1278. Enter the WolvesPUBLICATION: Star Trek: Enter the Wolves, Wildstorm Comics, 2001
CREATORS: A.C. Crispin and Howard Weinstein (writers), Carlos Mota, Keith Aiken, John Nyberg, and Derek Fridolfs (artists)
STARDATE: 14093.4 (just before the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor)
PLOT: After the death of Amanda Grayson, Sarek gets maried to Perrin on the eve of a summit at which he has invited the reclusive Legarans. Another reclusive race has shown up - the Cardassians. Unfortunately, the latter have no intention of joining the Federation. They're their on orders from the Obsidian Order to sabotage talks with their uneasy neighbors, the Legarans. And while Sarek doesn't trust them from the start, Spock has more of an open mind, fueling the split between father and son. Perrin tries to investigate the Cardassians, but is captured by them. A disguised Cardassian openly insults the Legarans by wearing the color orange, while another boards their ship and poisons their tanks. Only McCoy's warning prevents a tragedy when the Legarans try to leave the summit. The Cardassians commit suicide rather than undergo a mindmeld, though Spock does learn he was wrong to trust their intentions.
CONTINUITY: Sarek has invited the Legarans to a Vulcan summit (as part of the preliminaries mentioned in "Sarek"). We see Sarek and Perrin's wedding ("Sarek"). McCoy is present, shorting after having been made Admiral (Encounter at Farpoint). Spock misses it, but attends the summit, coming back from the Klingon homeworld (The Undiscovered Country). A Cardassian disguises himself as an Antedean (Manhunt). We're told Valeris never recovered from Spock's forced mindmeld (The Undiscovered Country).
DIVERGENCES: A coloring mistake puts a number of people dressed in orange at the Legaran talks, shortly before the Cardassian reveals an orange outfit designed to insult them.
PANEL OF THE DAY - So, what do the Legarans look like?
REVIEW: A.C. Crispin's participation kind of makes this a sequel to her Sarek novel, but given what the typical reader might know, it reads more as a prequel to Sarek's TNG appearances. I really like the idea of stories set in-between the Movie era and TNG, especially those that set up the modern era. The Cardassians are just now coming out of their shell, but we're not far from the Bajoran Occupation, and still decades away from a war with the Federation. The Legarans and their strict protocols were discussed in "Sarek", but we never got to see them. Sarek's marriage to Perrin. All of these things will have an impact on TNG and DS9. The characters are well characterized, and the evolution of their relationships paid more than lip service. McCoy correctly foreshadows that Spock and Sarek will likely never speak again. Mota's artwork is really quite good, whether it be his likenesses, new characters or technology. You'd think three inkers would make a mess of things, but they all hold to a coherent style. While it's a strong character piece and full of fun continuity elements, the ending doesn't quite work. McCoy jumps out of nowhere with information, and we don't know where he got it. There's a rush of action, confusing factionalizing among the Cardassians (Weinstein's influence, I bet), and the plot seems to end because we've run out of pages. Too bad.
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