Star Trek 1378: Spock: Reflections, Issue 3

1378. Spock: Reflections, Issue 3

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Spock - Reflections #3, IDW Comics, September 2009

CREATORS: Scott Tipton and David Tipton (writers), David Messina (artist)

STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue; flashbacks occur 100 and 110 years earlier)

PLOT: Spock transfers to a new ship on a station and now heads for Veridian III, gravesite of Captain Kirk. He continues to think of his past, including his seeing former fiancée T'Pring just after he left Starfleet to attempt the Kolinahr, and a mission aboard Kirk's Enterprise in which the captain talked an admiral away from the proverbial ledge, refusing to leave her critically damaged ship after getting many crewmen killed. He reaches Veridian III and pays his respects to his best friend.

CONTINUITY: We see T'Pring again (Amok Time). Dave Bailey (The Corbomite Maneuver) and Janice Rand on the bridge indicates that flashback takes place on the first year of the famous five-year mission. Spock is going to Veridian III where Kirk died (Generations).

DIVERGENCES: None (Picard acknowledges it was difficult to get a message to Romulus, explaining why it got there many months after Generations)

PANEL OF THE DAY - The height difference alone meant it was never going to work anyway.
REVIEW: Spock gets to Kirk's grave a little earlier than expected (what now?) and again, while we get a short Enterprise mission, it's the character moment that seems more significant. Are we getting a callback for all of Spock's ladies? Because I wanna see a certain girl in a fur bikini next ;-). In all seriousness, though each flashback tells us something about Spock, they don't really resolve into a coherent theme. Ultimately, that's what's going to keep this series as interesting, but not excellent. Just deleted scenes and brief missions. I'd just like a little more structure.