Star Trek 888: ...Where No One Has Gone Before!

888. ...Where No One Has Gone Before!

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #1, DC Comics, February 1988

CREATORS: Michael Carlin (writer), Pablo Marcos (artist)

STARDATE: 41187.5 (between Encounter at Farpoint and The Naked Now)

PLOT: The Enterprise-D attempts to initiate first contact with the Theluvians, but the away team encounters resistance from Kirbyesque vehicles and space barbarians. When the away team defeats them, they realize these guys were only playing and furthermore, act like children. Beamed aboard a Theluvian craft, they learn that this species ages in reverse and the adults look like children.

CONTINUITY: The comic begins with Picard's opening speech. Backwards-aging was used in The Counter-Clock Incident, and later in Innocence.

DIVERGENCES: Punctuation aside, the title was already used for a TNG story. Counselor Troi apparently has precognitive visions and is described as a telepath. Data says he's excited about the mission and has "adrenal fluid". Worf is real chatty and uses overly familiar language. There are a lot of off-model uniforms aboard, including Atlantean armor for the transporter chief, and these superhero numbers:
PANEL OF THE DAY - The Enterprise-D bridge set makes me feel woozy.
REVIEW: Before DC had to renew its license, it managed to release a TNG mini-series set in Season 1, and its first issue is one of the worst Star Trek comics I have yet to review. Wow. Well, obviously, Carlin wrote the issue without ever seeing an episode, probably before TNG had a chance to air, because the characters are in large part mischaracterized. Picard is truly unlikable, Riker is unprofessional, Data has odd emotions, etc. There's a weird comedy subplot about a fighting couple relieving Data and Geordi during the away mission that is meant to represent the shift to families on the Enterprise (as if the many Wesley scenes weren't enough). And any sense of danger is undercut by the final revelation that the adversaries were only playing. Plus: THE premise I hate above all other premises - races that age in reverse. Marcos' art is equally bizarre. He's not bad at facial likenesses, but has difficulty with perspective. Awkward posing, musclebound characters with tiny heads, and vertigo-inducing angles. Looks like it's to be continued, but no, the reverse aging is just a punch line ending. Ugh.