Star Trek 1358: No Cure For That

1358. No Cure For That

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Last Generation #2, IDW Comics, December 2008

CREATORS: Andrew Steven Harris (writer), Gordon Purcell and Bob Almond (artists)

STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)

PLOT: Geordi and Riker deliver Data to their moon base, but they've been followed by a bird-of-prey commanded by the Son of Worf. They attack the base, but the Excelsior uncloaks and destroys their ship. Data beams himself to Earth, leaving the Klingons to believe he was just a hologram, while Riker and Geordi are beamed to the Excelsior. The surviving Klingons are left to die on the moon's surface, which makes Worf even more hungry for revenge. On Earth, Data's precious information turns out to be a recording of the Khitomer conference where Braxton holds Kirk back from saving the Federation President in time. Robin Lefler is killed in a Klingon attack, which makes Wesley lose it when he hears that the Federation and Klingon Empire should be actually friends.

CONTINUITY: See previous issue. The Klingons destroyed Tycho City and New Berlin (First Contact). The Vulcan High Command (Enterprise) is supplying the Resistance. Geordi's moon base has an EMH. "Alexander" is the insulting nickname of Warlord Worf's son (he dies). Robin Lefler actually appears (and dies).

DIVERGENCES: Well... yes!

PANEL OF THE DAY - Never been so close!
REVIEW: With most of the initial exposition done with, the second issue seems much shorter a read, but more stuff happens. Always fun to see how strong a factor destiny is in these types of stories. Not only do the same characters tend to gravitate around one another, but here the Son of Worf gets the name Alexander by another way. It's also hinted at that his own men killed him for incompetence, which is a nice touch. Other usually hated characters fare better, such as Tasha in the previous issue, and Wesley in this one. The series continues to add little details to the parallel, though it definitely comes off as disposable, if characters' life expectancy are any clue. I also enjoyed the darkly humorous way the title was used to refer both to the android and mortal conditions. Up to now, Last Gen is rising far above its cool "what if?" roots and shaping up to be an insightful story about the characters.

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