Star Trek 1410: Captain's Log: Sulu

1410. Captain's Log: Sulu

PUBLICATION: Star Trek - Captain's Log: Sulu, IDW Comics, January 2010

CREATORS: Scott and David Tipton (writers), Federica Manfredi (artist)

STARDATE: Unknown (some time after ST VI)

PLOT: The Tholians have taken offense at a Federation colony near their border and Sulu's Excelsior is sent in for diplomatic talks. Unfortunately, Sulu has to stop to rescue a ship in trouble, insulting the Tholians by arriving 37 minutes late to the rendezvous. They send their fleet to attack the colony, but Sulu doesn't give up. He gives the Tholians an out by asking them to weigh mercy (his own and theirs) against punctuality, and they accept his excuse, preventing all-out war.

CONTINUITY: The story starts with a fencing match, Sulu's sport since The Naked Time. The Tholians first appeared in The Tholian Web. Janice Rand appears (ST VI).

DIVERGENCES: The USS Shepherd is pictured as an Oberth-class ship in one panel, and as a Constitution-class in another.

PANEL OF THE DAY - The Tholian Yarn
REVIEW: These spotlights look to be necessarily brief, but in this case at least, Sulu is reasonably well handled. The focus is on him, with his new first officer acting as a bouncing board for his thought process (a living Log, if you will). Sulu has his own way of doing things, different from Kirk, and that's showcased in the issue as well, though the same kind of "cowboy diplomacy" is there. The opening with the fencing lesson gives us a clue as to his philosophy, not so much bluffing as Kirk might have done, but taking calculated risks based on predicting his opponent's next move. There's also a nice moment when Sulu goes silent before deciding what to do. Fun to see the Tholians as well, though they don't exactly get to do much given the page count.