Klingon ship, leading the Enterprise to beam him out of there. To Kirk's dismay, that rogue is Harry Mudd...

CONTINUITY: Harry Mudd was last seen in the previous series' 40th issue.

DIVERGENCES: None.

PANEL OF THE DAY - "I recognize the unicorn."
REVIEW: Though I've made it sound like Harry Mudd's identity was a big reveal, it is spoiled quite clearly on the cover. "You won't believe!!!" followed by the answer. He's also mentioned in the issue's title, but more subtly, and I mean, he does LOOK like himself. It seems like Mudd's every comic book appearance is played like a surprise, and every time, the cover spoils it. Does he really boost sales? Cuz that's not my impression of this oh, so annoying character. He's not too bad here, but the full force of his personality hasn't yet been unleashed. Though Weinstein once again sets up a trade-focused planet with multiple factions (no really, can he write anything else?!), he at least plugs it into the Trek continuity created by Peter David. The Nasgul, the Klingons and the treacherous Admiral Tomlinson are all involved. Glad to see Tomlinson, at least, wasn't forgotten. Weinstein is fairly good at set-ups, and this works, with gentle humor and fair action thrown in. We'll see where he can take it.