Star Trek: The Next Generation Special – Riker

“The Enemy of My Enemy”

Cover Price: $3.50
Bargain Price: $0.50
Cover Date: July 1998

Let’s face it, unless they’re written by Peter David, Star Trek comics pretty much blow. DC often came the closest, but everyone else, from Malibu to IDW to Golden Key, has pretty much dropped the ball. Still, easily the most spectacular failure is the line of Star Trek comics Marvel released under their Paramount Comics imprint. Here, Marvel paired straightforward licensed properties Deep Space Nine and Voyager with “original” series like The Early Years, featuring Captain Pike, and Starfleet Academy, the Gen 13 of Star Trek, complete with a ridiculously busty Andorian, and two gloriously ludicrous Star Trek/X-Men crossovers. The stories were often of fan fiction quality with art that featured characters with lifeless, over photo referenced faces and unbelievably roided up bodies. The absurdly titled Star Trek: The Next Generation Special – Riker: The Enemy of My Enemy exemplifies all of the worst qualities of the Marvel Trek line. The story shoehorns fan favorite elements like Ro Laren, Tom Riker, the Marquis, and even the Genesis Torpedo into a subpar rehash of the already subpar TNG two-parter Gambit with a plot that never even comes close to passing the idiot test. Character faces look traced while bodies, including Riker and Data, very from fairly human to the nineties vein popping super heroic standard. Frankly, there’s a lot to hate about this comic, but the two worst features are the hideous, slapped together in Photoshop cover and the gigantic boobs given to the previously sleek Ro Laren.