By
GustavoLeao /
08:31, 28 February 2013 /
General Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive #4
Reviewed by Patrick Hayes
The covers: Like binary numbers, a pair of covers for
you to collect. Cover A is by Joe Corroney. A Borg sphere explodes in
green. Within the explosion is Picard, though from the neck down he's
Borg. Our captain is flanked by a passive looking Borg Queen and a
pensive Seven of Nine. Just awesome! Cover B is a photo cover of Locutus
and the Borg Queen. A perfect cover choice. Overall grades: Both A
The story: This issue concludes the story begun by
Brannon Braga and scripted by Terry Matalas & Travis Fickett. The
issue begins with Picard's version of what it's like to be assimilated.
Why? He's Locutus, again! But wait! Future Data arrives on the
Enterprise and brings the crew up to speed on how to defeat the Borg and
change the future. How can they be defeated? Guess who has to get
assimilated? Okay, so this won't be a surprise to any Trek fan, but
there are some things you didn't expect: the last dialogue balloon on
Page 10, all of Page 11, Page 15 (Did not see that coming!),
Page 16 (Whoa!), Page 20 ('bout time someone said something like this to
him!), Page 21 (Nice!), and Page 22 (Yes!). As you can see, there are
plenty of surprises and nice turns in a story you think you can predict,
but won't, because time is always in flux. Overall grade: A
The art: Page 1 is a gorgeous visualization of being
assimilated! Which only makes the echo on Page 11 all the better, and
sexy to boot! The image of Seven on Page 6 is frightening and sad. For
you fans of tech, Pages 7, 9, 12, and 18 will make you very happy. I've
always been indifferent to Seven of Nine's character, but this story
with Joe Corroney's art and ink assists by Matt Fillbach and Shawn
Fillbach have gotten me to feel more for this character than I had for
her when she was on television. For example, Page 11 (Okay, it's just
hot--I'll fess up to that); Page 15, panel two; Page 17, panel four, and
Page 19, panel three (You'd think this would be cliche, but it really
worked on me--she would say that and do that!). A great, great job! Overall grade: A
The colors: Do you remember how cool it was when Flynn first entered the video game world in the original Tron?
The shapes and colors of that sequence still hold up, in my opinion.
The coloring on Page 1 by Hi-Fi, who do the entire book, rival that
dazzling entrance. Page 6's shading of light on the characters is
cinematic quality. Space is also wonderful under Hi-Fi's contributions
(Pages 7, 9, and 18--Wowser!). What's not to like? Overall grade: A
The letters: Only two sound effects, both on Page 17.
For all the action, I really needed more sounds. Still, good narration
and dialogue from Shawn Lee. Overall grade: A-
The final line: This series gave me exactly what I was hoping for: action, drama, and a Borg bonanza! What else did I get? Time travel, the Titan,
a Borg King, and a Seven of Nine I cared for. To use a quote from the
final issue, "I'd tell you resistance is futile, but you know this by
now." A must have for any Trek fan. Overall grade: A
