Star Trek 1311: An Inconvenient Truth

1311. An Inconvenient Truth

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Space Between #6, IDW Comics, July 2007

CREATORS: David Tischman (writer), Casey Maloney and Stacie Ponder (artists)

STARDATE: 47993.3 (follows last issue's epilogue)

PLOT: Picard is investigating his notion that information from Enterprise logs is being used to manipulate various planets in the quadrant. Most of the bridge crew have infiltrated the conspirators' facility and Picard is beamed there, saving him from a murder attempt. He and the chief conspirator exchange a few words before each one's cavalry arrives. The villains escape, leaving the Enterprise crew empty handed.

CONTINUITY: Both Admiral Nechayev and Boothby appear. The conspiratorial group was inspired by the Ferengi visiting Roswell (Little Green Men). There seems to be a hybrid ship from issue #3 in the facility, as is Xindi technology (Enterprise) and an Iconian Gateway (Contagion, To the Death).

DIVERGENCES: The issue is wrongly titled Space Seeds, like issue #5 (the title was corrected in the trade). The comic puts the Ferengi visit 200 years before the TNG era, rather than the more correct 400.

PANEL OF THE DAY - The ultimate Star Trek Mexican stand-off.
REVIEW: Truly, a disappointment for the very reasons I listed for issue #5. There's just too much story here for less than two dozen pages. We never find out how Picard discovered the conspirators' facility, nor if Nechayev and others can be trusted or if they are indeed part of the conspiracy. We don't even know what the conspiracy's aims are, or what makes them different from Section 31. Once the conspirators escape, Picard has some champagne with the crew and shows no inclination to pursue the matter further. And though the conspiracy links the various issues of the mini-series (except #4), those links are not explained. To add insult to injury, the TNG crew are shown to be largely ineffectual throughout, unable to attain their objectives. And this time around, there's little space for the character moments Tischman showed skill at, except a small one in which Boothby recalls Nechayev's Academy days. I'm afraid this mini went nowhere fast.