Star Trek 1006: The Pilot

1006. The Pilot

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #7, DC Comics, April 1990

CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Gordon Purcell and Pablo Marcos (artists)

STARDATE: 43265.4 (between Booby Trap and The Enemy)

PLOT: When the Enterprise-D reaches the planet Errev with emergency supplies, they claim the ship was here two days prior. That mystery has to wait, however, when a Mezartine ship appears and kidnaps Data. This warlike people want nothing better than seek out new adversaries and fight them for the joy of it. They are led by the Pilot, an astrogator who has uploaded his mind into a synthetic body which is now wearing out. Obviously, he wants Data's body. When the Enterprise catches up to the Mezartine, Picard is shocked to find them led by Data...

CONTINUITY: None.

DIVERGENCES: None.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Data's tiny pixie friend
REVIEW: Though Friedman has his favorites (Data, Worf, Picard, maybe Riker), he writes the crew universally well, and Data's big brother experience is a particularly classic "exploration of humanity" bit. It feels particularly right in this issue, since the main plot's theme is also what makes Data a person, and the violation of that by the Mezartine. Friedmam also lays in the Errev mystery which he'll no doubt resolve later, giving this run of issues (at least through #12) some cohesion. I do have a problem with the coloring in this series, although I remember it being problematic in many comics at the time, with darker shades overwhelming the art. It's especially bad in this issue, with Worf's brown skin and the Mezartines' dark green.