944. Showdown!PUBLICATION: Star Trek v.2 #40, DC Comics, November 1992
CREATORS: Howard Weinstein (writer), Gordon Purcell and Arne Starr (artists)
STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)
PLOT: When the Tabukan facilities are damaged by explosions, Sulu evacuates their personnel and backs off in case their arsenal detonates. The Maroans see this as an opportunity to grab the weapons, as counseled by arriving Maroans from the other system. When they board the facility, however, Starfleet personnel are waiting for them with phasers. It was a trap laid by Sulu with the help of Chekov on the commandeered Maroan ship. The Enterprise and Excelsior get out from behind some asteroids and engage the remaining ships. When things get desperate, the lead Maroan ship sets a collision course with Excelsior, but the Enterprise destroys it at the last moment. The Excelsior's chief engineer having found a way to safely beam out the Tabukan arsenal, he does so and explodes them in the dead of space, convincing the Romulans and Maroans to leave well enough alone.
CONTINUITY: As the previous issue.
DIVERGENCES: As the previous issue.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Ohhhnooo...
REVIEW: The finish is a good one, with many of the characters getting their licks in, and the Maroans thoroughly trounced. A fairly good send-off for Sulu, but it really didn't have to be this long (the medical emergency thread particularly inconsequential). I've mentioned Purcell's difficulty with outer space action before, and it shows here. Perspectives are wonky, ships are destroyed out of nowhere, and there's one supposedly cool shot of the starships coming out from behind the asteroid that just doesn't work. And just why was this all called The Tabukan Syndrome? Where was the syndrome exactly? But Weinstein's titles are pretty lame by any standard. For example, there's a collision course in this chapter, but the previous one was called Collision Course. One thing's for sure, I'm gonna miss Sulu regardless of who's writing him.
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