911. Great Expectations!PUBLICATION: Star Trek v.2 #14, DC Comics, December 1990
CREATORS: Peter David and Bill Mumy (writers), Gordon Purcell and Arne Starr (artists)
STARDATE: 8514.9 (follows the last issue)
PLOT: As the Enterprise heads towards the war torn homeworld of the Worthy, the crew becomes rather starstruck with their legendary guests. Chekov narrowly avoids a romance with one of the "already taken" Worthy, and the Worthy robot is rebuilt. Admiral Tomlinson sends Captain Styles to intercept and discover why the Lamver unit hasn't been used yet (Kirk has decided to respect the Worthy's grave site), and the Gorn get wind of it. Using an old Gorn legend about the Worthy, the Worthy's leader defuses the situation. When the ship arrives at the homeworld, however, there are no signs of life...
CONTINUITY: Captain Styles (ST III) now commands the Exeter (The Omega Glory). The Gorn, of course, first appeared in Arena.
DIVERGENCES: R.J. Blaise has completely disappeared. It is unclear if this Gorn is the same Kirk met in Arena. It seems implied by the fact they know each other, but his skin is the wrong color.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Convention fantasies
REVIEW: The Worthy are, of course, too good to be true, so we can expect some twists and turns by the end of the story arc. Chapter 2 is a solid issue with many character moments and a couple of unexpected guest stars. The Gorn are pretty toothless, even risible, though, and I'd love them to play a bigger and more ferocious role in a future storyline. The fact that Blaise is well and truly gone bodes ill for continuing subplots, though that strategy is fine if story arcs remain strong. It's not like the show was "soapy" like comics can be. And a quick word on Gordon Purcell's art, which I failed to acknowledge in the last review: His likenesses have a broad range of expression and his layouts never let you forget everything's happening out in space. I like it. There is some measure of difference between the more cartoony original characters and the photo referenced cast, but it's not distracting.
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