HIVE

“Star Trek The Next Generation: Hive” #4 brings to a close the miniseries from the mind of Trek mainstay Brannon Braga, with writing assisted by Travis Fickett & Terry Matalas and art by Joe Corroney. Waging a war throughout history, the Enterprise crew is forced to consider the unthinkable in order to stop the Borg from conquering the galaxy in the future. They succeed, of course, but it’s safe to say that the victory is pyrrhic. This is a strong conclusion to a miniseries which has been on surprisingly good form throughout. There are some particularly great moments in the writing, with the team making full use of the comic form by giving a look at Picard’s interior monologue — something we could only ever infer on TV. Not everything is quite that well-handled, though, and in particular Lieutenant Archer’s insubordinate flip-out feels like a tacked-on resolution (although perhaps her arc will be more apparent when the series is read in one sitting). Similarly, Seven’s personal s

“Star Trek The Next Generation: Hive” #1 is the rarest of beasts: a licensed comic that transcends the usual constraints of the genre and manages to feel both important and interesting. Must be a blue moon. Described by writer Brannon Braga as a 25th Anniversary story for “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” there was only one enemy that series could feature, and that’s the Borg. Specifically, it returns to the events of “The Next Generation’s” best Borg episode (and some would say best episode full stop): “The Best of Both Worlds” and brings back Locutus, the Dark Phoenix to Captain Picard’s Jean Grey. The story kicks off with some dramatic opening pages, before flashing back to the Enterprise E. It takes a little while to acclimatise to the continuity of the story, and it would have been nice for Braga to specifically signpost when and where it was set to avoid this sort of confusion. As it turns out, it’s set post-“Nemesis,” and in its own continuity. A good decision, but one that co