New 'Hailing Frequencies' Column

The latest edition of Michelle Erica Green's weekly 'Hailing Frequencies' column is out over at Mania. This week Michelle looks at the latest rumors and interviews, Patrick Stewart, the Trek Comics Star Trek Special and 'Star Trek: Dark Passions Book Two'.

Wildstorm's glossy-cover one-shot has something to delight all Trek fans. From superb cover art of the four captains to a heartrending concluding story in honor of DeForest Kelley, the writers and artists have created a very nice package. Though the stories fit together awkwardly in places, the art and stories offer a smorgasbord of treats at a very reasonable price. This Star Trek Special's a keeper.

In the first story, Ian Edginton's "Bloodline," the Enterprise-A responds to a distress call from the Feynman, where Kirk's nephew Peter is now stationed. Peter has never forgiven his uncle for refusing to adopt him after his father's death, nor for the fact that Jim Kirk's legend as a womanizer outlives Sam Kirk's renown as a scientist. McCoy gets a bit out of character describing David Marcus' murder at the hands of the Klingons to bring Peter around, then Kirk comes up with his usual heroics against mechanical problems and deadly aliens. It's a bit predictable, but fans of "Operation: Annihilate" will be glad to learn what happened to Kirk's kin. The artwork has clear lines and lots of colorful background detail.

"A Rolling Stone Gathers No Nanoprobes," a Next Generation-era story in which the Borg attempt to assimilate a planet inhabited mostly by Horta, introduces a likeable group of miners but assumes that the Horta voice simulators invert most English phrases, which makes for some clunky dialogue. Oddly, the Borg sound casual in conversation with one another. It's hard in a comic to convey a collective voice. It's also hard with limited colors to make the Horta look like living rocks rather than large dung heaps. So the two great scary alien species seem a little tame, but the witty story moves quickly.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!