992. The Chosen Part 2: Blood EnemiesPUBLICATION: Star Trek v.2 #79, DC Comics, January 1996
CREATORS: Kevin J. Ryan (writer), Steve Erwin and Terry Pallot (artists)
STARDATE: 6221.4 (follows the last issue)
PLOT: The Enterprise, bearing an ambassador/expert on the Romulans, heads for the heavily damaged Starbase 14 to look for survivors and investigate. Meeting them is a Tal Shiar ship who wishes to help with that investigation. The crew rescues some survivors (involving the safe removal of the station's critical power core) and exchanges officers with the Romulans, both sides claiming they had nothing to do with the recent attacks...
CONTINUITY: The Tal Shiar were first mentioned in TNG's Face of the Enemy. Their ship uses a classic bird-of-prey design (Balance of Terror). Starbase 14 is of the same design as Deep Space Station K-7 (The Trouble with Tribbles). The medical ship USS Salk has a sphere instead of a saucer, like a Daedalus class and like the USS Pasteur (All Good Things...). Kirk remembers speaking to Captain Robert April (The Counter-Clock Incident) when he was a cadet.
DIVERGENCES: None.
PANEL OF THE DAY - What if I urgently need a leg?
REVIEW: Ah, much better. The plot deepens with an early appearance of the Tal Shiar and the Romulans giving Kirk a reasonable shot at proving everyone's innocence. There isn't much to the ambassador character, though she's at least a pleasant sounding board for the captain. The action sequence is good too. The big difference, of course, is the art team. Erwin and Pallot's thin line work is attractive and both action and dialogue scenes are sufficiently animated, while respecting the requirements of likenesses. Good use of reference material to create ships and stations, both exteriors and interiors, too.
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