“Yesterday’s” Comic> Star Trek: Early Voyages #8

“This is going to look bad on my next performance record.”

Star Trek: Early Voyages #8

Marvel/Paramount Comics (September, 1997)

“Immortal Wounds”

WRITERS: Ian Edginton &  Dan Abnett

PENCILER: Patrick Zircher

INKER: Greg Adams

COLORIST: Marie Javins

LETTERER: Janice Chiang

EDITOR: Bobbie Chase

While aiding the plague-ridden planet Neyda Prime, Doctor Boyce is arrested and charged with murder of a local businessman (though apparently not a planet native given the art). As Pike and crew try to figure out what’s going on with the aide of a Vulcan Ambassador, Toluk, Carlotta and Colt compare notes about the doctor’s hearing voices. Those same voices force Boyce to see out Toluk because they are actually the Katra (or in their language, Sira) of aliens who were attacked by the Orion Syndicate, which the businessman had been a member of. As a young officer Boyce had seen their ship crashed and they transferred their Sira to him, but they were confused and were not able to properly convince Boyce to take them home. They are the ones who killed the businessman after recognizing him. Toluk was able to transfer their Sira to a special crystal for transport, clearing Boyce of all charges. Meanwhile, Joe chooses the wrong time to tell Mia he’s interested in her.

What they got right: The mysterious voices Boyce has been hearing thus far are finally explained before the subplot got too ridiculous, but enough that it was built up and executed well. The answer is satisfying given the world of Star Trek, and we also see Spock isn’t so sure about the concept of katra transference, which is interesting given what he did to McCoy in the second and third classic timeline movies.

What they got wrong: Why did Toluk, a Vulcan, just happen to have a Julthan prayer gem to transfer the three siras into?

Recommendation: A satisfying conclusion to the subplot and a good story overall if you’ve followed the series.