Star Trek: Return of the Serpent!
{3/5} “The Enterprise turns and heads deeper into the mysterious depths of the unknown. Forever exploring and investigating the far corners of the universe — forever learning about ourselves.”
Star Trek: Return of the Serpent! by Michael Carlin, published in 7 issues from Aug. 1987 to Feb. 1988
Twenty years after the Enterprise’s first visit to Gamma Trianguli VI, they return to see what has become of its inhabitants. Kirk freed them from Vaal, the computer that was controlling their lives. Makora is still alive and his people think Kirk is a god. At first it seems like Makora is happy to see them, but he has gotten a taste of power — and won’t let anyone interrupt that.
This set of comic books isn’t as good as the previous one — there are too many times characters don’t act likes themselves, and things happen that don’t make sense.
There are a few mistakes here and there, like the Federation President giving Kirk a mission. It makes sense that there would be repair droids but they don’t look like anything else Starfleet uses.
The cover illustration on issue 44 is provocative, showing Spock giving the Vulcan neck pinch to Kirk. That does happen in the story, but it doesn’t accomplish anything — that was disappointing. It does fit in with the rest of how things are done, in a melodramatic manor.
They introduced a character named Bearclaw who is arrogant and disobeys orders — he is completely uninteresting and should have been cut.
The artwork by Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran is OK.
The previous set of comics in this series is The Doomsday Bug!