Star Trek 1107: For Whom the Bell Tolls

1107. For Whom the Bell Tolls

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Modala Imperative #4, DC Comics, September 1991

CREATORS: Michael Jan Friedman (writer), Pablo Marcos (artist)

STARDATE: 3012.7 (follows the last issue)

PLOT: Spock and McCoy are jailed, but not searched. Spock unfortunately can't take his communicator out because they're never alone. Kirk and Chekov can't break them out alone, so they go back to the rebels and convince them to help. Spock and McCoy are rescued just as they're about to be executed as an "example". The landing party then uses the communicator to get beamed up. Chekov, no longer a rube, befriends Sulu. Kirk is left wondering who supplied the Krisaia with advanced weaponry and hopes one day the tyrants will be defeated and Modala can join the Federation.

CONTINUITY: Lt. Leslie gets a few more lines; he remembers the events of The Return of the Archons. Yeoman Mears also gets an appearance (The Galileo Seven) as does Spinelli (Space Seed).

DIVERGENCES: Mr. Kyle once again miscolored. Mears has gone from dark-skinned brunette in red to blue-eyed blonde in gold. Sulu fences with LaSalle; I believe they mean DeSalle (from a number of episodes, including The Squire of Gothos).

PANEL OF THE DAY - Whoops, that's a Star Wars line!
REVIEW: Good action and character moments, but little in the way of resolution unfortunately. We don't even find out who tampered with Modalan society, so that doesn't leave a whole to celebrate for the TOS crew at the end of this story. We'll have to wait 100 years for an answer (or a couple days, if you're you and me). I'm also not keen on how easy to manipulate the Modalans are. They seem completely at the mercy of anyone armed with a good speech. Once again, it's the character bits that keep this boat afloat, including the Kirk-Spock-McCoy triad and the budding friendship between Sulu and Chekov (who finally attributes something to Russia). The only character not to get a scene by the fourth issue was Uhura, and she gets her due here with a bit about how she sees her job.