1044. Dirty WorkPUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #38, DC Comics, September 1992
CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Peter Krause and Pablo Marcos (artists)
STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)
PLOT: Ardra, Picard and the landing party infiltrate the palace using a commandeered laundry truck and warn the king of the conspiracy against his health. Meanwhile, Riker and Worf beam down to the planet when the landing party doesn't check in and land themselves in a sequel to Picard's earlier bar brawl. With Ardra's long-range hologram projector, the landing party and king trick the head conspirator into confessing. Picard has the reward spread among the poor and must now go and bail out Worf and Riker.
CONTINUITY: Ardra used similar holographic tricks in Devil's Due.
DIVERGENCES: Ardra's "All roads lead to Beta Roma" falls flat; shouldn't it be Magna Roma (Breads and Circuses)?
PANEL OF THE DAY - Picard just WILL NOT enjoy his shore leave.
REVIEW: Though I've been critical of this story so far, especially the oversexed Ardra, I did enjoy the conclusion a great deal. Picard doesn't get to be an action hero very often (the occasional episode, the films and these comics), and that action is more efficient than in other issues, where they often feel like padding. The issue makes good use of Ardra's capabilities to resolve the plot as well. Riker and Worf make a fun comedy team, with the over-prepared Worf coming off cooler for it. And the second bar brawl, though we only see a single punch of it, is a nice comic pay-off to the aforementioned "padding" of the previous chapters. Read in a bundle, the Shanzibar adventure would leave the reader content.
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