Villordsutch reviews Star Trek #37….
The STAR TREK event of the year continues here, in part 3 of “The Q Gambit”! Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise find themselves decades in the future thanks to the mischievous Q. The galaxy has changed beyond recognition… and nowhere more so than on Earth itself! Don’t miss this all-new adventure produced in association with STAR TREK screenwriter/producer Roberto Orci!
We’ve hit the midway point in The Q Gambit and like last month I’m still erring on whether what is unfolding in this alternate future is due to nothing more than the omnipresent beings space/time fiddling. That’s not to stay that issue #37 is a bad issue, far from it, I’m just wondering what lesson Q’s trying to teach the crew of the Enterprise, and to Picard who is currently blissfully unaware of anything or anyone in this timeline.
Following on from the last issue Kirk, Scotty and Uhura are taken to a Klingon occupied Earth by Sisko and Odo and we are given are rather brutal and shocking compact history lesson starting with the incursion of the Dominion into Cardassian Union, which quickly fell. The Dominion then got their hands on the Red Matter and destroyed Romulus which led to the remaining Romulans and Klingons becoming urgent allies to combat the Dominion. The Federation attempted diplomatic channels with the Klingons, and the Klingons took this olive branch and thrashed the Federation to pieces at Wolf 359. After Sisko relayed this history lesson to Kirk it’s revealed that he’s a part of the Klingon’s Human Auxiliary Corps and we discover a Federation spy too. Our Enterprise crew along with Sisko are then summoned to report to the Klingon Chancellor, and by the cover page you may have guessed who this could be.
As mentioned above I’m unsure what Q is doing or where the story is going with him in it. He makes one appearance within this comic disguised as a Cardassian to McCoy and Spock – on Bajor – and reassures them both that the rest of the crew are alive and well, but won’t reveal anything more before disappearing. I know that this is within the remit of the Q, but I was under the impression that this timeline was doomed due to both Nero and Spock Prime’s appearance into it and not because Q decided to hide the Enterprise for nearly a century. Still even with this confusion I’m loving what Mike Johnson has given us this month and when we get near the end and you think you know where this story is going he slips something in which is just fantastic and I’m sure he’ll upset a fair few people with.
My only true negative leaning here has to be toward the art delivered from Tony Shasteen as it can vary from panel to panel, with faces deforming or heads losing shape that along with foreground pictures having a rather distracting appearance as if they’ve been pasted on top of a background and it stands out rather badly. This is unfortunate however as when we do hit a good panel (skulls on pikes) it’s diminished by the surrounding poor panels.
Other than the varying artwork you’ve got a great Trek story going on here and I’d recommend spend your money on this today.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
Originally published September 24, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
