Villordsutch reviews Star Trek #53…
An all-new adventure begins as Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise face off with a renegade faction of Orions intent on disrupting the truce between their species and the Federation!
Let’s go back to 2009 and the birth of NuTrek with a complete re-energized crew. Do you remember seeing Rachel Nichols from Continuum? No? Do you recall seeing a flirtatious Orion cadet who bunked up with Uhura and hid Kirk under her bed? Now you remember seeing Rachel Nichols’ brief (no pun intended) moment in NuTrek – what we didn’t know was Cadet Gaila and her brother were the first Orions ever to enlist into Starfleet.
Upon the Vondem, the Orion homeworld, a trade is taking place to secure peace, one which involves the small child Gaila. However as the mother, who is the head of the ruling “Eight Families”, is about to pass over this latest line in slaves, the child’s father violently interrupts the handover and escapes with both son and daughter; as he leaves the mother promises to get her children back.
Fourteen years later, the Enterprise and the science vessel Tereshkova have rendezvoused mid-survey mission, giving each crew the time for some R&R, and also the ability for sister and brother – Gaila and Kai – to come together. After an awkward moment with Kirk finding Gaila sitting in the Captain’s chair, we discover more about the siblings past, along with how they came about joining Starfleet. Following this a distress call is received and a vow made long ago is honoured.
To quote a pointy eared, green blooded hobgoblin this story is rather, “fascinating”, it really is. Orion’s and to be more exact Orion Slave Girls have been nothing more than titillation in Star Trek for decades, heck even in NuTrek Gaila was seen wearing her bra and knickers and statements made towards the fact that she – like most human beings – enjoys sex, though this being associated with Orions just fuelled their stereotype. Here though in Star Trek: Reunion Part 1 from Mike Johnson, we are getting this rather seedy world about the Orion’s opened up. The fact that they are quite frankly a force to be reckoned with is something of an eye opener and also they are willing to give away their daughters as teenage brides is outright shocking.
Tony Shasteen’s art is fantastic in places as his ships and wide-views look amazing, but on occasion in this issue his character faces can appear somewhat off (an example of this is Uhura’s odd eyes on page 16), but as said his other pieces can look brilliant and when his ship battles are balanced out with the colours of Davide Mastrolonardo the images sing on the page.
Star Trek: Reunion Part 1 is both fascinating and enjoyable and I’d like to see where Part 2 goes in this tale, but I think the colour of a shirt has decreed something already.
Rating: 8/10
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=vDx6g5ua25E
Originally published January 13, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
