871. Idol ThreatsPUBLICATION: Star Trek #47, DC Comics, February 1988
CREATORS: Michael Carlin (writer), Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran (artists)
STARDATE: 9219.7 (follows the last issue)
PLOT: When the unfortunately named training ship USS Cluster loses its captain to the Romulans, a cadet names himself acting captain and goes after that like his idol, Captain Kirk, would. The blood maverick in training blows it however, and the Romulans not only kill some cadets, but board the ship as well. Thankfully, one of the more junior cadets sent out a distress call picked up by the Enterprise and Kirk shows up in the nick of time. He dresses down the young acting captain and lets the Romulans go.
CONTINUITY: The Romulan commander is the same as in #34-36 of this series. This story's premise was reprised on the DS9 episode Valiant.
DIVERGENCES: None.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Sisko's prototype?
REVIEW: An odd story in that Kirk and crew are peripheral to it, though it IS about Kirk and how his past actions might inspire wrongdoing. Of course, that means the story depends on some pretty broadly written new characters, with acting captain Penn coming off as a (more?) psychotic version of Ensign Bearclaw. I do like Ventura, but it's all about the art (makes me miss the similarly drawn Saavik). There's shock value in how gory Captain Fields' death is, and some creative art decisions from Sutton (though his cadets don't look particularly young). Otherwise, between the low Enterprise content and the Romulan not getting their commupence, Carlin leaves the series with a whimper.
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