778. A Warp in SpacePUBLICATION: Star Trek #49, Gold Key Comics, November 1977
CREATORS: George Kashdan (writer), Alden McWilliams (artist)
STARDATE: 5803.6 - After Metamorphosis.
PLOT: While looking for experimental Warp 15 ships mysteriously lost, the Enterprise stumbles upon the planetoid where Kirk left Zefram Cochrane and the Companion. Because of the warp factor, he decides to ask Cochrane for help. He gives them calculations to match that speed, but the Companion leaves the Nancy Hedford host and follows them, saving their lives as they enter a subspace pocket where other gas creatures live. They've taken control of the Warp 15 ships and attack the Enterprise, using a ray that shrinks the ship, but not the crew. An agreement is reached, but they want the Companion to stay. The Enterprise escapes with her just in time for her to rejoin Nancy's body.
CONTINUITY: It's the first comic book sequel to an episode (Metamorphosis).
DIVERGENCES: Cochrane looks a lot older (and moustached!) in McWilliams' version. Nancy Hedford is called Nancy Hedron. And the Companion is rather smoky. The story contradicts the events of the novel Federation.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Outgrowing the Enterprise
REVIEW: It took a while, but we finally get to read a follow-up to an episode in one of the comics. And maybe we see why it took so long. Because of the episode recap, we don't get to the story proper until page 8! In a comic, that's a lot of space devoted to a recap of something that was no doubt rerunning on tv a lot already. The comic does try to do something interesting by showing us where the Companion came from, but it asks more questions than it answers. Furthermore, it's always annoying when they make use of continuity and get a lot of the details wrong. The art is as guilty of that as the writing, though I do appreciate McWilliams' balancing of interior and exterior shots.
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