Star Trek 1048: Bone of Contention

1048. Bone of Contention

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #40, DC Comics, November 1992

CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Peter Krause and Pablo Marcos (artists)

STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)

PLOT: The Sztazzan fleet attacks the Enterprise and won't allow Picard to recover his away team aboard the moon-sized structure apparently in their territory. With only a short time to act, Picard puts Riker in charge of the saucer section and heads for the battle bridge for saucer separation. Once separation is complete, the Sztazzan attack both pieces of the ship. The saucer rounds the artificial moon, gets blasted, and disappears...

CONTINUITY: See previous issue. Jenna D'Sora (In Theory) is at Tactical.

DIVERGENCES: In addition to coloring problems on the bridge, Riker asks his helmsman to do shields stuff, instead of D'Sora.

PANEL OF THE DAY - The real reason for saucer sep:
REVIEW: A good second issue filled with action and some suspense. The Sztazzan are revealed to be insectoids (not particularly well-designed ones though) and Terry Oliver wants revenge for the USS Grissom, raising the stakes. The mystery of the moon isn't yet revealed, but may be responsible for the saucer section disappearing, so there's plenty yet to explore here. Sadly, though last issue's subplots are mentioned, we're robbed of any scenes where Troi plays pool. The danger just prevents that subplot from playing out, so its inclusion is odd. But overall, a strong second chapter that doesn't feel like more than the usual padding.