Star Trek: The Next Generation - Intelligence Gathering (#1-5)

"I thought we needed a bigger stick" - Worf

Teambook month continues with the ultimate TV science fiction team, the crew of the Enterprise NCC 1701-D. My previous experiences with IDW's Next Generation miniseries have not been positive ones, and I'll tell you right from the outset this is deeply crappy as well.  The one thing it has going for it is that it's shorter than the other two. Let's take a look at the back cover blurb to see what it's about. "What seems to be a series of unrelated missions is soon revealed to be part of a larger conspiracy involving a threat unlike any Picard has ever faced."  Hey wait a minute, that's the same plot as "The Space Between" and that pile of arse came before this.  How creatively bankrupt do you have to be to foist the exact same plot on readers a short while after you first did so?  Writers Scott and David Tipton and IDW,  I aim a "Feh" in your general direction.  Before we move on, a word about the art.  One the one hand David Messina's work has a pleasing, heavy black-lined chunkiness that appeals to me greatly, Picard and Riker are well drawn, Data looks good in some panels and off-model in others. On the other,  you can only tell who the female characters are by their uniforms and hairdo's.  The setting of this storyline is late season five, because that is the only time Ensign Ro and Chief O'Brian were serving on board at the same time and reference is made to the season five episode "Powerplay" as having happened recently.  Being the massive fucking nerd that I am, placing these comicbook adventures into the ST:TNG timeline is important to me.  Now let's look at the story itself.

It kicks off with Riker roleplaying a pilot in World War 2 on the holodeck.  Data appears and summons him to Picard's ready room and Picard tells them they are going to Daystrom One who are having problems with the artificial intelligence that runs their system.  As it is based on Data's positronic brain they want him to come along and help, especially as they think the A.I. has gained sentience.

At Daystrom One they tell Riker and Data that all the Federation's information is contained in a Tesseract, a four dimensional hypercube in which every planets information is represented by a seperate node. They want Data and Riker to travel inside it and either shut it down or repair it.

Data: "If the A.I. has indeed achieved sentience. I am unsure I would be simply willing to 'turn it off'"

The Commander of the project says that's why Riker is coming along, to ensure the orders are upheld. Using a pod, Riker and Data travel inside the Tesseract.  They are to follow the access corridor to a central AI. Things get a bit tense as Riker and Data debate shutting down the A.I. then suddenly a diamond shaped object appears in front of them.  When they probe it, it explodes.  When they try to go on their way, more objects appear in front of them.

Inside the technobabble, I mean tesseract.

Back on the Enterprise, Lieutenant Barclay shows LaForge a hidden subspace signal he's uncovered.  When Picard is told about it he wonders if this explains the problems with Daystrom One's computers.  Back in the Tesseract, the pod is being dragged along by a tractor beam to another ship like object in there. Riker has an idea, the send an electrical chare into the ships tractor beam generator when they get close enough and overload it and escape. Piloting their pod back to the Gateway to Daystrom One.

LaForge on the Enterprise has decoded the subspace transmissions, it's Romulans and they were after Data. They fire a volley of warning shots near where they have traced the emissions as coming from and reveal a Romulan ship.  Back in the Tesseract, the pod is being fired upon.

Riker: "This is ridiculous. How can we be under attack in a secure federation facility?"

They use their pod to smash into their attacker and disable them then they escape out of the Gateway and back to Daystrom One.  The Romulans close to the Enterprise scarper, while an armed Federation security team find Romulans inside the Tesseract.  The fleeing Romulans hail the Enterprise and confirm it was Data they were after.  Picard cuts him off and they go on their way.  Riker and Data have a converstaion later where Riker says he hopes Data doesn't blame him for being ready to shut down the A.I. no matter what the cost. Data says he has no feelings on the matter and that he knew Riker would follow orders. The chapter ends with Riker dubiously agreeing with him.

Those shifty Romulan buggers.

As a first chapter it's not a great slam, bam start to kick things off.  It has an insane amount of technobabble and the battles in the Tesseract are not particularly depicted all that clearly.  The debates between Riker and Data are pallid rehashes of those in the episode "The Measure Of A Man" where Riker was charged with disproving Data's sentience (he lost thankfully) although they do anticipate Data's actions in the sixth season episode "The Quality Of Life" where he was prepared to sacrifice his life to prove the sentience of some little robots.

The next chapter begins on an alien planet, some tatooed, sword wielding humanoids instigate a takeover of a dam being run by some bureaucratic aliens.  We then cut to the Enterprise where Data explains that the planet is Voltar VII.  A Federation colony under construction as a cooperative venture between the Rigelien's and Kaylar.  The Rigelien's are bureaucrats and the Kaylar are the workers.  If the conflict is not sorted out soon, the colony will not be completed on time and the Cardassians will intervene.  Which seems like an odd reason, but whatever.

Picard puts Worf in charge of the negociations, and he recuits Ensign Ro as a member of his Away Team. They beam to the headquarters of the Rigelien faction, their leader says the Kaylar want control of the facility because they built it.  He says the Kaylar were fairly compensated for their work and their actions are "unheard of".  The Kaylar have threatened to blow up the dam facility they have control of, so Worf's team decide to sneak in via the sewers to retake the dam by force as the Kaylar refuse to talk with Worf.

ACTION!

Their primary mission on reaching the inside of the dam is to disable the explosive devices that could destroy it.  They enter a control room but the Kaylar are ready for them and a phaser fight ensues.  One of the Away Team is wounded and Worf gets into a fist fight with one of the Kaylar.

Worf: "I will not let you destroy this damn!"

Kaylar: "What are you talking about?! We'd never destroy our own work!"

Then the Away Team returns to the Enterprise so the wounded member can be treated.  Worf is frustrated that the Rigeliens maybe lying to them and the Kaylar refuse to talk to him. Picard tells him to "follow his own sensibilities".  So Worf goes to talk to the head Rigelien and bluntly tells him that he feel he's been misled about the conflict and that the Federation doesn't like being made a fool of and they'll be going now and the Rigeliens can deal with the dispute themselves.  The Rigelien leader tells him that "surely an accord can be reached."

Worf say that they should go and meet the Kaylar ambassador now and enter into talks.  It turns out the problem was a contract renegociation.  Once aboard the Enterprise the two representatives begin talks overseen by Troi, while Worf leaves them too it.  He tells Riker his methods were not textbook but seem to suffice.  And so ends chapter two, a somewhat boring story that has nothing to do as far as I can see with the elements that link the rest of the chapters together and pay off in the final chapter of the book. Squabbling aliens, building a Federation colony, the whole thing hinging on a workers contract, it's like a dull season one episode and is the least interesting part of the collection by far.

Chapter three begins with the Enterprise arrving at Starbase 217 to drop off the Romulan sabateurs from Daystrom One and effect some repairs. The Romulans have given no clue as to how they managed to infiltrate Daystrom One.  A repair crew from the Starbase beams up and after repairs are carried out the Enterprise leaves.

They get a priority one distress call from the USS Jackson so they set course to rendezvous with the ship.  But when the arrive and hail it, the Captain has no clue the distress call was sent.  The Captain then says they are having a problem with their Chief Engineer who most likely sent it, so Picard, LaForge and O'Brien beam over to help deal with the matter.

Carll explains himself.

Picard goes to talk with Captain Travis, while LaForge and O'Brien go to talk with Chief Engineer Carll. Travis tells Picard that Carll is both difficult to work with and recently had begun reporting problems that aren't there. Carll tells LaForge and O'Brien that the systems on board the Jackson are badly out of date and while bringing things up to scratch he discovered a Mantleau Wave.  He sent the distress call because no one on the Jackson believed him about it.

A Mantleau Wave in the anti-matter stream only needs the right harmonic frequency to create a dissonance in the matter/anti-matter chamber and the warp core will explode. LaForge says that current engines were built specifically to avoid this problem, but Carll insists he saw one.  Picard, allows LaForge and O'Brien to stay and investigate.  After fiddling around with the engines, Carll manages to show the Mantleau Wave exists, but this time it starts to build and in seventeen minutes will cause the warp core to explode.

The crew of the Jackson begin to evacuate to the Enterprise while Carll, LaForge and O'Brien work to contain things.  They manage to track the wave to it's source and discover its actually being generated by a small device in a Jeffries tube.  Removing the device stops the Mantleau Wave, it seems the device was designed to fake the engine trouble when the ship got a certain distance from Starbase 215. 

The plot thickens.

Geordi and LaForge also report to Picard that they found the same type of device on the Enterprise, only it was designed to go off when they got close to Starbase 217.  The chapter ends with Picard pondering if they are being led somewhere.  This isn't a bad chapter, it's probably the best of a bad lot.  It's got insane amounts of technobabble in it but the mystery is set up and paid off satisfactorally within the confines of a single issue so I give it the thumbs up.

Chapter four begins with Data and Picard in Stellar Cartography pondering the sector they are seeming to be led to.  Then three ships appear, they are the goofy aliens called Pakleds from season two's "Samaritan Snare". Their weapons systems are somewhat advanced compared to the primitive state of the rest of their ship.  The Pakled's hail them and say they will destroy the Enterprise and sell it's remains to fund the glorious Pakled Empire. Which doesn't actually exist.

The Pakleds

They then attack and Troi makes one of her stunningly profound pronouncements that "something isn't right." She goes onto say the Pakleds are being mind-controlled.  The Pakleds then ram the Enterprise and blow up their ships in the process.  Data checks the plasma trail from their ship and finds the planet they were last on.  Picard tells Troi to assemble an Away Team and she takes Doctor Crusher and Ensign Ro along with her.  Wow, a female dominated team, including Beverly who is one of the most overlooked characters in these comics.  This should be awesome!

Down on the planet Ro kicks in a door and everything goes dark.  Then Troi, Crusher and Ro beam back to the Enterprise and Ro punches out O'Brien. Then the three of them walk emotionlessly through the ship punching everyone who tries to stop them.  Oh fucking amazing.  It would be the female led team that gets itself mind controlled.  Please do excuse me, I feel the need to go into the yard and do some primal screaming.  In the meantime do enjoy this image.

OK, back now. So hardy har, how funny to see slender Crusher and petite Troi beating up big blokes.  And if you have somehow forgotton this happened to Troi in "Powerplay" never fear, a crew member reminds us of those events. Sigh.  Anyway, the silly, weak minded women are bought under control by the manly MEN and down on the planet an Away Team of MEN discover it was a Ferenghi "Thought Maker" as seen in season one's "The Battle" causing all the havok.

Picard, Riker and Data discuss the coordinates Crusher entered when trying to fly the Enterprise from the battle bridge and they decide to go check it out, with Picard saying it's not a trap if they are expecting it.  And this sexist pile of garbage can go to hell.  It could have worked with any configuration of Away Team, but having it made up of just the females just because it'll look funny to see them smacking the blokes around is diabolically poor stuff.  Eh, one more chapter to go anyway.

Nice sweep there Troi.

They go to the coordinates and get a distress signal from the local leader of the planet.  Picard has an away team beam down and Data is abducted by two Romulans.  Picard says they expected this and planted a transponder in him to follow where he has been taken. They find where he is being held and beam down to discover he was taken by Tomalak, the Romulan they faced off against in the second season episde "Contagion".  Picking up where that episode left off, they have been looking for more Iconian gateways, which the comic doesn't bother to explain properly, but the Iconians were an ancient interstellar race that travelled by gateways between planets.

Turns out when the messed about with this gateway they found, hostile aliens came through when they caused a "rift".  They didn't have the knowhow to close the rift hence the ridiculous lengths they went to do abduct Data.  A huge alien breaks through and attacks and when hand phasers don't work, Worf uses the ones on board the shuttle they came down on. An alien then broadcasts to them that they intend to keep coming and eat and enslave everyone.

A somewhat unfriendly alien.

Picard: "Tomalak! This is your bloody mess.  How are we going to get out of it?"

Data figures out the rift can be closed from the other side and Tomalak volunteers one of his men for the task. He manages it although dies in the process and the rift and gateway are safely sealed.  Picard then voices what we've all been thinkin:

Picard: "Perhaps next time you might simply ask for assisstance?"

Riker: "What is it they say? 'Romulans fear disgrace more than dishonour'"

Tomalak: "At least one of you understands us."

And the comic abruptly ends, with all our questions answered.  Wait no it doesn't.  What the hell kind of plan was that, all simply to abuct Data?  They went through massive shennanigans with Daystrom One and the Thought Maker, when they could have aducted him at anytime (for example when they were planting the Mantleau Wave device on the Enterprise), which is eventually what they did!  Tomalak strikes me as the person who if you asked them to change a lightbulb would start off by designing and building a lightbulb factory first.  I literally have no more words left in me to descibe how monumentally convoluted this story turned out to be.  So lets finish up.

You're angry Picard, how do you think I feel?!

Putting aside the apocalyptically stupid framing plot, what do we have overall?  A collections of stories that don't have space to develop any kind of plot, and that rely on meta knowledge of the shows characters to understand their motivations.  It's packed with fanwanky references to many episodes that would be lost on a more casual reader, you could argue they aren't made for the casual reader, but what fans would like in a ST:TNG comic book is an extension of what was going on in the TV series not warmed over stereotypical leftovers.  And yes it's nice to see characters like Ensign Ro and Chief O'Brien getting some page time, but not at the expense once again of the perenianally underused Crusher and Troi.  I keep buying these Next Generation IDW comicbooks and I'm not sure why as everytime I end up depressed and wanting my money back.  Yet as a combination of two things I love - Star Trek and comics - I can't resist giving them just one more chance each time.  Surely the odds of finding a decent one must start to improve now?  Maybe? We'll see...

Star Trek: The Space Between (#1-6)

"Lets get to work" - Riker

Hmmm, I've been enjoying my comics far too much recently.  Time to engage in some painful self-flagellation.  Don't worry, I won't get naked if you don't, but I am going to put myself through another Star Trek: The Next Generation comicbook review.  Why do this when I know only a couple of people will read this?  So the good stuff looks better by comparison I guess. The last one I reviewed, Hive was diabolically awful.  This is better, it is merely completely dreadful.  I don't understand why Star Trek: The Next Generation seems so difficult for writers to "get".  It's a vibrant and detailed universe with well defined and interesting characters and yet the comics based on it seem to be written and drawn at gunpoint.  There's a real feeling of "oh that'll do, the fans will eat this shit up whatever we make" about them and this one is no exception, being as sloppily drawn as it is lazily scripted.  It is NOT GOOD.  I am resisting the temptation to crack a lame joke about the only "space between" being the one between my ears for buying this crap when I have been burned several times before. Oh I just did anyway? Whoops, now I hate myself more. Moving swiftly on, this is basically five stand alone stories from various points in the Next Generation's seven Tv seasons that turn out to be connected in a very vague way by revelations in the final issue.  It was released in 2007 by IDW ,written by David Tischman and art by Casey Maloney and Leonard O'Grady.

The first chapter is set during The Next Generation's first season, because we have Tasha Yar still alive and Riker without a beard.  The Enterprise has arrived at a planet called Tigon which has recently opened communicatiosn with the Federation.  Riker, Tasha and Data beam down to meet with Chanceller Lomac to discuss possible Federation membership.  As they beam down there is an energy pulse on the planet. They are met by Edic who tells them they are all plugged into a planetwide internet type thing via implanted bluetooth like devices.  When they meet the chancellor it turns out to be a woman called Kadec.  No trace of Lomac appears to be stored in either the planets supercomputer or peoples memories.

To be fair the TV shows fights were lame as well

Data investigates and finds that as they arrived a large portion of data was wiped from the computer.  Then Riker and Tasha are stunned and imprisoned, while Data is incapacitated and the followers of Kadec start messing with his brain.   At the same time a huge pulse sends the Enterprise flying away from the planet and we get this odd exchange, Geordi says even at full warp they can't resist the pulse. 

Worf: "If we do not act soon we will end up in the Gamma Quadrant and I for one do not wish to go there"

Well, uh, Worf... when Voyager ended up in the Gamma Quadrant it initially was given that it would take seventy-five years to get back.  So yeah, you might end up in the Gamma Quadrant in many years from now, but I think it's unlikely.  Anyway Picard decides they can use the power of the pulse and full warp to slingshot round and arrive back in time to just before the pulse was fired.  Now I know Kirk and Co. pulled this kind of stuff before but Next Generation usually had a more "realistic" portrayal of time travel.  But whatever.

Back on Tigon, Data is having his memories modified so he'll report back that he has a spiffy time on the planet.  This doesn't explain how this is supposed to jibe with the Enterprise being attacked and Tasha and Riker being imprisoned but there we go. Meanwhile Tasha and Riker escape captivity by using a communicator to overload the Tigon guards bluetooth, then engaging in the lamest fight seen ever.

Recovering from a brain fiddle

The reason all this is happening is that th government uses it control of the main computer and peoples brains to retcon history, which is what happened to Lomac as the away team arrived on the planet. The Enterprise arrives back in time and takes out the pulse cannon. Tasha and Riker get to Data then Edic arrives with guards and arrests Kadec.  He arrests her on charges of crimes against the state and apologises to Riker and Co.  The issue ends with Data moping in Ten Forward and Tasha staying with him as he ponders his quest for humanity.

The next chapter is set during season 5 as Picard makes mention of Spock staying on Romulus.  He is taking time off to go on a Federation sponsored archeological dig.  The team uncover a two hundred year out shuttle pod and a bag of harmonic diamonds.  Immediately a fight breaks out over who can have them as they are insanely valuable.  Which I find amazing for two reasons, first of all its a Federation Dig, so they should be on it's way to a museum, though writers seem to equate Picards archeological adventures as looting expeditions.  Secondly well, whatever do they need the money for?  Picard in the film First Contact says it better than I:

PICARD: The economics of the future are somewhat different. ...You see, money doesn't exist in the twenty-fourth century.

LILY: No money! That means you don't get paid.

PICARD: The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. ...We work to better ourselves ...and the rest of humanity.

The crashed shuttlepod

So, anyway with that said they each take a diamond apart from Picard who says the assisstant with them can have his.  Then the next day they find the comm's unit smashed and the phasers missing.  Soon everyone is dead, except for Picard and one of the archeologists.  He and Picard manage to find a way into the ruins in the hope they can find some way of contacting the Enterprise.

Oh I forgot, on the Enteprise is  small sub-plot in which Beverly Crusher invites Deanna Troi to share a holodeck program based on Saturday Night Fever.  This is almost good until we get this remark from Bev:

Beverly: "Sometimes jazz and tap can feel - restrictive..plus I've lost five pounds"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, back with the archeologists, Picard using a deduction worthy of Jessica Fletcher surmises that the archeologist with him killed the rest and has the diamonds. The archeologist pulls a weapon on Picard and makes to leave him locked in the ruins but is ambused by Riker and Co.  There is no explanation for how they knew Picard needed them.  At the end Picard ponders that the diamonds gave out harmonics that stimulated greed centres but didn't affect him because he's a badass Captain.  He also ends up with the diamonds which he at least uses to finance more digs rather than for his own enrichment.

Ahahahaha, that's one of the worst drawings I have ever seen in a comic.

Chapter three is harder to place in Trek chronology.  Worf and Troi are definitely intimate by this point, whereas the finale of Trek has them dating but it's heavily implied it was their first kiss Picard interupted.  So it must take place between the end of season seven and the film Generations.  Anyway, the ship is attacked and Troi is injured, Worf goes to help her before coming to the bridge as ordered.   The ship attacking them takes out their engines and communications, leaving them having to rely on the shields to keep them safe while they figure out what's going on.  After the conference Picard dresses down Worf:

Picard: "We all appreciate the help you gave Commander Troi.  Indeed, your actions may have saved her life.  But when my first officer gives you an order, you respond.  Immediately and without hesitation.  Regardless of personal relationships."

What. The. Fuck?  I know Picard is stickler for protocol but he would NEVER prioritise that over the life of a valued crew member.  This is insanely out of character for him.  Bad writer, BAD.  

Things that make you go boom.

Data, Worf and Riker investigate the attack and conclude it might have been deliberately targeted at Troi.  Who manages to stagger out of sickbay and tell them there is no one on the ship.  After some technobabble they figure out that if they get right up close to the enemy ship that is being piloted by remote control they can interrupt the transmissions it's receiving, which causes it to blow up.  Later Picard and Data discuss the events.

Picard: "That ship was designed to destroy the Enterprise... we got lucky Data. But we still don't know who our enemy is."

The next story is most likely set during season five as Ensign Ro Lauren is part of the crew.  She, Geordi and Worf are returning from some Starfleet briefings.  A massive solar flare from a nearby planet causes them to crash on an icey planet.  They manage to find shelter in a monastary, but Geordi gets seperated from them by falling into a hole so they Worf and Ro go to find him, but are attacked by the monks who seem to have a zombie like infection.

Meanwhile the Enterprise has registered the shuttle is missing but don't know where to look for them.  They are also transporting the ex-leader of the planet Wyath called Ghud, who is to stand trial for crimes against the people and he needs to be delivered on time or his trial could be nulified.  He has found religion while in exile and offers to help find the missing crew members.  Picard allows it with heavy supervision and Ghud alters the long range sensors to detect Geordi's visor and Ro and Worf's metal accoutrements.

Attack of the killer monks.

Geordi, Worf and Ro discover that the monks have been affected by contaminated water fueled by excess solar radiation.  They come under heavy attack but as all seems hopeless the Enterprise arrives and beams them up.  The monks are cured and Ghud is taken to his trial on time, with Picard wishing him luck as he goes.  This is probably the best story in the book, the fight scenes are cool and its refreshing not to have the helpful former bad guy betray a trust.  It's still not great, but it's passable as a Next Generation story.

The next story is set early in season two as the Evil One has replaced Beverly as Chief Medical Officer and Wesley is moping about his mum being away.  They are called to a farming colony called Armada where something has gone wrong with the crops.  Wesley hand out with three teenagers who are unhappy with their lot, one has been accepted to Starfleet Academy but has to stay and work the land.

Cumin:  "Me and Rori work the fields for ten hours a day, then school for another four. No times for friends or fun."

Really, people in the future are miserable unfulfilled? But what about First Contact!Picard's comment that "We work to better ourselves ...and the rest of humanity."  Why it's almost as if the neo-marxist utopia of a culture without money and supposed freedom to live how you wish is in fact completely unworkable in practice. 

NO.

Anyway, turns out the farmers were using chroniton particles from a crashed Romulun torpedo to speed the growth of the crops.  One of the teenagers finddled with this to turn the crops bad so his brother could leave for Starfleet. When Wesley confronts them and tells them to confess he gets into a fight with the eldest teen, Cumin.  And wins!  Now I can believe a lot of things.  I can believe a man can fly.  I can believe in a ship that  is bigger on the inside than the outside.  I can believe the default shape for aliens is four limbs and a head.  But I CANNOT believe acting pansy Wesley Crusher would win in a fight with a teenager older, taller and more muscled from working the land.  Well, after the beatdown, the teens 'fess up and that's that.

Then we return to the post-season seven present and Picard wakes with a sudden realisation.  The various incidents they have investigated over the years shown here have been duplicated on other planets, for example chroniton particles were used to ruin crops on a Cardassian colony and a Maquis ship self destructed after finding some harmonic diamonds.

Data: "...Someone is using information from Starfleet logs to create offensive weapons".

Picard: " Our purpose is exploration.  That anyone would pervert that information for political or military purposes could destory everything the Federation built."

The final issue have Riker, Worf, Data, Geordi and Troi infiltrating a secret Federation base they have (somehow) concluded is organising these attacks. Meanwhile Picard is talking to Admiral Nechayev about it and she warns him off.  When they stop talking we see her talking to a shadowy figure saying "he knows".

A standoff

The away team search the computers on the base and find them empty, this is a trap. Picard is discussing Mechayev with the groundskeeper at the Starfleet Headquarters called Boothby.  He says he's heard whispers about this clandestine Federation activity, he leaves and when Picard is alone he is attacked, before he is killed someone who remains mysterious but who is probably Nechayev, beams him out.  He finds himself on the secret base and a man holds him at phaser point and tells him why they are doing what they do.

Man:  "You are allowed to explore because we keep the galaxy safe".

Then the away team arrive and point their phasers at him, but he has back up as well.  Stuck in a Mexican standoff, Geordi tries to detonate the bombs they set up to blow up the base, but they were neutralised.  So Picard and the rest beam away having accomplished precisely nothing.  They still decide to throw a party like they had acheived some kind of victory and the comic ends with Picard toasting the crew.  What?  Is that it?!  Picard and Co.  just give up and carry on their merry way.  Can I point to the terrible film Insurrection to show that the Enterprise will rebel against the Federation if the cause is just.  But the baddies are not defeated here and the comic just ends abruptly.

Why are you celebrating?!!!

I probably don't need to reiterate how bad this comic is.  The stories are poor, the art sloppy and everyone is terribly off-model.  The regular female cast is sidelined, and the ending defies belief.  The plot thread holding the stories together is incredibly contrived and the net result of the final issue is to make you feel like your time has been completely wasted.  At least no one was killed off in this comic, but otherwise this is worthless in all respects.  Bad times.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive (#1-4)

 "Resistance was futile" - Locutus

Star Trek The Next Generation is the second greatest science fiction TV show ever.  It sustained me through years of no Doctor Who (the first greatest science fiction show ever) and the subsequent series Deep Space Nine and Voyager all had their merits too.  Enterprise can sod off though, an undertaking so misconceived it killed the Trekverse stone dead and forced the makers of the 2009 film into doing a full reboot of Trek history to make up for it.  Anyway with that off my chest, lets turn to this graphic novel Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive.  From the cover it looks very promising.  We have the great Captain Picard; Locutus of Borg, the being he was transformed into to speak for the Borg collective and also provide companionship for the Queen Borg.  There is also Seven Of Nine, the one thing that made Voyager watchable for me.  She's an ex-Borg, liberated from the collective after her assimilation as a child.  Watching her struggle with her newfound humanity made for compelling viewing, plus she had an amazing rack.  So with all these awesome elements in place, lets see who's writing it.  Ah, it's Brannon Braga.  Half of the showrunning team that destroyed Trek as a TV franchise. *sad trombone*

OK, no let's be positive.  Braga actually wrote some pretty good stories when he was on the Next Generation's writing staff, and also a story when Picard starting turning into a lemur.  But we do not speak of that episode (It's not quite as bad as the Voyager one where Janeway and Paris turned into newts. And had little newt babies together.  Even Braga demanded that be struck from the canon of Voyager and he wrote it!).  Braga was definitely in love with what the power of the internet compels me to call "timey wimey" plotlines.  And Hive is very much in the spirit of those early stories, relying as it does on time travel, alternate history and changing timelines.

A bit more detailed background first.  The baddies in this comicbook are The Borg, a collective of cyborgs who "assimilate" individual beings and slave them to a group mind.  In the acclaimed Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter "The Best Of Both Worlds", a Borg cube travelled Federation space and captured Picard, who was assimilated and given the name Locutus to act as a speaker for the Borg.  This was prior to the concept of there being a Borg queen, which was introduced in the film First Contact, which played up the idea that Picard was somehow special to the Borg Queen and someone who she would go out of her way to reassimilate.  The other major character in this comic is Seven of Nine, a character who appeared in Star Trek Voyager, who as I said, was a Borg rescued from the Collective, but who struggled with regaining her humanity as she had been assimilated as a child and life in the Collective had been all she knew.  Anyway, with that said, lets begin.

Locutus Of Borg

The comic kicks off with Locutus in the future - Borgification having rendered him immortal - and he's bored of "total dominance".

Locutus: "The collective has failed.  We pursued total assimilation of the galaxy.  We attained  the power to do this but lost the ability to ask why it was worth doing. And now we are without purpose.  Perfection has been attained. Perhaps individuality was perfection all along".

And it's this little bout of existential angst that drives the future, Locutus parts of the plot and resolves the Borg problem in the present.

Back in the present, Picard and Vash are on a relic hunt.  Vash being a character who appeared in a couple of ST:TNG episodes as a love interest for Picard.  A kind of roguish individual that contrasts with the more uptight Picard.  He asks her if they haven't done enough to make her rich.  And here's where I have something of a problem with the character of Vash.  The Federation is a neo-marxist paradise, where technology has allowed the workers to cast off their chains and pursue lives of leisurely self improvement.  Don't take my word for it.  In the ST:TNG film First Contact, Picard has this exchange with a woman from the past:

PICARD: The economics of the future are somewhat different. ...You see, money doesn't exist in the twenty-fourth century.

LILY: No money! That means you don't get paid.

PICARD: The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. ...We work to better ourselves ...and the rest of humanity.

So, just why is Vash bothering to get rich?  And if she is dealing relics outside of the Federation, why the hell is Picard fine with that.  During The Next Generation, he was written as something of an amateur archeologist.  Surely he'd have more concerns over what Vash is getting a hold of and what unscrupulous people she's selling them on to when by all rights he should want them preserved.  Just why does he allow Vash to get away with it?

Picard is such a playah, yo.

Ah I see. Sexy funtime, that's why.  Let's move on.

Picard can sense the Borg coming and is recalled to the Enterprise.  Starfleet calls a meeting to discuss what to do about all the Borg chatter they are picking up.  Suddenly a Borg appears on a viewscreen and asks to speak to Loctus.  The space station they are on is also suddenly surrounded by Borg cubes, but they are not hostile.

Picard: This is different.  Look at the ships - they're damaged.  I can hear the collective.  They're afraid.

They address the Borg Queen who tells them there is a mutual threat they all face.  While travelling to parallel worlds, they met a race called the Voldranaii, rulers of a chaos dimension.  They were too alien to assimilate and followed the Borg back to this universe and are currently wiping the Borg out.  The Borg want a truce and send an ambassador - Seven Of Nine - who has rejoined the collective.

The Borg Queen

In the future, Picard has reconstructed Data from a copy of his mind the Borg has in storage.  He wants his help in killing the Borg Queen.  He specifically says he wants to change the past as well.  He flips a switch and blowqs up several Borg cubes to attract the Queen's attention.  The Queen sends her most powerful drone to fight him - Seven Of Nine.

Back, a few years prior to the present, Picard meets with Seven and asks her if she will go undercover in the collective, to find a way they can rip the Borg apart from the inside. She agrees.  This brings me to something that bugs me about the later Voyager depictions of Borgification as opposed to the Next Generation era version.  When Picard is de-Borged they spent a whole episode afterwards dealing with the emotional aftermath.  Picard actually breaks down and cries over the powerlessness he felt when it happened.  And the fact he retained some awareness of what he was being made to do means he wasn't even fully Borged. The language he uses makes the analogies to being a rape victim very clear, something that was reiterated in an early Seven Of Nine story during the period she was dealing with her de-Borging. 

Then the Voyager episode "Unimatrix Zero"comes along, where three of the crew get themselves assimilated deliberately.  Yes, they keep their individuality (just about), but the still have to suffer a massive physical assault on their bodies, which they just end up joking about.  It cheapens what Picard and Seven went through to make dealing with being borged so easy and I find it hard to believe that Seven would place herself back in that situation so readily, even if she keeps her individuality, she is still going to be party to whatever the Borg do in that time.  But, there we go. 

Seven of Nine

Anyway. the Borgified Seven in the present tells Picard that the Queen is telling the truth and that the Voldranaii are destroying the Borg, they are also on their way to Federation space so the threat is now on their doorstep.  On the Enterprise, Picard talks with a crewmember called Kira, whose brother was assimilated and who doesn't trust Seven.  The Federation ships and Borg cubes attack a Voldranaii ship and get it to lower their shields.  Worf leads a hazard team aboard and they get a scan of a Voldranaii, which reveals it's been constructed with Borg nanoprobes.  Picard realises they have been led into a Borg trap and the Queen activates a protocol that causes Seven to freeze up.  In the future, Picard and Data kill Seven, and in the present she screams as spider-like appendages burst out of her sides.

Spider Seven is go!

Seven transmits the fleet's prefix codes to the Borg and their shields are lowered.  The Enterprise goes into evasive manouvres.  Worf is the only one left alive on the "Voldranaii" ship.

Worf: "My men are dead sir.  Today is a good day to -"

Picard: "Stow it, we're beaming you back now"

Back on the Enterprise, Geordi manages to block the transmission that's affecting Seven Of Nine.  The Queen demands Picard rejoin them, "never" is his response, then he is knocked out as the Enterprise bridge takes a hit.

Five hundred years later, Locutus confronts the Borg Queen. 

Borg Queen: "You ruled an empire, and now you seek to destroy it?"

Locutus: "We have failed.  We are without purpose"

Borg Queen: "We are gods Locutus. The universe is ours."

Locutus demurs, and asks Data if he is ready as the Borg Queen attacks.

Back in the present, Picard comes to and is informed the Borg are swiftly taking over Federation planets.  They also realise that Seven was compromised and used as a triple agent.  Kira says she should be killed, and Seven agrees.  But Picard doesn't and leaves her under guard.  He then gets the Enterprise to set course for the Typhon Expanse, an area known for it's temporal anomalies.

In the future, Data, Locutus and the Queen are all fighting. Locutus is badly damaged, but with his last strength he rips off the Queen's head.  Then he directs Data to a "temporal displacement chamber" and as he dies, says it was good to see Data again. Data then uses the chamber to transport to the present day Enterprise.

Data transports to the past

We then get some insight into what it's like to be assimilated via Picards thoughts as it happens:

Picard: "As the implants conquer your body, it's your mind that suffers.  The voices of the collective are overwhelming.  Your sanity dwindles away. Until... The voices wash over you.  You are them and they are you.  And in that chorus, peace."

This this finishes with Picard kneeling in front of the Queen who welcomes him back to the collective.

Twenty-four hours before that, sees Borg Data arriving onboard the present day Enterprise.  He tells them that Locutus knewq from his memories that Picard would take them into the Typhon expanse and that this would allow Data to cross timelines. Locutus planted a weaponised virus inside his neural net that when unleashed on the collective will wipe them out.  Doctor Crusher points out this will mean the deaths of trillions of beings, but she is overruled.  The problem is, to deliver the virus direct to the Queen, Picard must become Locutus again.

The Queen and Picard

Picard goes and discusses the decision to unleash the virus with Seven Of Nine.  She agrees that it must be done as even he and her have not fully recovered from their time in the Collective.  They decide that Seven will come too and use the neuro-cortical filter to keep Picard's individuality alive. He and Seven and Borg Data beam aboard the Queen's ship and she starts to assimilate him, with Seven protecting his mind as it happens.  The virus uploads into her and kills her (somewhat anti-climatically) and starts spreading through the Collective.

Borg Data then paradoxes out of existence, while Seven starts seperating as many Borg from the collective as she can.  Kira freaks out and pulls a phaser on Riker, saying they shouldn't save any.  She manages to fire a torpedo at the Queen's cube before she is disarmed and sent to the brig.  Picard and Seven are beamed off the ship as it falls apart, but Seven is badly injured.

Picard:  "You did so much"

Seven: "I could have gotten more"

Picard: "There are thousands of people alive because of you"

Seven: "Captain, promise me"

Picard: "What Seven?"

Seven: "You will always live between...But promise me... you will aspire to live."

Picard: "I promise"

!!!!!!

And Seven Of Nine dies.

Wait, what? No. No, no, no,nonono.. hold on.  Did the paragraph of "No's" in a Cerebus review.  And the extra long ellipses one in another Cerebus review. And the Picard facepalm in the same Cerebus review. Hrm...how to cogently express my surprised displeasure at this stupid turn of events?  Oh what the hell, stick with what you know.  Lolcats! I need you!

Thanks, my ginger, scottish-fold friend.  Seriously, you do not just kill off one of the Trek franchise's best and most popular characters like that or even at all.  Yes it's good she got to save some borged people before she died, but to die lying on a table is just lame (that said dying is only the second worst thing to happen to the character, falling in love with Chakotay being the worst).  And what's super weird and creepy about this plot twist, both having her die and then having her worshipped afterwards?  The writer Brannon Braga dated the actress who played Seven Of Nine while she was on the show.  So he makes her into his Mary Sue then kills her. OK, for someone reason the whole thing just feels icky and removing her from further comicbook Trekverse adventures feels mean-spirited no matter how noble her final sacrifice.  I don't know much about how canon works in the Star Trek comics as I don't really follow them, but if I did, I'd hope this was an "Elseworlds" type of story and Seven is still alive to snark another day in the main line of comics. Anyway, the story ends with the Borg survivors being given their own colony.

Picard: "They will never know their saviour.  Their benovelent queen. But she will continue to inspire them, to keep going. To keep living.  She inspires me everyday...after all, I am one of them."

Then Picard has the Enterprise set course for the Daystrom Institute where Data was conveniently away at.  And the final words are Picard echoing Locutus's words at the start; "I am alone with my thoughts."

Lalalalala! Didn't happen!

So overall, what do I think.  I'm not a huge fan of this story.  It's a typical Brannon Braga, fun with time travel plot that isn't particularly clever by his previous standards. There are some nice pieces of writing here and there.  What it feels like to be assimilated being a good insight into something the stories never really touched on in various Borg episodes.  However the virus plot was ripped wholesale from a fifth season ST:TNG episode "I, Borg."  Where the concept is given much more ethical weight than it is here. I guess you could claim that Future Locutus had enough time to think about it to decide to try it again, but a nod to that past episode might have be nice apart from Doctor Crushers identical objections.  What I did like was the bond that formed between Picard and Seven, enough so that he becomes one of the few people to call her by her real, human name "Annika".  The art by Joe Corroney is adequate.  Picard and Seven look right, but most of the rest of the crew, aren't brilliant.  And the female characters suffer from a bad case of Sameface syndrome.  The colouring is nice though and the space battle scenes decently rendered.  All-in-all I didn't much care for this story, it's derivative and plodding and hasn't really encouraged me to check out more of the Star Trek universe in comicbook form.