1336. Turnaround, Part IIPUBLICATION: Star Trek: New Frontier #2, IDW Comics, March 2008
CREATORS: Peter David (writer), Stephen Thompson (artist)
STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)
PLOT: The Trident is sent to protect Bravo Station from Mark McHenry, while the Excalibur tries to track the USS Paradox, which may be heading for New Thallon. In the vicinity of that planet, Soleta, now Romulan legate commanding the IRW Spectre, comes across the Paradox being straddled by a massive rig-like ship. Suddenly, the Spectre's power levels start dropping and it is soon surrounded by multiple Paradox ships. Jellico is surprised to see Soleta (and vice-versa), but is happy to kidnap the former science officer for parties unknown...
CONTINUITY: See previous issue (Jellico, New Frontier) The IRW Spectre, USS Trident, Mueller and Soleta from that series also appear.
DIVERGENCES: None.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Show of hands
REVIEW: Part II is a far more difficult read for newcomers to the New Frontier family than the first. More characters are introduced, and again they may have moved on since the last novel you read unless you're perfectly up to date. This really slots in with the novels and doesn't work well as a standalone project (which I continue to believe is a problem when going multi-media - just look at the Matrix sequels). In this second issue, the soap opera takes precedence over the plot, with little incident and lots of head-scratching for the less initiated. Once again, David's trademark humor falls flat, and I'm left wondering why. I think part of the reason is the art, which doesn't quite manage the right expressions. The frequent comedy eye rolling looks like characters are dying where they stand and so on. Where Thompson does excel is with ship designs. In addition to the Paradox, we also have a very cool look for the Spectre and the alien rig. So more plot and less character development please! (And no, I can't believe I just wrote that.)
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