1062. The Rich and the Dead!PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #52, DC Comics, October 1993
CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Pablo Marcos (artist)
STARDATE: Unknown (between Timescape and Descent)
PLOT: It's shore leave at Beta Maradi. Riker takes Worf, Alexander and Troi to the circus. Data takes Advocate General Louvois to a legal conference aboard a shuttle. Picard and Crusher remain aboard ship to try out a new Dixon Hill adventure, but Q shows up...
CONTINUITY: Picard has been playing at Dixon Hill since The Long Goodbye. Beverly reprises her role from that episode. The program was a gift from Robert Picard (Family). Alexander appears. Apparently, "for all the surplus at Qualor II" (Unification) is an expression. Philippa Louvois was first seen in The Measure of a Man. Q was last seen in Tapestry.
DIVERGENCES: None.
PANEL OF THE DAY - So it's not just about chocolate.
REVIEW: Deanna Troi must have the most boring, most random interests in all of Trek. On the show, it seemed like her only hobby was eating chocolate, except that time she revealed a love of westerns. In this issue, she's giddy about wanting to see a circus, cuz she never has. If it was her life mission, how about simulating one on the holodeck? In spite of all that, all characters are aptly written, including Worf thinking the circus is rather dull and tame. And I do like the clowns dressed in Starfleet panto uniforms. The Dixon Hill stuff is less colorful and feels like we're walking on well-worn ground. My eyes glazed over at the standard film noir plot (though a little creepy that it dealt with murders by burning, considering Robert's fate in Generations) and I'm not sure Q's inclusion can really salvage it (I'm thinking it could turn into a Qpid scenario). Still, we've got three potable strands, with a mystery man in the circus crowd for Troi, and probably some adventure for Data and Louvois. We'll see where they all go.
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