You know, “A Piece of the Action” was never one that made my list of preferred Star Trek episodes.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t that I didn’t find it entertaining or funny — I love a funny story just as much as the next fan, and I think this episode always manages to make any responsibly curated list of humorous Trek episodes, but I think that was its only saving grace.
I just like a good slice of drama to go with my science fiction. Star Trek: Year Five began with a more dramatic overtone and Issue #4 in this comic series from Brandon Easton and Martin Coccolo sees a change in mood from the original one that we saw in Issues #1 and #2.
The story so far: a return to the planet Sigma Iotia II, the planet that saw a society contaminated by a book about 20th Century gangsters in Chicago… only to see further contamination from Dr. McCoy’s forgotten communicator in “A Piece of the Action.”
In Issue #3, we saw the highly-influenced Iotians with a developed, responsible system of government and on the verge of warp technology. However, not all is perfect in this society as the government has decided to abandon further space research forcing an old acquaintance of the Enterprise crew, the former mobster, Jojo Krako, to return as a terrorist pushing for more militant change.
By the end of the last issue, we saw Spock, captured by Krako, announcing his bid to run for the office of Planetary president. With that, we see a return to the humour that was present in the episode which throws the reader off balance; at least a reader who has been set up with that sort of expectation in mind at the start of the series.
I hate to be one of those un-funny killjoys, but let’s just completely forget about the Prime Directive. Again, I have a great appreciation for humour — but in this case, I think it’s misplaced. What’s admirable about Brandon Easton’s writing is that he manages to successfully replicate the same sort of mood in this comic as one would expect to find in the episode.
It’s very authentic and has the same bantering pace between McCoy and Spock, for instance, when McCoy challenges his decision to run for president with a typical McCoy “Are you out of your dang-blasted mind?” Easton is very faithful to the characters and that is very evident in his dialogue. That takes a degree of skill to replicate and provide that sense of Trek you want in a comic adaptation.
There are more serious issues at play in this issue. While Sigma Iotia II is irreparably contaminated, Engineer Scott still has to deal with repairing the Enterprise while simultaneously putting down a mutiny by a Starfleet officer who rejects the principles of the Federation. Uhura still has to learn to communicate with the Tholian refugee… and we still don’t know who Captain Kirk’s mysterious captor is that we were introduced to at phaser point in Issue #1.
To be honest, I really didn’t find it to be a bad story. But there are a number of serious incidents that are happening at the same time that run contrary to the mood that this comic series started with. I just don’t think that with the threat of mutiny and the presence of a refugee Tholian on board an Enterprise with mysterious power disruptions, the shift in plot to a funny one fits in — especially given that the reason for investigating the planet in the first place is a direct result of McCoy’s loss of his communicator in the first place.
Looking at the art in this book though, I found Martin Coccolo’s art to be spectacularly good. I really enjoyed the great amount of background detail in the panels that didn’t detract away from the major story. I especially noted his attention to character expression and action. When you see a page that is so richly described and makes such a responsible use of the space, you know that this is an artist who’s given us a great deal of his best work. I’d like to see more of it in the future.
There are only two covers for this book, however. The regular maintains the humorous tone with Kirk and McCoy staring up at one of Spock’s campaign posters with the slogan “IDIC Forever”. Drawn by Stephen Thompson and colored by Charlie Kirchoff, it’s an excellent example of the cover supplying the reader with part of the story.
The retailer-incentive cover is a stylized, propaganda-ish design by J.J. Lendl, encouraging travelers to visit Sigma Iotia II. With an Andorian mobster holding a 1920’s Tommy gun and a slogan extorting tourists to “discover their inner gangster,” we can see the comedy continue in this very entertaining and witty piece of art.
There’s a time for humour and I just don’t think that this story arc was a good fit, given that Jackson Lanzing and Colin Kelly set up so many things in the beginning of this series. Trying to recreate the same sort of humour that was present in “A Piece of the Action” in the series of events that preceded this story arc seemed out of place and better suited for its own individual story line.
But, then again, like I said: maybe I just need to lighten up.