Sunday, January 16, 2011

Star Trek 1417: Ruling in Hell Part 4

1417. Ruling in Hell Part 4

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Khan - Ruling in Hell #4, IDW Comics, January 2011

CREATORS: Scott and David Tipton (writers), Fabio Mantovani (artist)

STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)

PLOT: Civil war breaks among Khan's people. While those loyal to him prevail on the field of battle, Khan corners the traitor Tamas and kills him. With a smaller population and the dissidents' cave offering a food and water source, they last years in the harsh environment, until the Reliant's landing party finds them.

CONTINUITY: See previous issues (Khan, Botany Bay, Ceti Alpha V, Joaquim). The comic ends where Star Trek II begins.

DIVERGENCES: None.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Trekkie bling
REVIEW: The last chapter is as visual as the rest of the series, which makes sense in that Khan is more a man of action than of words. The desert warfare seems relevant to wars today, but we don't dwell on the larger tactical portrait. Instead, we have a fair-looking fight between Khan and Tamas, and a victory of sorts that explains how the Botany Bay's crew survived to the point where the movies showed them again. No real surprises, just a solid filling in of the blanks and a well-intentioned homage to the character made famous by Ricardo Montalban. As one of four issues, it's a bit thin, but as part of a collection, this will seem like the grand finale of an epic story. Worthy of the great Khan.

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