Review: Star Trek Deep Space 9 #4

As I get ready for the Day of Blood crossover event starting later this month, now is a good time to reacquaint myself with the crew of Deep Space Nine. Now I liked DS9 back in the day, its dialogue being that much sharper and less wooden than its Warner Bros. competition Babylon 5 (which is also great but for different reasons) and with a diverse cast of characters, some benign, some less so and some being Ferengi! Imagine my surprise then, when I discovered that this issue is in the middle of a Quark created mess.

In an effort to retrieve both a Borg interface and the stations much loved pup Latinum, Captain Sisko, Worf, Dax, Kira, Bashir and O’Brien and the Defiant head off to catch up with a bunch of data mercenaries. With all of them in on the chase, it does make me wonder who is looking after the station? Jake? Anyways, Sisko and co. set a trap before trying to out M.I Tom Cruise. “Light the fuse!”

Set before the climax of season six, this is the best of the DS( crew before the encroaching darkness invaded more subtly than the Dominion ever managed. Mike Chen writes a fun story that seems to have all the characters on point. This is important as readers need to buy into the situation. Often seen as Star Trek’s serious corner of the Alpha Quadrant, it is not easy to bring the funny. Not having read this series for a while, I was not aware that there was a station dog. Yet Chen manages to invoke some comedy in there, building on existing tropes; Jadzia’s previous hosts abilities, the term Old Man and even throwing in a homage to the season 5 episode Rapture, possibly the shows turning point, at least spiritually. Chen deserves a lot credit for turning this dog and pony…..er dog and Borg into at least five issue arc!

The art is supplied by Angel Hernandez who delivers a mixed bag to be honest. There are times when Henandez’s art is breathtaking, the Defiant looks glorious and the angry bee of Starfleet, with characters given life when used as facial focus panels. Things go awry somewhat with longer shots where you can only tell whom is whom by their designated uniform colors, Klingon sash and, as much as a Terry Farrell fan I was, I don’t think she was ever that curvy. Still the threat to Sisko in the final act is well emphasised. The latter is helped by the colors of Nick Filardi whose work suits the darker, almost underbelly of the muted color scheme from the show. Letters are provided by Neil Utetake who has to initially deal with the exposition filled, and utterly redundant if you read Odo’s log, Captain’s log before dealing with the various conversations and back and forth between characters. There are a raft of covers to chose from, for me cover A is the keeper.

A fun book that maybe tries too hard to be relevant in the bigger DS9 universe. This might be an editorial decision; not everything has to revolve around one of the over reaching arcs that were a feature of the shows later seasons.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3.5 Stars

Written by; Mike Chen
Art by; Angel Hernandez
Colors by; Nick Filardi
Letters by; Neil Utetake
Published by; IDW Publishing

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network