Star Trek 1247: Worlds Collide

1247. Worlds Collide

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Untold Voyages #2, Marvel Comics, April 1998

CREATORS: Glenn Greenberg (writer), Michael Collins and Keith Williams (artists)

STARDATE: 7521.4 (a year after the last issue)

PLOT: The Enterprise studies a saurian quadrupedal life-form with some manner of sentience on a planet doomed to soon be hit by a metor. McCoy advocates breaking the Prime Directive to save this species, and eventually Kirk relents. But just as they're about to intervene, the creatures do so themselves with a shared telekinetic effort. Meanwhile, Spock is on Vulcan checking on Saavik, about a year after he brought her back orphaned from a Romulan colony. She is having trouble containing her emotions and he mindmelds with her to give her stability and delivers her to his parents for proper rearing.

CONTINUITY: Saavik's origin from the first DC Comics series (vol1. #7) is mostly respected, though details are added and the timeline changed. She decides here to one day join Starfleet (The Wrath of Khan). Sarek and Amanda also appear. McCoy uses Miramanee's World as a precedent for saving a world from an asteroid (The Paradise Syndrome). The Rhaandarite seen in the background in The Motion Picture is given dialog and a name - Omal. McCoy jokes that he can't think of anything worse than hearing Spock's voice in his head (foreshadowing The Search for Spock).

DIVERGENCES: The novel Ex Machina renamed Omal, Vaylin Zaand. The DC series #7 had Spock find Saavik while he served on Captain Pike's Enterprise.

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REVIEW: Two completely different threads, but united under the same relevant title. The Enterprise A-story features some distinctive aliens and a sense of wonder often missing from these tales (or Star Trek in general), and I think is worthy in that it shows Kirk being swayed by emotion in the absence of Spock. Greenberg plays well on the psychological triad these characters usually form. As for the Spock story, it took me a minute to realize it contradicted the DC series because it follows much the same beats, though positioned later in the timeline. Not a big deal, though Saavik seems kind of young to me here (how far away is The Wrath of Khan?). Still, it fits in well with the mission of Untold Voyages of creating links between TMP and ST II. Spock's bond to Saavik is explained efficiently, and the whole is told with humor and very good art.