Now this is much more what I was expecting to read when I picked up a Star Trek: The Next Generation comic! The art is far more appropriate for the crew of the Enterprise. Geordi LaForge no longer looks like a gladiator of some kind. For the most part they actually have the crew in the correct character feel as well.
These first issues seem to be grouped together in sets of two before the adventure seems to span a four issue set, so I’ve decided to review these eight together at once, mostly to save me reviewing time. The first two issues deal with a wholly new race for the viewers, but Captain Picard has been here before. It’s a murder mystery tale of sorts. An old leader on a different planet is essentially dying, but he gets murdered before his last wishes can be told to the Federation. It’s actually very well written because I never really figured out the ending until it happened! Usually in Star Trek they leave some subtle hints to sort of keep you thrown off guard, but this one isn’t like that, you simply have no idea! So it has a shock ending factor, even if a little out of the norm for a Star Trek feel. The comic is still clearly young and has a stark 1980’s feel to it, but I think this is a good sign that the series will do The Next Generation a lot more justice than the mini-series. They also introduced a new character named McRobb, and he’s sort of the down on your luck klutz type of character. Based on issues one and two, I don’t know how to feel about this guy. He’s either going to help the story or be a detriment depending on how often he’s used. The problem is he’s sort of thrown in for what appears to be slapstick comic humor and Star Trek doesn’t really revolve around this. For the most part Data provides a great deal of the comic relief with his childlike naiveté, but now we have McRobb to laugh at. I just hope Data’s humorous outlook on life isn’t going to be dominated by this new comedic character. McRobb seems to desperately want to prove himself as a tough guy, but he sees himself as just a weak engineer. I don’t know… he felt unnecessary in these issues, to be honest. Although he’s probably a precursor to Reginald Barclay who was introduced in a later season.
Overall Rating: 2.7/5