IDW Publishing
Scott and David Tipton, writers
Sharp Brothers, artists
I don't have a whole lot to say about this "Star Trek" one-shot, but wanted to take a post to extend my kudos to the creative team all around for not taking the easy way out with this story. Of course, why even do the darn thing if you're not planning to "do it right."
This was solicited as a "Star Trek" special that incorporated all of the doctors from every incarnation of Trek television program ever aired. (Technically, they didn't include Dr. Mark Piper from the second Original Series pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," or Dr. Philip Boyce from the first Original Series pilot, "The Cage," but since neither of those gentlemen appeared for more than one episode, I have no problem with glossing over them.)
I fully expected the special to take place in the era that would allow the easiest access to the most Trek doctors. The "Next Generation," "Deep Space 9" and "Voyager" television programs all happened around the same time frame, so Drs. Beverly Crusher and Katherine Pulaski (TNG) were contemporaries of Dr. Julian Bashir (DS9) and the Emergency Medical Hologram program that gained sentience while serving on the lost Voyager.
The problem would be including Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy from the original series. McCoy is shown briefly in the first episode of "The Next Generation" hitching a ride aboard the latest version of the Enterprise, but he is at that time an honorary admiral and 137 years old. I expected the main medical problem that brings together the other contemporary docs in this story would force that team to turn to some notes or case files left behind from the now-deceased McCoy.
That's close to what happens, but these guys not only found an even better way to incorporate McCoy into the medical mystery threatening the entire Federation, but they also used that clever ploy to include Dr. Phlox, the ship's physician from "Enterprise," the "Star Trek" prequel, which I had completely forgotten about when anticipating this one-shot. (Slams his forehead with the heel of his hand while saying, "D'oh!") No, I'm not going to tell you how the Tiptons and Sharps pulled it off; I'll just say again that I was pleasantly surprised by their solution and encourage you to read the issue for yourselves. It's not like you have to invest in a 20-issue epic to find out.
My only complaint, and its a minor one, with the issue is once the medical mystery is solved, there is still a bit of detective work left to do, the final resolution of which feels a bit rushed — particularly a single sequence of panels near the end where a button is pushed. One can assume what happened from the artwork, and maybe this was a production error or something, but there is no dialogue in the panel where the button is pushed or labels on the buttons or anything else to directly clue readers in to what is being done by the pushing of that button. Again, I can make a pretty good assumption from the next panels, but some more visual direction would have been nice.
Overall, a good issue though, and one I recommend to fans of Trek.
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