Star Trek 1218: Relicquest, Part I

1218. Relicquest, Part I

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Voyager #6, Marvel Comics, April 1997

CREATORS: Ben Raab (writer), Jesus Redondo and Sergio Melia (artists)

STARDATE: 51123.9 (between False Profits and Remember)

PLOT: As tensions mount on the supply-hungry Voyager, the crew finds an M-class planet that could be the answer to their prayers. However, Neelix has heard a legend that this planet, like others in the system, should have been destroyed by a psionic artifact long ago. An away team investigates and meets an alien called Bonai who sends everyone but Janeway back to the ship. He's looking for a relic of such power it could also send Voyager back to the Earth. If Janeway doesn't help him find it, then he'll rely on a Kazon, a Trabe and a Vidiian (who also have ships in orbit). She agrees...
Bonai

CONTINUITY: The Kazon's last appearance before this was in Basics, Part II, the Trabe in Alliances, and the Vidiians in Resolutions.

DIVERGENCES: The crew seems filled with many more unknown aliens than I remember.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Food fight!
REVIEW: A terrible title to imagine at the top of an episode, but let that go. The issue spends half its time on "mounting tensions" that are clicheed by Voyager's standards, though Neelix caught in the crossfire is a good bit. It seems strained over all, however, with Kim and Paris landing in the brig and Chakotay giving Janeway the old "the captain can't be seen to crack" speech just because she makes a comment about Neelix's cooking. Maybe there's an alien influence at work, but that's hardly new. Once we get into the legend, well, it better stay a legend. A psionic device with the power to destroy entire systems? Strains credulity. And yet, here's a TOS-style magical alien who doesn't show up on sensors and somehow calls three other species to play his game at this very convenient moment. Too early to pan it at this point, but it'll of course turn out to be Gilligan's Island syndrome as there's no way Voyager returns to Earth thanks to this. As for the art, I think it is getting better, with a few nice expressions thrown into the mix.