Book Review : Star Trek Deep Space Nine Fool's Gold Issue 2

The covers: Cover A by the Sharp Brothers. Odo and Kira and making a crowd that's encircling them "talk to the hand." It's a neat job for both characters, with Kira looking like Adam Hughes has drawn her. Rom looks like the Ferengi on the right, standing next to Kevin Spacey(?). Cover B is by David Messina, with colors by Giovanna Niro. Kira is standing in front of an oversized red outline of a Bajoran icon on white. Gorgeous! The "Incentive Cover" is the same, without all the logos and lettering. Fine, but no photo cover? Overall grades: Cover "A" A, Cover "B" A+, and "IC" A.

The story: I've been making my way (slowly) through Season Six of Deep Space Nine, so the dialogue and tones of the characters are fresh in my ears and mind. And they're just as clear in this comic. Scott & David Tipton capture each character's voice well. Starting on Page 1, I had to read Rom's one line aloud, because, to me, that's his catch-phrase. Quark is only on Page 1 as well, but his short dialogue is perfect for the situation. What's the sitch? DS9 is getting overrun by ruffians of the galaxy. Why are they arriving and for what purpose? You'll have to wait for the very last panel! O'Brien finds a surprise in one of the station's access corridors, as well as one hell of a mess to clean up. Bashir finds a piece of the puzzle in all the hoodlums' injuries, while Jake recovers in Sick Bay. Dax cameos as a quick sounding board for Sisko, who has a nice scene with Gul Dukat (who deliciously drips with sarcasm!). Kira and Odo steal the book with a nice final five page interrogation scene of the previous issue's two humans that opened the series. I loved watching each character's different take on how to question the criminals. The reveal of what's going on seemed as though I was watching an unfilmed episode. After the last panel, cut to commercial. That's what you want in a DS9 book. Overall grade: A

The art: Space shots -- great. Humans -- good (examples, Page 11, panel two; Page 17, panel two; Page 14, panel five -- okay, that's a Cardy). Interiors -- really good! The Tellarite (!!!) -- fantastic! The not-so-good: Kira (she's cute, but that ain't Nana) and Sisko and Dukat growling at each other on Pages 14 and 15 (Sisko looks like he's choking and Dukat has tattoos). The poor: again, Odo. Now on a fantastic final note: Pages 18 - 21. The interrogation scenes are laid out perfectly, and the expressions on Page 22 sell the moment of revelation. I'm rooting for Fabio Mantovani to do a good job; it appears often enough, though when it lags it hurts the book. Overall grade: B

The colors: DS9 is a very brown setting, even on television it was drab. Lighting was used (or not used) to change up the emotional intensity of various scenes. Fabio Mantovani and Davide Amici do a solid job here of continuing that tradition. Space is a cool blue, Sisko's office is appropriately dark as he ponders his next move, while it lightens up when Dax is the focus (because, honestly, doesn't any scene light up when Terry Farrell is present?). The dueling dialogue scene has muted colors to throw focus on those speaking or moving in the setting. And the shock of the final reveal gets colored vividly to heighten the impending chaos. Overall grade: A

The letters: This is a fairly heavy dialogue book, but Robbie Robbins is solid, as always. In addition to all the talkin', Robbie supplies the world's loudest combadge chirps in Trek history. And when did Tellarites sound like Howard the Duck? Overall grade: A

The final line: The 86th Rule of Acquisition states Buying this comic will increase your pleasure. It's a fun read. Overall grade: A-

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