858. The Apocalypse Scenario!PUBLICATION: Star Trek #36, DC Comics, March 1987
CREATORS: Len Wein (writer), Gray Morrow (artist)
STARDATE: 8908.3 (follows the last issue, just before ST IV)
PLOT: Excelsior pours on the speed to reach the contaminated Romulan ship before it is board by Romulan Space Command. Under attack from both the ship and planetary defenses, its bacon is pulled out of the pan by the Romulan Commander Kirk befriended in the previous issue. They manage to stop the berzerk ship, and McCoy comes up with a plan to beam the virus out of everyone's systems. It works, and Kirk leaves the pathogen with the Romulans in a show of good faith. Returning to Federation space, the bridge crew leave for Vulcan in the bird-of-prey, in the hopes of saving Spock's life once again, and to elude Captain Styles' justice.
CONTINUITY: See the previous issue. The Captain of the Saratoga has changed hairstyles since she left Earth to something that looks a lot more like the one she sports in ST IV. Romulus and Remus are only the Federation designations, the planets have actual names that, while similar, aren't based on Roman mythology (Ch'rihan and Ch'havran) - information stemming from Diane Duane's Romulan novels. This issue rejoins the movie continuity by taking the characters back to Vulcan in the bird-of-prey and having Spock once again reintegrate his mind. HMS Bounty is painted on the side of the ship.
DIVERGENCES: See the previous issue. McCoy paints it way too small however.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Gray Morrow has seen Star Trek.
REVIEW: The finale of The Doomsday Bug is adequate without being spectacular. Morrow's space battles aren't quite as dynamic as they need to be this time, and I just hate it when the tech is used as a magic cure, here the transporter. Plus, not sure how wise Kirk is to leave a pathogen lethal to humans within minutes in the hands of the Romulans. In an effort to get to Star Trek IV's starting position, they may have taken short cuts. Still, the way they get back to Vulcan is pretty clever, and I think I'm gonna miss having Captain Styles around as a kind of impotent rival for Kirk.
Comments
I've never enjoyed comic books in the first place, and the few star trek comics I've read were not enjoyable.
I've actually been impressed though by how this last set of comics seems to be well thought out, even more than some Star Trek episodes. I've even thought about trying to get back into reading comic books because of these, but, then again, I probably won't care enough to.