Star Trek 1267: Nemesis

1267. Nemesis

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Early Voyages #17, Marvel Comics, June 1998

CREATORS: Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett (writers), Javier Pulido and Steve Moncuse (artists)

STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)

PLOT: Discovered by the Temazi, Pike, Kaaj and their respecting landing parties fight/run for their lives. The Temazi unleash their alien Thanatos weapons, large killer robots that attack both them and their ships. Up in orbit, the confrontation between the Enterprise and the Klingons takes a nasty turn as Admiral April undermines Number One's authority and tactics. Down below, Kaaj gives his life to destroy pursuing Thanatos machines, dying knowing Pike will be haunted by his death. The landing parties get to a shuttle and fly off the planet, but it may or may not be lost when April orders torpedoes that create a shockwave that hits the Enterprise and knocks out Number One...

CONTINUITY: See previous issue (Robert April, Kaaj).

DIVERGENCES: There is Voyager episode and a feature film that share that title.

PANEL OF THE DAY - The maddening finish
REVIEW: Down on the planet, we have Kaaj's epic death, worthy of a Klingon. Up above, there's human drama as April turns out to be something of a baddie, consistently undermining Number One's tactics. Sita shows herself to be an ambitious ladder climber, following April's lead rather than Number One's. The outer space action is a bit cartoony in places, but it ends in a strong cliffhanger. And despite all its strengths, I don't recommend you read the last two issues of Early Voyagers. See, it ends here, in the middle of that cliffhanger. What will April do with his returned command? Is Number One alright? Is Pike dead? And will he get the girl? What about Grace's troubles below decks? And does Sita get a better job after this? All unknowns. You can really tell here that Marvel's Star Trek line collapsed without warning. There wasn't even time to to turn some pages into a quick epilogue. Extremely frustrating and it stinks of wasted potential. All it needed was one more issue to wrap things off satisfyingly, I'm sure.

Comments

snell said…
This would be a good point to applaud Marvel, though. They did a lot of fun, exciting and original stuff with the license, which can't be said of every comic book company that had it. Original characters? Corners of the universe previously unexplored? A line that went way beyond Kirck/Spock/Picard/Data worship?

Bravo, Marvel. Too bad it had to end.
May 28, 2010 at 9:54 AM
Siskoid said…
Yes, one of the better efforts. It's not quite over on the blog, of course, with various specials and minis left to go.
May 28, 2010 at 10:06 AM
hiikeeba said…
Too bad it ended here. I thought that the new art team were about to make this title stand out from the rest of Marvel's Star Trek titles, simply by being so stylized. Almost TAS, in a way, which is appropriate for April's appearance.

Maybe Paramount will let Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett finally finish this adventure in a novel. One can dream
May 28, 2010 at 11:09 AM
Komadori said…
I know it's well over three years later, Jeffrey, but as for this ending, I can't help but think it's a great lead in for some fanfiction. I'll be trying my hand at it, after NaNoWriMo, and what's more, I'll even try to illustrate it. I know it won't be pro, but it'll be done with love and a willingness to keep to the spirit of the comic and the prime universe, overall.

If and when it's done, I'll try and come back and notify peeps. If that's okay.
October 22, 2013 at 12:46 AM
Siskoid said…
Looking forward to it!
October 22, 2013 at 7:28 AM
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