1051. Strange BedfellowsPUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #43, DC Comics, February 1993
CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Peter Krause and Pablo Marcos (artists)
STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)
PLOT: To get to the transport sphere on their side of space, Riker proposes a truce with the Sztazzan, but the aliens don't trust the saucer section not to shoot them once they're inside their warp bubble. They change their minds when reviewing the events that occurred on the planet, in which Lt. Oliver saved a Sztazzan life. Could humans be honorable after all? While Riker waits for the Sztazzan's answer, Mot goes to Alexander and helps him work out the very same plan and it's the boy who takes it to Riker. Riker makes like this is a new idea and that he'll use it. The Sztazzan do agree and from the transport sphere, O'Brien contacts Data et al. just before the battle bridge was going to beam them back and flee. The two lost ships return, and the the Sztazzan flagship makes its fleet cease hostilities.
CONTINUITY: See previous issues.
DIVERGENCES: The title was used for a DS9 episode. D'Sora's skin tone and hair are miscolored in this one. Worf cries despite Klingons not having tear ducts (ST VI).
PANEL OF THE DAY - Emo Worf defies the laws of biology.
REVIEW: There are a number of nice elements to this resolution, but the best is Alexander's subplot dovetailing into the main story. That's a sweet use of those characters and I like how the saucer section's successes can be credited to the least likely candidates (Oliver, Mot and Alexander, even if it would have worked out anyway in the latter case). In true TNG fashion, the story ends with a diplomatic solution rather than a military one, and we're left with Worf's rather extreme reactions as the only tangible flaw.
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