1323. Year Four, Issue 6PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Year Four #6, IDW Comics, January 2008
CREATORS: David Tischman (writer), Gordon Purcell (artist)
STARDATE: 5965.5 (follows the last issue)
PLOT: Hoping to find survivors of the USS Pasteur wreck, the Enterprise visits a nearby (mostly) uninhabited planet where a robot called Avatar is growing babies as merchandise. Originally developed to rebuild the planet's population, it has since become a factory for slaves and soldiers. Ensign O'Hara, hoping to find her brother, the captain of the Pasteur, instead discovers the nursery, and a baby that was grown from his stolen DNA. The process kills the subject, and all of the Pasteur's survivors were killed to create babies. Avatar almost kills Kirk, but the one baby she didn't sell off, now an adult called Adan, stops her. Avatar realizes that her adopted daughter should leave the planet as her former people's true legacy, and the Enterprise finds home for her and the infants.
CONTINUITY: O'Hara takes her baby brother to Pacifica (Conspiracy; Manhunt).
DIVERGENCES: If a USS Pasteur is lost in this story, why doesn't Crusher's alternate future Pasteur (All Good Things...) have at least an "-A" in its designation?
PANEL OF THE DAY - Remember, kids! Accidents happen!
REVIEW: Though I can't recommend Purcell's robot design (Avatar is like an unfinished Granny Goodness), the story more or less stands up. The fate of the Pasteur's crew is bizarre, and the nursery rather creepy. Interesting ideas, as is often the case in Tischman's scripts. Ok sure, Adan comes out of nowhere, but is sensibly used as the reason for Avatar even attacking the landing party. It's about motherhood. O'Hara, introduced just this issue, gets a proper TOS-ian send-off, as she leaves the Enterprise to become a mother. This mini-series has, on the whole, been a lot like the Animated Series. Underdeveloped stories that sometimes go into silly territory. Here's hoping that the eventual sequel will be a little more engaging.
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