By GustavoLeao / 01:33, 4 April 2010 / Trek Books

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Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ghosts #5  

Reviewed by Patrick Hayes aka PatBorg  

The covers: Closing out the series is Joe Corroney's shot of Data about to surprise some nasties.  Corroney always does outstanding likenesses of the actors, and this is no exception.  And as an added plus, this cover scene comes from Page 1: no spoilers!  Though those bad guys appear no where in this issue.  The R(etailer) I(ncentive) Virgin Cover is the same as the "deflowered" Cover but without the wordage.  Overall grade: Both A  

The story: I've got to hand it to Zander Cannon, this issue ties up very neatly and, even better, satisfactory.  Had you asked me at Issue #2 to predict how this series was going to go, I would have said train wreck.  I'm, happily, eating my words.  Data finally gets some "screen time" this issue and is able to solve a major problem on the surface, while chiming in with a perfect Data response (Page 9, panel one).  Not to mention the final panel on Page 13 was nifty android understatement.  On the Enterprise scientist Uul is disappearing at an alarming rate, and his chances of helping Picard and the other Alliosians is shrinking.  I think that Cannon has tapped into what makes a good Trek story: characters get a chance to shine.  They show their intelligence and are able to solve solutions.  Picard has some really good speeches this issue, but I didn't find them heavy handed (Page 10 and 22).  Worf gets to do what you'd expect from a captured Klingon, and I found myself laughing at his response (Page 12, panel three).  My favorite moment was Geordi's realization on Page 13.  Brilliant, and in front of every reader's face every issue.  I love moments like these in books where the reader learns as the characters learn.  The irony of who discovered "it" was not lost on me.  Page 21 was the ideal solution to the issue's predicament.  It had genuine emotion (though aren't they going to eventually die from starvation?  I'm just sayin...).  And the action at the top of Page 20 is as close as you can get to a dramatic climax.  My hat's off to you, Mr. Cannon.  You had me worried at times, but you pulled it off.  Overall grade: A  

The art: This has been the weakest link of the entire series.  Javier Aranda has improved slightly with this issue.  How so?  No more "wet" hair for Troi.  And faces of your favorite Trek characters are not as overly shaded.  How so?  Look at Page 7.  Riker has detail lines overdone on his face throughout this series, and on this page it's toned down a bit.  That last panel has thin rather than thick lines, and I prefer it this way.  The same thin lines are used on O'Brien on Page 8.  It's still too much, but since they're thin, I like it better.  Even Data doesn't look too bad, though he appears to be older than Brent Spiner.  Picard is still suffering from too many facial lines, but, again, there's not as many (Page 10, 17, 20, and 22).  Worf is the best likeness in the book, and I was very happy with that.  Something should be mentioned about the gore level of this story.  The fate that Uul finds himself in could have been pretty graphic.  As I've looked at Uul in previous issues, I never took it too seriously.  He's not a character from the series, so I didn't have too much buy-in when it came to his fate.  However, as he slowly "decays" in this issue my opinion changed.  It was a fairly horrific exit.  Aranda had the opportunity to really go for the gross out, which would have been perfectly justified by the story, but he didn't.  He did just enough to get my attention, to get my sympathy for Uul, and just enough "graphic" to hit my quease factor.  I'm talking about the last panel on Page 16.  It was just what the story needed.  So, I did think that Aranda improved (and I maintain that his alien cities and exterior shots of space are great) but I'd still like to see some better, lighter line work on faces and improved likenesses of the main players.  Overall grade: C  

The inks: Marc Rueda, you, sir, are still the unknown factor in this comic.  Have you been inking exactly what you've been given, or have you been making changes?  I need to see some more of your skills on another book.  I'm basing your grade on the art.  Overall grade: C  

The colors: I like John Hunt's work.  Thanks in no small part to the issue's many varied locales, he's able to strut his stuff quite well.  Overall grade: A  

The letters: Continuing from last issue is Neil Uyetake.  Lots of dialogue with a communicator chirp and a transporter effect.  Three small errors occur when Worikk is on the viewscreen on Page 7: The interference in the lettering is not in italics on this page, though it is on the next.  I thought that Worikk was slurring, rather than having inference with her transmission.  Once I got to Page 8 I'd figured it out.  Overall grade: A-  

Overall grade: The story is good, the art does improve, but it took four issues just to get to this level.  Sorry to say, I wouldn't recommend this Trek series to a Trek fan or a comic reader.  Overall grade (for this issue): C+