Star Trek 1105: Tools of Tyranny

1105. Tools of Tyranny

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Modala Imperative #2, DC Comics, August 1991

CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Pablo Marcos and Rafael Gallur (artists)

STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)

PLOT: In jail on Modala, Kirk and Chekov find out that a faction called the Krisaia suddenly rose to prominence thanks to super-advanced weaponry. Hoping to minimize the violence, he encourages the resistance to commit acts of sabotage on energy-production facilities and the like. Meanwhile, Spock and McCoy beam down to the planet to look for the missing landing party and eventually find a woman Kirk and Chekov helped out of a scuffle with the cops. She wants to help them, but doesn't think the missing men will ever be seen again...

CONTINUITY: Appearances by Dr. M'Benga, Christine Chapel and Lt. Leslie (a regular stunt guy who appeared in a lot of episodes starting with Where No Man Has Gone Before).

DIVERGENCES: Leslie is at the navigator's station in his red uniform.

PANEL OF THE DAY - McCoy... sad to be sitting on this side of the table.
REVIEW: Friedman continues to give TOS' supporting characters scenes where they can react to events without much affecting their outcome, probably because Modala is meant to be a 25th Anniversary celebration. It's appreciated. As is Kirk getting up to some old tricks and flagrantly violating the Prime Directive, and in fact teaching Chekov to do the same. I wouldn't say comedy is Friedman's strong suit, but the Spock and McCoy stuff is just light enough to introduce some to the series. The art continues to be pleasant. The Modala Imperative hasn't yet seemed IMPORTANT, but it does remind you of the things you liked about the original series, using its clichés to good effect.