1327. Alien Spotlight: OrionsPUBLICATION: Alien Spotlight: Orions, IDW Comics, December 2007
CREATORS: Scott Tipton and David Tipton (writers), Elena Casagrande (artist)
STARDATE: Unknown (after The Cage)
PLOT: Fleet Captain Pike is the guest of honor at a Babel function, but also in charge of its security. He catches an Orion "slave girl" called Leata about the stab a Tellarite dignitary and chases her away. The fact the Tellarite had a weapon makes him suspicious though, and Commodore Mendez gives him permission to discretely investigate. Pike finds that the Tellarite is plotting assassinations, and then meets up with Leata who is trying to kill the Tellarite for having killed her sister. They team up to defeat the villain, and on Pike's request, she spares his life. She also gives Pike all the evidence he needs to bring the hit man to justice, and then disappears.
CONTINUITY: Pike (The Cage) has just been made Fleet Captain. Babel was first mentioned in Journey to Babel, but not seen until Babel. Commodore Mendez first appeared in The Menagerie.
DIVERGENCES: None.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Uhm...
REVIEW: Despite good enough art and well-done characterization, this Alien Spotlight fails to realize its potential. It's not so much a spotlight on the Orions as it is a story with an Orion in it. In that sense, it's just as much a Tellerite spotlight. Pike continues to intrigue me as the captain we never got to know. He's more dour and serious than Kirk ever was, and even manages to say no to Orion lips. He even makes that look cool. Everyone else is rather two-dimensional however and it's a wonder the Tellarite even needed to be investigated. He's too brazen to even seem undercover. Leata holds more promise, but never really escapes the femme fatale avenger archetype. An ok Pike story with its moments, but as an Orion story, it doesn't really go anywhere.
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