1090. A Handful of DustPUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation #72, DC Comics, June 1995
CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Gordon Purcell and Terry Pallot (artists)
STARDATE: 48252.6 (follows the last issue)
PLOT: As Riker and his father get into a variety of arguments about procedure and strategy, the Enterprise follows the Tholians' trail to another colony where it is ensnared in a Tholian web that drains its power. Riker tries a strategy he learned at the Academy despite his father's disapproval, and fails. The Tholians have long since fixed their sensor problem and the Enterprise is trapped...
CONTINUITY: Tholians (The Tholian Web), Kyle Riker (The Icarus Factor), Dr. Selar (The Schizoid Man) and Ben the waiter (Lower Decks) all appear. Apparently, phaser advances have made the Tholian web useless... until now (it's an improved version).
DIVERGENCES: See previous issue.
PANEL OF THE DAY - The Tholian first officer could just not get behind his captain's bell-bottom uniform policy.
REVIEW: I admit that not a whole lot happens in this issue aside from the Enterprise getting caught. The Rikers are still at loggerheads, the Tholian XO still doesn't feel good about attacking Federation "invaders", and their motivations not yet revealed. However, it's hard to dislike the issue. Purcell's art continues to shine after Skelton's too-long reign, and characters continue to get personal moments that are finally making the comic feel like the proper inheritor of the tv series.
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