Welcome to Deep Space K-9!
No, not the station where we first met the infamous Tribbles. Instead, this station is the familiar Deep Space Nine after a single dog has won over the hearts of virtually every inhabitant. But give the crew and support staff some slack. The Dominion War is ranging on, and they can use whatever break they can find.
Everyone is taken to Latty, especially the Ferengi Quark, who claims to only love money. One Cardassian spy, Garak, holds contempt for the canine. “Never trust any creature that adorable,” he says of the Corgi.
The station and crew are safe in writer Mike Chen’s hands. He has a strong grasp of the DS9 characters and the dark places they must go to during the devastating war – even experimenting with Borg technology to gain an upper hand. Each character sounds like the officers we knew during the show’s seven-year television run. In short, he’s written a love letter to fans, and they should respond accordingly,
That is, as long as Angel Hernandez’ consistently inconsistent artwork doesn’t turn them off. Hernandez has a real talent for capturing likenesses and conveying a mood through his illustrations. The first page is a beautiful splash of DS9, along with a detailed closeup of Quark’s face. And a holodeck scene featuring Captain Benjamin Sisko and Jadzia Dax fighting off Borg is truly spooky.
But in between, other panels with holodeck crooner Vic Fontaine are underdeveloped. A closeup of the singer’s face shows almost no details. If it wasn’t for Nick Filardi’s colors and shading, readers would be hard-pressed to even know who is speaking. It’s as if Hernandez is spending most of his time on some pages then rushing through the remaining ones.
Spreading out that effort would help to elevate this entire series by bringing the art up to the same level as the writing. As it is now, the writing is outpacing most of the illustrations, putting the art…in the doghouse.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Dog of War #2 will be available for purchase tomorrow.
Welcome to Deep Space K-9! No, not the station where we first met the infamous Tribbles. Instead, this station isCOMICONRead More