986. Star-Crossed Part 2: Loved Not Wisely...PUBLICATION: Star Trek v.2 #74, DC Comics, August 1995
CREATORS: Howard Weinstein (writer), Rachel Ketchum and Mark Heike (artists)
STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue, 21 months after first boarding the USS Eagle)
PLOT: Months after Carol Marcus leaves the USS Eagle, Kirk is recalled to Earth where he is offered with two things - his own command (the USS Oxford) and an illegitimate son (David). Carol asks him to choose between the two. Though he chooses Starfleet, he does ask Carol to marry him, but she refuses and won't tell her son about him either...
CONTINUITY: Though Carol and David Marcus are the focus of the story, there are appearances by Gary Mitchell (Where No Man Has Gone Before) and Sam Kirk (Operation: Annihilate!). The former becomes Kirk's helmsman and the latter is thinking of moving to Deneva.
DIVERGENCES: The Oxford looks to be a Reliant-class (not necessarily a divergence, though we never saw them in TOS).
PANEL OF THE DAY - Sam Kirk and his meta-text
REVIEW: Another pleasant issue that fills in larger blanks than the first. Though we kinda know where everything is headed - it's built from the canonical information we have on Carol - Weinstein goes the extra mile with his detailed character moments. Kirk's mom coming aboard to give him a book, the visit to the family farm, Kirk thinking the sitter might be Carol's husband... all good moments. I do wish we'd seen more of Kirk's reaction to being made Starfeet's youngest captain, but I suppose that's not Star-Crossed's focus.
Comments
I'm guessing you'll note those in the novel entries when you encounter them instead?
To my knowledge, no other source mentions the Eagle or the Oxford, and I haven't come across a "divergence" where it would be impossible for him to serve on those ships, though once you throw in the rest (the Bonhommme etc), Kirk might come off as the tramp of the universe.