Star Trek Enemy Unseen

Star Trek Classics #2

by Keith R.A. DeCandido, Lucian Rizzo (Illustrator), Peter Pachoumis (Illustrator)

In a long and distinguished career, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew have faced uncounted foes and vanquished incredible dangers. But what happens when the enemy can''t be easily seen - when it lurks in the shadows, disguises itself as polite society, or emerges from the depths of one''s own mind? These are the antagonists with which the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise must contend with in this volume, the most dangerous kind of enemy - the enemy unseen. Contains the three stories "Perchance to Dream", "Embrace the Wolf," and "The Killing Shadows."

Genres: Star Trek, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Star Trek The Next Generation

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[SamB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to rate, since it collects three wholly separate stories. Perchance to Dream, the first, is excellent; the one-shot Embrace the Wolf is decent, if silly; and then the final four-parter, The Killing Shadows, starts promisingly but turns into nonsensical (and poorly drawn) space-ninja dross. The use of Sela here is particularly disappointing, as it's just gratuitous and really could have been anyone, and her ending is a total waste.

In summary - 4.5 stars, 3 stars, 1.5 stars. So I guess that's 3 stars overall.

[Rob Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stories in one volume, I found the first two stories so much better than the last although the artwork in the final story was so better. The first story featured a glaring error with Dr. Selar wearing the wrong colour uniform for a few panels! I particularly liked the setting of the first story somewhere just before Generations with the crew wearing a mix of TNG and DS9 uniforms.

[Travis James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good.

Nice to see Sela return to the franchise. This graphic novel is pretty good. I definitely recommend it. Five *****'s. 😀

[Taaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Putting the third story at the end was a mistake. That one was so ... complex and weird and not at all understandable, that having the comic end with it taints the whole impression of the book. Even if that would have made it chronologically wrong, I would have put that one in the middle, because the first two comics were not bad. But now the first was the strongest and it went downhill from there and while I assume I would have rated the first comic with 4 stars, the second with 3 and only the last with 1.5, this order of stories left me unsatisfied.

[Johan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring story and lousy artwork. Didn’t finish the book.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a comic book featuring three stories by several writers and illustrators based on characters in the television show Star Trek: The Next Generation. The first story involves the Enterprise providing security for the political transition of an alien world; the second sees the return of Redjac, a being without physical form who can infiltrate both minds and machines and feeds on fear; and the third has Captain Picard and his colleagues fighting the Bodai Shin, a ninja-like group of space warriors. The linking theme to the three tales is that the villains are not easily seen.

As a general rule I don’t like comics as the pictures are often poorly rendered, the dialogue unrealistic and the plots inane. I prefer to read short stories and novels, where the author has put more effort into characterisation and story, and my mind can imagine the action rather than have it shown to me on the page. As a medium that (not always but usually) lacks depth, comics feel intellectually lazy. However, I made an exception in this case because I encountered this book by chance at the local library. I haven’t seen the TV show for a while and I thought it might be fun to revisit the characters for a bit of silly space adventure.

The first story, focused on alien politics, was quite dull, despite its assassination plotline. The second story was more engaging, as the bad guy was a non-corporeal entity that required ingenuity to defeat. The third was a more standard action adventure, with everyone engaged in physical fights, but it became unintentionally humorous when it quickly became clear that the crew of the Enterprise were much better fighters than the otherwise well-trained space ninjas. The quality of the artwork varied quite a bit between stories - sometimes the leads were not even recognisable when they first entered the stage; the panels were often too dark or lacking detail to see clearly what was going on; and the text font was so small, anything that wasn’t in high contrast required a magnifying glass to read. The characters were frequently depicted with speech bubbles coming out of closed mouths – I know it’s not easy to draw figures talking but this created the impression of mumbling. Surely a professional artist can do better? The best artwork is on the cover of the book and on the faux covers at the beginning of each story.

Overall, I got what I expected – a space romp with familiar characters in stories that felt a bit like TV episodes. I didn’t like Star Trek much when I was younger and have grown to appreciate it more as I’ve aged. Even so, this particular volume wasn’t good enough to inspire me to find more Star Trek comic books, as I assume they would be similar. Perhaps a novel would be more to my taste.

[Carol Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a set of three stories that place during the run of the Show and movies. They all expand the Next Gen universe and as fan I found it fulfilling.

The first story is outstanding and does what Trek has always done take issues facing us today and putting them a SF context. The Enterprise is there to witness the inauguration of a new leader. The species are made up of three sexes and it is cultural and society to have relationships that include all three. Well the new leader is a relationship with just single person. Needless to say there are plenty of people who find this immoral and a threat to society. They will stop at nothing to stop the inauguration.

This story really hit home for me. I have LGBTQ friends as well as trans friends. In so many ways we are like this alien society ruled by fear of change and accepting that which is different. Too bad we don't have the Enterprise and Picard to help us out.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get through this beast of a graphic novel, but not because the storylines were bad. This collection features three different stories, 2 of which are set within the later seasons, and one that is post-Insurrection, pre-Nemesis. Of the three, the second one is my favorite, mainly because it deals with Jack the Ripper and Victorian London. Picard, Riker, Crusher, Data, and LaForge all had plenty to do in these stories, but unfortunately, Troi was reduced to being kidnapped/used as an empathic plot device for the majority of this set; though, I did quite like the scene where she lost her patience and whooped the ninja alien's ass. Another great touch, I felt, was the inclusion of Sela in the final story and seeing some tie-in with Tasha Yar, even if it was just Sela destroying her belongings. All in all, a solid addition to the TNG comics series.

[ISMOTU · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of three TNG stories. The first is trying to be very Star Trek and tackling a modern day issue through the lens of an alien race. It's a decent effort but clangs a bit to reader sensibilities 20 years later. Next we have a return of an original series threat in the form of Redjac and Picard must call back to several important TNG episodes in order to defeat the entity while saving his ship from the last world ravaged by Redjac. The final story set in the movie era of the Enterprise-E was my least favourite. Spooky space ninjas with murky motives and an old foe suddenly a friend didn't quite work for me.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weird book in the sense that the stories it ended up covering didn't come across as all that compelling to me for one reason or another. The first one was largely about Starfleet needing to play bodyguard for a politician with a weird psychic weapon thrown into the mix of things followed by...space ninjas. I know their story was more complex than that, however, they literally compared them to Earth ninjas and so I get to say that.

So this felt like a post-TNG adventure that probably could have fit in Season 1 or 2 of the original show.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

More fun stories from the Next Generation crew! If you never watched the series then this might not be as enjoyable because of little secret side stories that occurred during the series. A fun graphic novel again and it was thoroughly enjoyed!!!

[Drew Wayne Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first story, Perchance to Dream, was interesting and filled with political turmoil and sabotage. The second two, Embrace the Wolf and The Killing Shadows, are not much more than filler.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first two stories, but wasn’t as much a fan of the last.

[Jameson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Three stories. None of them any good. The DC ongoing was much better than this.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a big omnibus of three different TNG stories. I would've preferred for them to have been put in chronological order. The first story, "Perchance to Dream," takes place between TNG series finale "All Good Things..." and Star Trek: Generations. I really like the toll that the dreams have on some of the characters. Especially Picard, who has to deal with three prominent figures in his mind: Sarek, Kamin, and Locutus. The next story is a one-shot called "Embrace the Wolf." This is a sequel of sorts to TOS episode "Wolf in the Fold." Having read a lackluster Jack the Ripper-themed Doctor Who story recently, it was refreshing seeing Redjac take on the persona in the Holodeck against Sherlock Holmes-dressed Data. In the simulation, Worf does not seem to know the significance of Montgomery Scott. But since Scotty appears in season 6 of TNG and this story takes place between season 7 episodes "Force of Nature" and "Inheritance," this feels very much like a continuity error. The last story, "The Killing Shadows," takes place at least after Star Trek: Generations, judging by the uniforms, and Tasha Yar's daughter Sela appears in this, still haunted by her mother. There's a lot of great sword-fighting action in this story. A good collection overall despite some minor gripes here and there.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes this book worthwhile? There is plenty of action, including Picard in a sword fight. I also liked the unexpected introspection in one of the stories. Picard has had some strong experiences that have left a lasting impression on his mind. Granted, he doesn't need counseling as much as Miles O'Brien, but it might be hard going to sleep at night when you used to be Locutus of Borg. In at least one situation this might be a good thing...

This is a good size for a comic book graphic novel, unlike some of the barely 100 page entries published later.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the three stories, the first is VERY MUCH the best of the three. The story involves a gubernatorial election on a planet where relationships are between three individuals of three separate genders, so having a person take only one lover is seen as sick my a vocal minority of people. The new Governor just happens to be in this very predicament and it's up to Star Fleet, and more specifically, the Enterprise to make sure nothing bad happens during her inauguration. Unfortunately the other two stories involve space Jack the Ripper and space Ninjas, so the quality drops pretty fast.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are the first Star Trek comics that I have read. They will be enjoyed by other fans of the TNG series. The format is very much like the show but more action orientated, perhaps this fits the format better. The first story concerns a planet where it is 'normal' to have two partners and monogamy is considered a perversion.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

plots were all interesting. artwork in the first comic bothered me--the artist got the looks of the male characters accurate, but couldn't be bothered to make Deanna and Beverly look like Marina and Gates. WTF.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork was okay. The first two stories were decent. I've read this twice now, and I'm still not sure what the third one was about.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too wordy.

[Apostolos]

This was an interesting collection of Next Generation comics. There were some very odd stories in this collection where the story was more than a little odd, like having Picard and Troy being quite nimble and round-house some aliens in the jaw... The design of some aliens reminds me a little of Marvel aliens from the X-Men.