910. A Rude Awakening!PUBLICATION: Star Trek v.2 #13, DC Comics, October 1990
CREATORS: Peter David and Bill Mumy (writers), Gordon Purcell and Arne Starr (artists)
STARDATE: 8513.7 (follows Annual #1)
PLOT: The Worthy are legendary Karimean heroes who disappeared over 300 years ago. Kirk and crew find them in suspended animation on a barren planet, defended by a guard robot. They disable the robot and awaken the crew, who long to return to their homeworld, where it is prophesied they will be able to stop strife and war. But under orders from Klingon shill Admiral Tomlinson, the Enterprise is to deploy a device that will turn the system's star into a "slipstream gateway" to other universes, which will destroy the planet. The Worthy strongly oppose this mission...
CONTINUITY: McCoy remembers the last time they woke sleepers up (Space Seed). In their travels, the Worthy fought Apollo (Who Mourns for Adonais?). Note the first use of the word "slipstream" in Star Trek (Hope and Fear).
DIVERGENCES: Diplomacy in the comics universe is rather ahead of the canonical universe.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Will Robinson. Don't tell me it isn't.
REVIEW: Basically, Bill Mumy has worked out how Lost in Space ends. No really. Despite the Worthy being aliens, you can pretty much see the cast of Lost in Space (where's Dr. Smith?) in the characters, right down to the boy's pet robot. There's nothing wrong with such a homage, especially with David giving Mumy's plot his usual dialogue polish (Spock and McCoy are particularly good this issue), but it IS odd that the Enterprise crew are going gaga over another planet's legends. I was reminded of The 37s, except without the cultural and historical touch stones. We've been discussing Paramount's interference with subplots and original characters in these reviews, and that seems to continue here. Blaise is still present, helping the Worthy catch up on their own history, but her romantic subplot isn't acknowledged. Tomlinson's still the baddie, but I suppose Paramount had less of a problem with recurring villains (though that's where they should have focused their attention, especially since this plotline will undercut ST VI's).
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