Star Trek 1389: Alien Spotlight: Klingons

1389. Alien Spotlight: Klingons

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Alien Spotlight - Klingons, IDW Comics, April 2009

CREATORS: Keith R.A. DeCandido (writer), J.K. Woodward (artist)

STARDATE: Year of Kahless 893 (soon after Errand of Mercy; flashback 7 years prior); Year of Kahless 936 (17 years after The Undiscovered Country); Year of Kahless 996 (just before Blood Oath).

PLOT: Three times in his life, Kang has occasion to reflect on the Klingon proverb about 4000 throats being cut by a running man in a single night. When the war with the Federation ended, he told his crew about how his former captain had escaped prison from allegedly Federation-backed aliens and killed 4000 before he fell. 17 year after the destruction of Praxis, Kang investigated a Klingon colony that would not accept Federation humanitarian aid because it was doing very well by raiding neighboring Klingon settlements; during the night, one warrior who despised his world's regime kills the entire population of 4000. And as Kang waits on the Albino's wife, he tells her where the proverb came from, an old tale of a daring castle raid in the days of Kahless.

CONTINUITY: The Organian Treaty was put in place in Errand of Mercy. Kang and Mara did not appear until Day of the Dove (which is the origin of the proverb). The later sequences show Kang's restored forehead and quest to find his son's killer (Blood Oath). In the later sequence, Kang meets up with Harriman and the Enterprise-B (Generations); by this time, Demora Sulu has made Commander. In the last sequence, Kang is at the deathbed of the Albino's wife and upon her death, learns of his nemesis' location (Blood Oath).

DIVERGENCES: None.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Q'onoS: A nice place to visit...
REVIEW: DeCandido takes Kang's proverb and runs with it (pun not intended). Sometimes used in a mythic context, sometimes hyperbole, and sometimes ironic, it acts as a series of markers through Kang's tragic life. Woodward's painterly art is evocative and epic, and raises the issue's quality considerably. We need more Kang in the comics. We've had more than enough Kor and Koloth. Plenty of blanks to fill in still. More Kang! Nice to see the continuing adventures of the Enterprise-B as well. I'm not big on the Kahless sequence, however, as it introduces a whole cast of characters with names full of Ks and too few pages to really get into it. Looks great, but Kangless, and that's a negative. Not a big one though. To date, Alien Spotlight vol.2 has been a joy.