1394. Ghosts, Issue 2PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation - Ghosts #2, IDW Comics, December 2009
CREATORS: Zander Cannon (writer), Javier Aranda and Marc Rueda (artists)
STARDATE: 44751.4 (follows the last issue) Is it me, or is time moving very slowly in this story (according to the stardates)?
PLOT: Though Picard has created an armistice of sorts between the Juuletians and the Dorosshians of Allios IV, tensions remain high. While Worf visits the latter's settlements, Riker catches the former trying to take away the machine that made a number of Juuletians disappear. They need to recover the "Zoor ore" that has made their society develop so quickly. Aboard the Enterprise, Picard has locked himself away in his ready room after being spooked by Juuletian surveillance craft survivor who saw him as a ghost. Geordi finds a way do dampen the Zoor energy, preventing the survivor from hallucinating. More lucid now, he claims that one of the elder leaders also appeared to him as a ghost, reciting numbers. As Picard tries to warn that leader he may be in danger, he finds out that Worf's been attacked and captured by Dorosshians. They will kill him unless orbit is cleared of all ships...
CONTINUITY: See previous issue (O'Brien).
DIVERGENCES: The Enterprise-D and the small Juuletian craft are much too visible in the sky from the ground below.
PANEL OF THE DAY - We've never seen a janitor on a starship, have we?
REVIEW: Though I do like the look of the twin alien cities, the art still remains a sore point. Not only does it feature awkward figure work, but also strange choices as to what to show in any given panel. I am warming to the story, however. Cannon really is writing the equivalent of a numbered Star Trek novel, with lots of detail and more scenes than 20some pages usually contain. The mystery of the Zoor energy almost gives itself up (would the missing men be out of phase and register as "ghosts"?), but then that doesn't explain why living people are also seen as ghosts. Almost everyone in the cast is given something to do, except for Data who is conspicuously absent here. He better be on a secret mission, because he really should be working on some of these scientific puzzles instead of, say, Troi. This is one of several missteps the issue makes, including more or less ignoring the previous issue's cliffhanger and making Picard all angsty for no reason. Still, there's a cool Worf sequence where sensors just show lots of people getting wounded below though the fight isn't seen. Counts for something in my book.
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