The Borg discover Quidditch.
Star Trek: First Contact
Marvel/Paramount Comics (November, 1996)
STORY: Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, & Roland D. Moore
SCREENPLAY: Brannon Braga & Roland D. Moore
ADAPTATION: John Vornholt
ARTISTS: Terry Pallot and Rod Whigham (also layouts)
INKER: Philip Moy (for Whigham’s pages)
COLOR DESIGN: Shannon Blachard
COLORING: Malibu
COVER ART: Jeff Pittarelli
LETTERER: Edd Fear
EDITOR: Phil Crain
SENIOR EDITOR: Mark Paniccia
Picard’s history with the Borg is allowing him to sense their latest attack on Earth. He is also able to figure out how to destroy the Borg cube but they launch a spherical pod that creates a doorway through time. The Enterprise-E follows it through and must now aid Zephram Cochrane in completing his famous warp drive test that led to first contact with the Vulcans. However, Cochrane is not quite the legend people were expecting, the Borg have infiltrated the Enterprise, the Borg Queen is trying to coerce Data to join them, and Cochrane’s assistant Lilly must convince Picard that there’s something more important than getting payback on the Borg. In the end both the launch and first contact are made.
What they got right: I do like the idea that Cochrane wasn’t quite the hero he was thought to be because he does become that legend in the end. I still believe he could become the man the original Enterprise crew would meet later on. Picard’s story arc is about him finally getting over his rage against the Borg and Lilly is a big help without taking away Picard’s agency.
What they got wrong: The shorter movie adaptations that came out around this time don’t really adapt the story well. You get the beats but none of heart of the story. Sadly they still got some of the lamer jokes in. However, the biggest problem with this story is the addition of the Borg Queen. She exists in pretty much the antithesis of the Borg. She seduces Data, introduces flesh and physical sensation into his systems when the Borg purge these things from people. She has a personality, which the Borg also purge. Instead of expanding on the Borg she pretty much weakens the Borg as a threat. They also weakened the Defiant, a ship Ben Sisko fought to get built to fight the Borg, as it gets its butt handed to it by the Borg so Worf can rejoin the TNG cast for the movie.
Recommendation: The reason they still made comic adaptations like this was to continue the story through the comic collection but this is so weak compared to watching the actual movie that you should just watch the movie instead.
