1220. Relicquest, Part IIIPUBLICATION: Star Trek: Voyager #8, Marvel Comics, June 1997
CREATORS: Ben Raab (writer), Jesus Redondo and Sergio Melia (artists)
STARDATE: 51124.8 (follows the last issue)
PLOT: Janeway defeats the ape-like guardian of relic without killing it, and befriends the Vidiian if not the treacherous Trabe and Kazon. In orbit, Chakotay uses the "phantom" strategy which somehow makes the Kazon ship believe it's under attack from the Trabe. The enemy ships are thus locked in combat and leave Voyager alone, which is a good thing because the phantom confuses its systems. Meanwhile, defeating the guardian has revealed the relic, and the Kazon and Trabe's greed makes the godlike alien Bonai send them and their ships away. He promises to meet Janeway and the Vidiian again one day because they are deemed honorable and lets them leave the planet.
CONTINUITY: See previous issues (Kazon, Trabe, Vidiians).
DIVERGENCES: None.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Chakotay casts a spell!
REVIEW: Uhm, what? Everything here seems like a red herring. First, though each of Raab's issues has featured to characters having a pretty vicious go at each other, it never turned out to be anything but color. Felt more like the first few episodes of DS9 than anything happening in Voyager's second or third seasons. Likewise, Paris and Kim's almost-escape from the brig has no pay-off, nor do their conversation. There is no valid explanation for how the "phantom" even works except the barest of technobabble. And then there's the relic, which was never a way home in the first place, nor does Bonai explain what he wants with honorable allies. We'll have to wait on that one. For now, it's just a frustrating read. And the supplies Voyager needed at the planet? Well, I guess they didn't get that either.
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