Star Trek 960: Time Crime Part 1

960. Time Crime Part 1

PUBLICATION: Star Trek v.2 #53, DC Comics, October 1993

CREATORS: Howard Weinstein (writer), Rod Whigham and Arne Starr (artists)

STARDATE: 8512.4 (around the time of this series' issue #13)

PLOT: The Enterprise tracks a temporal anomaly out of which comes a Romulan warbird. Except that isn't possible, because there hasn't been a Romulan Empire since they lost the war decades ago. The Romulans have slingshot back in time and found the timeline changed. The Klingons haven't been an aggressor species for the last 500 years and none of the classic Romulan or Klingon episodes ever happened. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, the Enterprise heads for the Guardian of Forever, the only objective observer of time...

CONTINUITY: In this alternate timeline, the original Enterprise was never destroyed, Sulu is still at the conn, Uhura is first officer, Spock and Saavik work together at Starfleet Command, David (ST II-III) is alive and working on the Guardian of Forever, and the science officer is Worf, the Worf from ST VI, that is. The time travel method used by the Romulans is well known to us since Tomorrow Is Yesterday. The new Federation President (ST VI) makes his first comic book appearance. Admiral Cartwright also appears. The Guardian of Forever is, of course, from The City on the Edge of Forever.

DIVERGENCES: David's hair is his father's brown in the this alternate timeline.

PANEL OF THE DAY - The Romulans got ships and the Klingons got a knife in the back at Khitomer.
REVIEW: I'm a sucker for parallel worlds, I am. Especially if they're well thought out. I don't know what pivotal moment was changed in Time Crime (likely something Klingon), but it's interesting to see the repercussions. Putting Worf's grandfather on the Enterprise is a stroke of genius, and it's plain the events of ST III never happened. Kirk never lost a ship and a son. I'm half hoping we'll get to see more back history for this world, only half because I don't necessarily need to have everything explained to me. Still, be nice to grasp why promotions fell differently there. A strong set-up then, obviously a reverse of Yesterday's Enterprise, but leading into a time travel story through the Guardian of Forever.