The Star Trek: Defiant arc concludes in Star Trek: Defiant #11, which is out now from IDW Publishing. The Another Piece of the Action arc has been an interesting four-part story. On one hand, having this crew become an insane clandestine organization has been great fun. However, on the other, we’ve been touching obscure characters, and the story hasn’t been as clearly defined as the previous arc.
Still, I hold onto hope the finale brings the story together, giving it the cohesiveness it desperately needs. I’m also intrigued as to what kind of threat Benny the Munch and the people of Sigma Iotia II pose. Hopefully, they’re a suitable foil for Worf. Find out how the latest arc wraps up in this review of Star Trek: Defiant #11!
WARNING – Some spoilers below for the latest Star Trek: Defiant adventure.
Sigma Iotia II
This isn’t the first time that Another Piece of the Action has returned to random planets from Star Trek: The Original Series. We’ve previously met back up with the Talosians from “The Cage” back when they were messing with Berlinghoff Rasmussen. That was a strange story. This time we’re picking back up the planet from “A Piece of the Action”, the TOS episode that this arc takes its name from.
In case you don’t remember, at the end of the episode, Doctor McCoy left behind a communicator. Not only is this a violation of the Prime Directive, but it caused them to develop rapidly as a society. The near century-long gap is a great way to pick back up with these characters, showing some very real long-term consequences of breaking the Prime Directive. The fact file also implies that Starfleet has a list of the Enterprise breaking the directive, which got a bit of a rise out of me.
A lot of time spent on the planet’s surface heavily features Nymira. Given how much of an outsider she is on the USS Defiant, and how used to morally questionable environments she is, it makes sense. She holds her own against the gangsters remarkably well, only really slipping up when she signs Worf up for a fight. I’m not usually a fan of gangster stories, but being set around a Dom-jot table made it so much more bearable. Tense, tight dialogue, and some really fun stuff through here.
The Fight
Worf getting entered into a cage fight is a great way to put his combat skills properly to the test. Over countless martial arts classes he taught, holodeck programs he ran, and actual fights he’s been a part of, this is probably the most testing. Interestingly, he’s not supposed to win, as much as he’s supposed to buy his team time to exfiltrate Benny. Even this however doesn’t work. All Worf gets out of this, outside of a desire to end Benny’s reign of terror, is a couple of broken ribs.
The way Worf emerges and takes charge of Benny’s room, avoiding machine gunfire in his determination, is nothing short of badass. While Worf is the lead character of the series and tends to get a fair bit of the action, there’s something about the hand-to-hand nature of a lot of this that just felt quintessentially Klingon. All of this was very appropriate for the sort of stage Worf is at in his life at the end of Deep Space Nine. I hope he gets to shine like this again.
With Benny and the rest of the fugitives aboard the Defiant, their mission is complete. It would’ve been nice if we saw how they interacted in the brig, giving the story an ounce of connective tissue. However, this arc remains a series of entertaining but strikingly different stories. It’s clear that the real story was their changing attitude to Starfleet, but this way of doing it was probably to the series’ detriment. That being said, there’s still a lot of fun to be had here, even if this isn’t quite the finale it could’ve been.
Issue Preview
Conclusion
In case the cliffhanger ending wasn’t enough of a dead giveaway, this series is still ongoing. We’re heading into the third arc at the end of this month, and I’m kind of excited to see how they keep the story going. There was a promise here that the gang would go their separate ways, some potentially leaving Starfleet for good. The idea of more stories after this is intriguing, to say the least.
I’m assuming something bad happens at Starbase 99. Looking at the covers below for the upcoming Star Trek: Defiant #12, it appears that the bugs from “Conspiracy” are appearing again. The Starfleet infiltration is actually a story I’ve been wanting to pick up for ages, so hopefully they do it well. While I found this last arc a little disjointed, lacking that cohesiveness that Volume 1 had. Hopefully, they’re able to remedy that going forward in the new story.
You can pick up your own copy of Star Trek: Defiant #11 out now from IDW Publishing. It’s available to purchase both physically and digitally from retailers like Amazon, as well as IDW’s own website. You can also find it out now on the shelves of all good comic book stores. For more reviews, all the latest news, and Star Trek lore discussions, be sure to follow the team here at Trek Central!
Issue Credits
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Pencils: Mike Feehan
Inkers: Maria Keane
Colorist: Marissa Louise
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Design & Production: Neil Uyetake
Group Editor: Heather Antos
Editorial Assistant: Vanessa Real
In the next issue…
In issue #12: Original Star Trek: Defiant writer-artist duo Christopher Cantwell and Ángel Unzueta delve into the sci-fi horror genre in arc three of the fan-favorite series! Eager to move past the unofficial bounty-hunting mission assigned to them by Starfleet, disgraced former ambassador and Starfleet legend, Worf, and his rogue crew make way for Starbase 99, a run-down remnant of the Dominion War, to complete their fugitive drop-off. The clandestine assignment has left them disillusioned with Starfleet and with one another, but a surprise awaits the Defiant crew, threatening to tear the crew apart even further-literally.
Release date: February 28, 2024
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