"Bones" was the seventeenth issue of IDW Publishing's ongoing series of Star Trek comics. The stand-alone issue was an original story focused on the character of Leonard McCoy. The story was written by Mike Johnson and F. Leonard Johnson with art pencilled by Claudia Balboni and inked by Erica Durante.
Description[]
- The ongoing series focuses on the never-been-seen origins of the Enterprise crew in the new movie timeline! First up is Doctor Leonard Bones’ McCoy: find out how the cantankerous miracle worker found himself on a shuttle to Starfleet Academy with James T. Kirk!
Summary[]
- Chief medical officer's log, stardate 2258.247
- It's days like today that remind me just how much I hate my job sometimes.
McCoy is treating the husband of a female lieutenant, who asks what his prognosis is. McCoy tells her there are limited options for treating her husband's infection, which he contracted on an away mission on which he saved the lives of two fellow crew members. The lieutenant, who feels guilty because she convinced her husband to join her on active duty, asks what made McCoy want to join Starfleet.
In flashback, McCoy's father convinces young Len McCoy to explore the Mississippi woods. While looking at the moon, which he is surprised can be seen in the daytime, Len falls out of a tree and breaks his arm. McCoy's father makes a splint from a tree branch and his own torn shirt, telling Len that this should teach him to work with what he has when he is without medical technology. Later that day at his clinic, McCoy's father heals his son's arm with a bone regenerator.
Fifteen years later, now a med student at the University of Mississippi, McCoy introduces himself to Pamela Branch by telling her how to cure her ice cream headache. McCoy graduates first in his class, gets a prestigious pediatrics job and marries Pamela. Some time later, McCoy, whose marriage is failing, is devastated by losing a nine-year-old patient named Jenny to an incurable disease. Jenny had dreamed of being a Starfleet captain when she grew up, and on her deathbed told McCoy about the starship she would command. As McCoy gazes at the night sky, remembering Jenny's description of her bridge's wrap-around viewscreen, he is served with divorce papers.
Walking through the woods again with his father, McCoy tells him that he is thinking of starting over "somewhere far away". McCoy is concerned because his father is now a widower, but his father reassures him that "You'd be surprised how far that goes with the ladies." McCoy's father again reminds him to "always work with what you've got." Some time later, Cadet McCoy is forced out of the bathroom of the Starfleet Academy shuttle by a female officer.
McCoy finds new friends and colleagues at the Academy. He is eventually assigned to the USS Enterprise, where the lieutenant's husband's illness remains resistant to treatment. McCoy formulates an antidote from discoveries the Enterprise has made on its travels. With her husband conscious and recovering, the lieutenant again asks why McCoy joined Starfleet. McCoy tells her that "an old friend recommended it." Stepping onto the bridge, McCoy reflects, "The screen doesn't wrap all around the bridge, Jenny... but I think you'd still like it."
References[]
Characters[]
- Pamela Branch • Jenny • Maggie • David Andrew McCoy • Leonard McCoy • Steven • Hikaru Sulu • unnamed Humans • unnamed Starfleet personnel
- Referenced only
- Eleanora McCoy
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Earth • the galaxy • Golden Gate Bridge • Luna • Mississippi • unnamed planets
- Referenced only
- Helsinki • San Francisco • Sol
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Starfleet • Starfleet Academy
- Referenced only
- Ole Miss
Science and technology[]
Ranks and titles[]
Other references[]
- Aldorian beer pong • aviaphobia • basketball • bathroom • bridge • Chief medical officer's log • clinic • day • divorce • ice cream • jump shot • moon • motion • planet • raccoon • serve • shorts • splint • stardate • tree • vacation • year
Chronology[]
Appendices[]
Background[]
- The story's title was published in the omnibus The New Adventures, Volume 2.
- This is about Dr. McCoy.
Related stories[]
- TOS movie: Star Trek - This issue leads into the scene in the movie in which Doctor McCoy first appears.
Images[]
Cover gallery[]
Connections[]
| previous comic: Mirrored, Part 2 |
The Original Series (IDW series) | next comic: The Voice of a Falling Star |
|---|
External link[]
- Bones (comic) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.