In the 1960’s Original Series episode ‘Whom Gods Destroy’ (see what they did there?), Garth was an extremely camp, quite mad former war hero who, commanding the USS Axanar, defeated the Klingons bravely, but despite the interesting backstory (which you may well see new series Discovery touch upon, in the other timeline), the episode itself was hard work.
Series writer Mike Johnson does a better job of giving Garth a contemporary new storyline; he’s taken many of the classic TOS episodes and characters and given them a comic-book, fresh timeline spin over the last few years, and in some cases he’s improved on the original. Despite doing so here, Garth still remains an utterly pantomime villain.
Really, this issue is a bit of a lark. You never really feel Garth is going to do all that much damage, much as Johnson tries to frame his story a little like Khan taking control of the Reliant and attacking the Enterprise for vengeance against its captain. Actually, it’s almost exactly The Wrath of Khan, isn’t it?
Garth’s target in this case is Captain Jiang of the USS Heisenberg, who he blames for leaving him for dead on Antos IV after a transporter accident, but one wonders if Johnson isn’t planning on returning to Garth as we don’t really get any inkling as to how he can shapeshift into anyone (bar a throwaway line about the Antosians saving his life). It’s all just a bit silly.
That’s ok, though. As a romp, ‘Whom God Destroys’ works fine. It feels a lot like a TOS episode, in fact, given how Kirk ends up not only swopping in and saves the day, but also gets laid at the end (thanks to the huge Mary Sue that is sexy space pirate/old flame Eurydice). In that sense, much as its throwaway, it’s also quite nostalgic, and as ever thanks to artwork here from Megan Levens & Marissa Louise on colours, it looks bold, bright and beautiful. A fun end to a bit of fluff.
Star Trek: Boldly Go #12 is out today from IDW Publishing. Let us know what you think of the series.