874. Marriage of InconveniencePUBLICATION: Star Trek #50, DC Comics, May 1988
CREATORS: Peter David (writer), Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran (artists)
STARDATE: 8994.6 (follows the last issue)
PLOT: When it's revealed that the stunted albino "Moron" is a Klingon/human half-breed, Nancy Bryce gets cold feet about her wedding to Konom. Meanwhile, Spock determines there are three possible targets for Captain Zair's USS Renegade (actually a commandeered USS Zephyr apparently commanded by Zair's alter ego, Phil Burroughs, who is being fed advanced technology by some called the Cognoscenti). The Klingons take one, the Enterprise another. The other, less logical, is ignored for now. Since records show that the Zephyr's last mission was to Omicron Ceti IV, Kirk sends a shuttle full of volunteers on what could be a suicide mission. A heart-broken Konom leads the party, and Bearclaw, hoping to get back into the captain's good graces, tricks his way in at the last second. On Omicron Ceti IV, they meet heavy opposition from an army of androids. Meanwhile, Moron babbles about the ignored third target, and Kirk follows his hunch. Enterprise surprises Renegade and a party manages to beam in and capture the raiders, all except Zair who has taken a shuttle to Omicron Ceti. Kirk follows and fights his volunteers including Bearclaw whom he relegates to the brig, and the corpse of Phil Burroughs, dead for some two weeks! Having come to their senses, Nancy and Konom finally tie the knot...
CONTINUITY: Emperor Kahless IV from the start of this series and the Federation president from ST IV appear. The Enterprise is - all together now - the only ship in the quadrant!
DIVERGENCES: Kirk's cooperation with Klingons after his son's death goes against his feelings in ST VI. Omicron Ceti IV doesn't seem to be the same planet in This Side of Paradise, nor be in the same star system.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Kooky Klingon fridge messages
REVIEW: Here we go, here we go. There are some lovely moments in this double-sized issue, especially concerning Spock. He cleverly uses the Klingons' honor against them and later masterfully convinces Bryce of her error. His wisdom shines though. Bearclaw DOESN'T meet his end, but instead keeps digging his career's grave deeper and deeper, and I'm glad the cliché is being avoided. A near-collision between ships is as surprising and chaotic to the reader as it is to the characters. The story is generally told with humor and cleverness, though the plot is basically there to hang the scenes on. David shows his penchant for superpowered action (a staple of his New Frontier books) with original crew members like the broadcast telepath and a super-strong giant. Pretty sure I don't like that cover though.
Comments
Fortunately, the Borg or Dominion or Cardassians never decided to strike at tsuch a thinly-defended Federation...
They could throw all the torpedoes at V'Ger and the Whale Probe, but they hardly dented a Borg cube, which is nothing compared to those space faring creatures.