1397. Ghosts, Issue 5PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation - Ghosts #5, IDW Comics, March 2010
CREATORS: Zander Cannon (writer), Javier Aranda and Marc Rueda (artists)
STARDATE: 44751.7 (follows the last issue)
PLOT: Worf is meant to be executed at sunset by the Dorosshians, so Riker sends Data down to find him so he can be beamed up. Worf manages to slip out of his manacles, but is quickly recaptured. The scuffle does give his location up. However, the transporter is busy trying to blindly collect people in the Zoor energy dimension using coordinates transmitted via the Zoor ship's survivor who is half in and half out of it... and he's slipping into the other dimension more and more. Geordi realizes Juuletians have six fingers and must be using base 12 for their mathematics, which makes sense of the coordinates. They start beaming people to the ship. The survivor's wife, one of the scientists responsible for discovering Zoor energy feels responsible for its use as a weapon and chooses to remain behind. As the sun sets, Riker beams Picard and the former Dorosshian leader directly to Worf's location, preventing a tragedy. The Zoor ship survivor slips out of our universe, he and his wife are reunited in a timeless dimension. The Enterprise leaves, knowing this world is not ready for Federation membership, though the collaboration he forced between its peoples inside the void may bring them closer to it one day.
CONTINUITY: See previous issues (O'Brien, Tapestry). The Enterprise next heads for Q'onoS, presumably to pick up J'Dan (The Drumhead).
DIVERGENCES: See previous issues (stardates; the whole mission apparently lasted only about 6 hours). The cover's enemies have no relation to anyone pictured in the series.
PANEL OF THE DAY - Five-fingered Worf is a Houdini on Allios IV.
REVIEW: Again, there are some cool bits, like Picard's diplomatic skills, Worf's escape attempt and the reveal of the six fingered hands which had been hiding in plain sight. However, Ghosts' finale doesn't quite save the series from its forgettableness. Where kickassery was indicated, we instead have Data on a scouting mission that doesn't do a damn thing. He finds Worf, but Worf escapes by himself, only to be recaptured and saved at the last second some other way. Apparently, O'Brien was the only transporter dude on duty at the time (never mind that sensors have been more finicky than normal all series). The guilt-ridden scientists remaining behind was entirely predictable, and there's no real closure as we leave the planet behind with its troubles. Picard has acted haunted for five issues now, but we're not sure by what. It seems odd for him to contemplate his mortality in the middle of Season 4. And of course, there was always the awkward art, which couldn't even follow the script (where's the "glow" they refer to on the survivor's body, for example)? Cannon has some good ideas (and an infectious love of Worf), but ultimately, they just never gelled.
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