By Various
Tokyopop, 192 pp.
Rating: Teen (13 +)

Star Trek: The Next Generation—The Manga is a collection of four short tales featuring the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation, each produced by a different creative team, including one written by David Gerrold, the mind that gave us the classic “The Trouble With Tribbles” episode from the original Star Trek series. Each of the short stories seems to take place between episodes of the TV series; some take the opportunity to expand upon events or detail things that may have happened behind the scenes, while others tell completely new and original tales.

The book kicks off with the David Gerrold story, “Changeling,” with E.J. Su on art chores. Set shortly after he becomes an Ensign, the story is a short little coming of age tale for Wesley Crusher as he sets off with other notable crew members to investigate a mysterious pyramid. It’s heavy on the humor but the final twist leaves me wondering whether the story was actually plausible.

The next story, “Sensation,” is written by Diane Duane with art from Chrissy Delk. It’s actually one of the more interesting stories in the volume with a heavy focus on Troi and Dr. Crusher as they attempt to unravel a mystery illness sweeping a terraforming colony, and later the Enterprise. It felt closer in tone to the TV series than some of the pieces in the book, and Delk does a good job at making everyone recognizable while avoiding that stiff and lifeless feel that often plagues comic or manga depictions of real people. It’s an enjoyable enough tale but doesn’t quite dazzle. Still, a solid effort.

“The Picardian Knot,” written by Christine Boylan with art by Don Hudson is set shortly after an episode featuring Sarek, the Vulcan ambassador and father to the more famous Spock. It heavily revolves around the idea that a mind meld from the episode has negatively impacted Picard’s ability to emote, turning him into a pseudo-Vulcan. This all comes at a horrible time as they begin to investigate Romulan activity along the Neutral Zone, an interstellar DMZ. While the Romulan threat is largely floating in the background, the meat of the tale are the various attempts by the crew to get Picard to reconnect with his emotions. Hudson’s art is decent but a bit stiff in areas. He does get to play a fun game of “hide the face” when the Enterprise bartender Guinan makes a cameo. I’m assuming this has something to do with not being able to use Whoopi Goldberg’s likeness, but at any rate it does make an unintentionally amusing sequence. Sadly, the resolution is a bit bland and comes via the titular “knot.”

The final story, “Loyalty,” is probably the strongest in the bunch. Written by F.J. DeSanto and coming to us with art by Bettina Kurkoski, the story is set shortly after “The Best of Both Worlds”—a season finale cliffhanger and its resolution that arguably constitute the series’ high point—and deals with fallout from Picard’s time as Locutus of Borg and the thousands of people who were slaughtered using his knowledge. While the TV series did deal with this, it did so from Picard’s point of view. “Loyalty” comes at the story from Starfleet’s perspective and focuses on Riker’s attempts to protect Picard as other high-ranking officers attempt to have him ousted due to his involvement in the incident. It’s actually a brilliantly simple conceit and one I found myself questioning a few times throughout the series. Kurkoski’s artwork is strong and the characters look like their TV counterparts sans the stiffness mentioned elsewhere. It’s easily the best story in the volume.

Sadly, despite the fact that I actually dig The Next Generation, for the most part this book failed to excite. While the final story is an interesting follow-up to one of my favorite two-parters, I felt that the rest of the book was bland and forgettable. I can’t imagine this really appealing to anyone other that hardcore Star Trek: The Next Generation fans, and I get the feeling that they wouldn’t be too crazy about it either.

Volume one of Star Trek: The Next Generation—The Manga is available now.