Star Trek: Holo-Ween #2

Redjac is back! The ancient evil entity that was once the dreaded Jack the Ripper in Victorian England, has taken control of the Enterprise-D. Using Borg nano-technology, Redjac possessed a crew member and then began taking users of the Enterprise's holodecks captive. Redjac has also reprogrammed Commander Data and turned the android into a perverse version of the Frankenstein monster.

In attempt to free the hostages, Picard, Worf, Riker and Troi undergo plastic surgery to appear as the monsters Redjac has used to entrap and torment those stuck in the holodecks. The high ranking officers have also allowed Dr. Crusher to alter their brain waves to not just act but to think as the horrors they represent. This should prevent Redjac from detecting their presence. The caveat: Picard and the others only have 30 minutes to save their fellow shipmates or their brain patterns will be forever altered, resulting in permanent brain damage!

Issue #2 was much better than the opening salvo. The writing was better. The plot made a lot more sense. And the art improved. The likenesses of Riker as the wolfman and Worf as a sort of Klingon Gill Man were fantastic. Franken-Data was pretty cool too. 

I remember Redjac from one of my least favorite TOS episodes. However, in this story, Redjac refers to a past history with the Enterprise-D crew. I know that Redjac never appeared on Next Gen, as I've seen every episode. So what was the villain talking about. It turns out that this IDW story is continuing from a Wildstorm comic that pitted Redjac against Data previously on the holodecks in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes program. This also explains why Redjac has a major beef with Data.

Unfortunately, I have never read that story. Maybe I have it in my collection and don't realize it. I'll have to check.

A much better second act with improvements all around. You don't have to know of Redjac's history with the Federation. But it helps.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek 400th issue

This oversized special marks the 400th total issue based on the Star Trek Universe to be produced by IDW Publishing. In a year that will mark the end of several big name franchises being published by IDW, it doesn't look like Star Trek is going anywhere.

This issue features stories and artwork from just about every sector on the Star Trek Universe. The original series is represented as is the Kelvin timeline. There's a story starring Miles O'Brien that dives into the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and a brief period of time when the Enterprise C was still functioning. We visit Jean-Luc in his after years with a special appearance by a character that I thought was in one place but has returned to another role. (Look, I don't wanna spoil it, okay?) Even the crew of the Lower Decks are represented. Yet once again- NO Star Trek Enterprise! 

Is it too much to ask for a series, let alone just a single 8-page story starring Captain Archer and his crew? I've looked around and around and I just can't find proof that there's ever been a series featuring the Enterprise NX-01. And why is that? Will Scott Bakula not give permission to use his image in a comic? I think that is unlikely as he didn't seem to have any issue with a Quantum Leap comic in the early 90s. Plus, I don't think any of the other characters are big enough stars to merit derailing such a book from getting the greenlight. So why is this series considered to be the crazy uncle nobody thinks about except at Thanksgiving?

Star Trek: Discovery is also covered in this book. But the story is a mystery to me. It stars a character named Kayla Detmer. So far, so good. She's crashed landed on a planet with a Klingon. Again, I'm good. But both Kayla and the Klingon are flying miniature versions of the Discovery and something called a Cleave ship. And why is that? Is it like a shuttle craft? I've seen variant covers of other Discovery characters flying tiny versions of the experimental starship and I don't understand why. If anyone could solve this mystery for me, I'd greatly appreciate it. 

This issue wraps up with a sneak peak at a new series that promises to look ahead to the future. Simply titled Star Trek, this new series explores 2 things I've greatly been looking forward to- the resurrection of Mr. Data and the return of Benjamin Sisko! I'll have to wait just a little bit longer. With a $4.99 per issue price tag, I will wait for the trade. But I will read this! PROMISE!

A good representation of the Star Trek Universe. Not great as it's not a complete representation of the franchise. Plus, there's not a single blurb of thanks or gratitude to creator Gene Roddenberry. Though the late Nichelle Nicols, who passed earlier last year, is given a single page tribute. And there's the fact that I didn't understand all the aspects of the stories based on the newer properties. But that's okay. I'm looking forward to the continuing voyages that IDW has in store for the future.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The 25 Baubles of Pop Culture! Advent 2022 Day 12

Today's Advent is boldly going where no holiday countdown has gone before- it's a look at the Christmas ornaments from the extremely popular sci-fi franchise, Star Trek.

While Star Wars beats the pants off of Star Trek in terms of quantity of ornaments sold by Hallmark, it's the latter franchise that predates the world of George Lucas. The first Star Trek ornament produced by Hallmark was released in 1992. It is a magic ornament representing the Shuttlecraft Galileo from the original series. When plugged into the Christmas lights on the tree, Trekkies could push a hidden button and hear a special holiday message from Mr. Spock himself! Yes, Hallmark managed to get Leonard Nimoy to record a voice-over. They must have paid him a buttload of cash to do it!

Two of my favorite ornaments produced from Hallmark are of a pair of obscure characters. The tri-armed Lt. Arex and feline Lt. M'ress were characters on the short-lived NBC Saturday morning cartoon version based on the original series. Producers wanted to include more alien characters onto the cartoon to make it more visually appealing to kids. This meant that Nichelle Nichols' Uhura, George Takei's Sulu and Walter Koening's Chekov were to be cut from the show. Seeing that both of Star Trek's ethnic characters weren't going to be a part of the cartoon, Leonard Nimoy went on strike. A deal was made and Uhura and Sulu were kept on the crew with M'ress trading duty of coms with Uhura. Arex slid over to Chekov's seat and Mr. Sulu remained as the helmsman. Don't feel too bad for Walter Koening, he was involved on the show in production as a script writer and story consultant.

Anyways, Arex and M'Ress were really awesome characters. Thus, I want to share this pair of 2018 Comic Con exclusives, which due to their limited release are currently valued at $160 for the set.

You can't talk about Star Trek ornaments from Hallmark without mentioning this piece from 2015. Consistently ranked as one of the strangest and most awkward ornaments in holiday history. This ornament depicts the death of Mr. Spock at the conclusion of Star Trek II: The Wraith of Khan. A great moment in sci-fi movie history. But a kinda weird choice for something to hang on your tree what with Spock's skin all burnt and peeling off...

From the DIY department, I bring you this crafty idea. Take your favorite photo of Captain Kirk from the original series, laminate it and stick it inside a plastic globe. Then add several miniature pom poms, preferably of earth tones (IRONIC!). Boom! Instant recreation of the penultimate scene from 'The Trouble With Tribbles!'

Lastly, let's look at the craft made realm of Star Trek decorations for sale on the internet. I chose this pair devoted to Star Trek: The Next Generation's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. First from a seller on Etsy is this laminated print of the good Captain wearing a Santa Cap and  getting ready to pronounce his trademark phrase 'Make It So.' To go with that is this wooden ornament found on Geekxgirls.com. It's a wooden ornament that makes a holiday pun of Picard's famous phrase by instead proclaiming 'Make It Snow.' HA! I love it!