1393. Ghosts, Issue 1PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation - Ghosts #1, IDW Comics, November 2009
CREATORS: Zander Cannon (writer), Javier Aranda and German Torres-Ruiz (artists)
STARDATE: 44751.3 (between Qpid and The Drumhead)
PLOT: The Enterprise-D is at Allios IV, a planet whose Federation application has been held up because of a civil war the Juuletians refuse to admit exists. When Picard's crew rescues a Juuletian in a damaged craft, a survivor with strange wounds and who claims to see ghosts, they also run afoul of the Dorosshians, the other people of the planet, who are enraged that the Juuletians would have a ship above their country. Picard makes the two sides agree to sit at the same table, but accusations of warmongering and spying fly. Aboard the ship, Crusher examines the survivor and finds a strange energy signature, and Geordi pinpoint it as something native to the planet's core. When Picard asks to see the survivor, the latter accuses him of being one of the ghosts...
CONTINUITY: O'Brien is a member of the crew at this point.
DIVERGENCES: None.
PANEL OF THE DAY - No finger-pointing here
REVIEW: Two factions warring on the same planet... feels like a Weinstein script. To be fair, Cannon manages to fit a lot of story in his 20-some pages. We learn about the two warring sides and about strange experiments that may have phased the craft's survivor partially out of the universe. The eponymous ghosts remain a mystery, and if there really is a link to Picard, it may prove to be an interesting one. So an ordinary "episode" - not sure we need another TNG story that feels like one of those numbered novels - but with a solid base at least. The art is incredibly awkward though. I don't think I like it and for me, it sinks the already dull-ish happenings further.
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