Star Trek Comics Weekly #37

An ongoing discussion of how Star Trek comics provide prequels, sequels, and tie-ins to the episodes and films…

37: DC Comics and Malibu Comics, 1994–1995

Licensed comic books, just like novels and short stories, offer an expansive canvas on which to tell new tales. Writers can revisit existing characters and concepts, experiment with various genres and story types, and take a franchise in unexpected new directions. But no matter how adept writers may be at weaving new storylines around established lore, there’s one thing they can’t do: foresee the future.

This posed a particular problem when writer Michael Jan Friedman and artists Steve Erwin and Charles Barnett III set out to do something ambitious: telling the story of Worf’s mentioned but not-yet-shown human foster-brother. The sibling’s existence had been established in “Heart of Glory,” though without a name provided at the time (Peter David dubbed him Simon in his novel Worf’s First Adventure). With Star Trek: The Next Generation airing its seventh and final season, and with no sign of the mysterious brother appearing on the show, Friedman had every reason to believe that whatever he did with the elder Rozhenko son would not likely be contradicted onscreen.

In the four-part miniseries ST:TNG: Shadowheart, Nothrani rebels raid Klingon supply depots to protest Imperial activities. Worf’s brother is thought to have died during an attack on Lisarion, and so his family holds a funeral for him—after which Starfleet discovers he’s not only alive, but leading the Nothrani insurrection, posing as mythical Klingon demon Shadowheart in order to avenge Lisarion’s slaughter. Chancellor Gowron and Admiral Gregory Quinn thus assign Worf, Riker, and Kurn to infiltrate the Nothrani and apprehend Shadowheart before he can damage human-Klingon relations.

An intriguing way to usher in Worf’s human brother, eh? So you can imagine the creators’ frustration when The Next Generation aired “Homeward,” which introduced said brother, now named Nikolai—after Shadowheart had been approved and written. “If I recall correctly,” Friedman explains, “it took about four months to go from finished script to published comic for our monthlies, in that they were licensed products and had to be approved at every juncture… and then we got the details about Worf’s human brother after all the scripts were in and the art was partially done. Yeah, THAT was fun.” Ouch.

The story builds on several episodes of The Next Generation. Admiral Quinn had appeared in “Coming of Age” and “Conspiracy,” while Worf’s foster-parents, Helena and Sergey Rozhenko (“Family”), feature prominently—both in the present day, mourning Nikolai and regretting their long estrangement, and in the past, when Sergey first brought a young Klingon orphan home to live with his family. Flashbacks to those years illustrate the unconditional love the couple felt for both sons, regardless of their species.

Worf’s biological brother Kurn (“Sins of the Father” and “Redemption”) joins the mission, and it’s clear how uncomfortable Worf feels about having to help one brother hunt down another. Kurn represents the Empire’s interests in the matter and has no qualms about killing Nikolai if necessary. He initially distrusts Shadowheart due to his violence against Nothra’s Klingon overlords, but upon observing Worf’s loyalty to his human brother, as well as Nikolai’s proficiency in battle, Kurn comes to respect the man.

Through flashbacks to the brothers’ time on Gault (“Heart of Glory”) and at Starfleet Academy, Nikolai is depicted as feeling overshadowed by Worf and resenting his sibling’s tendency to fight battles for him. Thus, eleven years prior, he’d quit Starfleet and stopped speaking to his family, then had lived on several farming worlds, searching for meaning. After the Lisarion raid, Nikolai had gone to Nothra, where exposure to toxic gasses had driven him insane, making him believe he was, in fact, the mythical Shadowheart.

Because the miniseries was nearing completion by the time DC learned of “Homeward,” Nikolai does not resemble actor Paul Sorvino on the interior pages (though he does on the covers)—in fact, he sports savage facial scarring, which is not present on TV despite Shadowheart occurring earlier than the episode. Friedman’s team made last-minute changes to accommodate “Homeward,” which probably accounts for Nikolai seemingly dying to save Worf’s life, then miraculously surviving. What’s more, his removal from Nothra’s atmosphere somehow restores his appearance—even removing his scars—making him look like Sorvino in the final panels.

It’s not a perfect fix, but given how little time DC’s creative team had to make it work, the fact that it does work is pretty damn impressive. In any case, the discrepancy should not prevent readers from enjoying the story as an Elseworlds-style tale representing an alternate backstory for the Rozhenko family, much like DC’s first Star Trek: The Next Generation Annual‘s account of the Picard family, as well as Debt of Honor‘s explanation of Klingon history and biology. On television, for instance, Nikolai was a Federation cultural observer, and four years had passed since he and Worf had last seen each other, not eleven. Still, Friedman and the artists did their best to make the comic match the show, and they deserve much credit for their efforts.

Incidentally, Nothra’s governor is helping Lursa and B’Etor fund a coup against Gowron in an attempt to restore honor to the House of Duras, though the nefarious Klingon sisters appear only sparingly. And by a fortuitous coincidence, a hairless Klingon named Ibtoc is drawn remarkably similar to how Klingon makeup appliances would later be redesigned for Star Trek: Discovery. Viewing classic comics through a modern-day lens can entirely change one’s perspective about older stories, and in this case it retroactively retcons Ibtoc as being the first Discovery-style Klingon ever introduced.

Few direct episode tie-ins can be found in Deep Space Nine/The Next Generation, a four-issue miniseries co-published by DC and Malibu Comics, which was previewed with a promotional ashcan. Written by Friedman and Mike W. Barr, with artwork by Gordon Purcell and Terry Pallot, this team-up provided the first full Star Trek multi-show comics crossover, predating Marvel’s “Telepathy War” saga, WildStorm’s Divided We Fall, and IDW’s Flesh and Stone, Defiant, and Star Trek monthly comic—not to mention numerous crossovers with other franchises (The Unknown Soldier, X-Men, G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, Legion of Super-Heroes, Doctor Who, Planet of the Apes, Green Lantern, and Transformers—all of which will be discussed in later columns.

DS9/TNG, collected in trade paperback as Star Trek: The Landmark Crossover, sees the Enterprise crew taking shore leave at Deep Space Nine as havoc is about to plague the station. The storyline involves a Cardassian plot to trick the Federation into abandoning Bajor by conspiring with Gamma Quadrant aliens to sabotage the wormhole. This causes torrential floods on Bajor, killing thousands and inciting religious extremists to protest efforts to repair the wormhole since they view its breakdown as the will of the Prophets. Picard and Ben Sisko join forces to determine the malfunction’s cause, and to rescue personnel stranded on the other side. Sisko sets aside his issues with Picard—who, as Locutus, had killed his wife in the Battle of Wolf 359, per “Emissary”—though he initially, and quite understandably, is uncomfortable with the arrangement.

There are several fun moments, such as Geordi La Forge’s VISOR exposing Quark’s gambling tables as rigged, Deanna Troi recognizing Odo from her mother Lwaxana’s account of their time together in “The Forsaken,” Julian Bashir shamelessly flirting with Beverly Crusher, and Miles O’Brien reuniting with old friends—and being reminded of how happy he is at his new posting. Meanwhile, Kira Nerys shares screen-time with her future lover, Vedek Bareil (“In the Hands of the Prophets”).

Upon meeting Jadzia Dax, Crusher mentions having known a Trill years prior. Though she doesn’t specify Odan (“The Host”), it’s clear from the scene’s context that he’s the Trill to whom she refers. No mention is made of the differences between Odan’s and Jadzia’s makeup appliances (ridged vs. spots), but Crusher stares intently at Dax’s face as though noticing it without comment. Amusingly, Jadzia flirts with Riker, asking how much he knows about Trills, and the commander—who’d temporarily served as Odan’s host—wryly replies, “A whole lot more than you think.”

DC’s fifth Star Trek: The Next Generation Annual, written by Howard Weinstein and illustrated by Rachel Ketchum, Bob Smith, and Charles Barnett, was published around the same time as the above two miniseries. It’s a pretty standard and standalone tale, but it’s a fun read featuring a great cover by Jerome K. Moore, and it particularly ties in with two episodes: “Elementary, Dear Data” and “Ship in a Bottle,” which featured Data’s Sherlock Holmes holodeck program. (The James Moriarty hologram from that program recently returned in Star Trek: Picard‘s “The Bounty.”)

The Enterprise discovers an abandoned space station near a spatial anomaly, which explodes, causing La Forge and Worf to suffer radiation sickness, as well as Data’s positronic matrix to deteriorate. Working against the clock, Geordi tries to repair his friend. He experiences dreams of Data feeding him clues in the Holmes program, then risks his life and career to find a way to restore the android’s life function.

None of the above stories truly qualify as actual sequels or prequels, despite their ties to several episodes. DC’s second The Next Generation Special, however, features a trio of stories that do, and the stunning cover by Sonia R. Hillios is among DC’s best.

In the first tale, from Friedman, Purcell, and Pallot, an Enterprise away team examines an observatory destroyed by the Seriphami, whom Ro Laren had previously encountered on the planet Garon II. A flashback sheds light on Ro’s court-martial, first discussed in “Ensign Ro” and more recently referenced in Star Trek: Picard‘s “Imposters.” In her debut appearance, Ro was said to have disobeyed orders at Garon II while serving aboard the USS Wellington, resulting in eight deaths, for which she was reduced in rank and imprisoned. Beyond that, no details of the incident were provided.

According to the comic, Ro had come to empathize with the Seriphami since they’d reminded her of Bajoran freedom-fighters. The aliens had tricked Ro into believing them unable to defend themselves, causing her to fire on her own commanding officer to prevent a slaughter, which tragically allowed them to kill her Wellington comrades. Now, as other Seriphami fire at the Enterprise officers, Ro finds herself in the same situation that got her court-martialed—but this time, her actions save lives and she receives a commendation for bravery.

The second story, from Chris Claremont, Chris Wozniak, and Jerome K. Moore, provides a sequel to Claremont’s Debt of Honor (see Star Trek Comics Weekly #26) and brings back not only Jame Finney (“Court Martial”), but also T’Kir, Kirk’s half-Romulan daughter from that graphic novel, along with her mother T’Cel. Intriguingly, despite having lived among the Klingons for decades—since Kirk’s era, in fact—Finney appears much younger than her actual age, thanks to Vulcan disciplines she’d learned in order to deal with a deteriorating disease.

Finney kills members of the House of Duras, then challenges Gowron in order to avenge Kor (“Errand of Mercy”) following his disgrace in Debt of Honor, as Duras’s murder of her friend had been sanctioned by the chancellor. Finney had served with Kor for twenty years following the graphic novel’s events, until he was murdered by Duras, along with all other smooth-headed Klingons, then was left to be eaten by scavengers. Gowron bests Jame in combat, but is so impressed by the small human’s fighting skills, honor, and loyalty that he restores the name of the fallen House of Kor.

This account of Kor’s fate, of course, would be fully negated by Deep Space Nine‘s “Blood Oath,” which aired the same year in which the Special was released, due to the comic’s creative team lacking foreknowledge of Kor’s onscreen return—and as a bumpy-headed Klingon, to boot. As with Shadowheart, it’s likely, given the turnaround time required to produce licensed comics, that this tale had been in the pipeline when the episode aired, at which point it would have been too late to avoid the discrepancy.

Friedman, Erwin, and Barnett reunited for the issue’s third tale, in which Montgomery Scott helps Morgan Bateson, captain of the USS Bozeman (“Cause and Effect”), acclimate to life in the 24^th century. This short story, the best of the three, provides sequels to two of The Next Generation‘s most powerful episodes. Bateson succumbs to depression after spending eighty years in a time-loop, while the decommissioned Bozeman is placed in a museum due to its outdated design, making him feel even more isolated and unable to transition to his new life.

Thus, Troi arranges for Scotty—also alive in the future, per “Relics”—to meet with Bateson since the two men have much in common as time-displaced officers. Readers don’t learn what happens after Scotty arrives, but it’s not necessary to show that. The empathy in Scotty’s offer of help, as well as Morgan’s stunned surprise at seeing a familiar face in an unfamiliar world, tell the entire story.

Next week, we’ll take a side trip to examine some unpublished and rejected Star Trek comics from the first thirty years of the franchise’s history. Then, stay tuned for further discussion of Malibu’s Deep Space Nine efforts. See you then.

Looking for more information about Star Trek comics? Check out these resources:

• The Complete Star Trek Comics Index, by yours truly
• The Star Trek Comics Checklist, by Mark Martinez
• The Wixiban Star Trek Collectables Portal, by Colin Merry
• New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics, by Joseph F. Berenato
• Star Trek: A Comics History, by Alan J. Porter

Rich Handley has written, co-written, co-edited, or contributed to dozens of books, both fiction and non-fiction, about Planet of the Apes, Watchmen, Back to the Future, Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Stargate, Dark Shadows, The X-Files, Twin Peaks, Red Dwarf, Blade Runner, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman, the Joker, classic monsters, and more. He has also been a magazine writer and editor for nearly three decades. Rich edited Eaglemoss’s Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection, and he currently writes articles for Titan’s Star Trek Explorer magazine, as well as books for an as-yet-unannounced role-playing game. Learn more about Rich and his work at richhandley.com.