"Stargazer, Issue 1" is the first comic issue of the Star Trek: Picard—Stargazer miniseries from IDW Publishing. Released on 31 August 2022, this issue was written by Kirsten Beyer & Mike Johnson, with art by Angel Hernandez
Description[]
- Solicitation from IDW Publishing
- Embark on a never-before-seen journey set between seasons two and three of the Paramount+ hit series Star Trek: Picard! After a tantalizing offer to return among the stars arises, Captain Jean-Luc Picard takes to the bridge of the USS Stargazer. But when trouble rears its head on a once peaceful, pre-warp planet from his past, Picard enlists the help of an old friend.
Summary[]
Wearing a Starfleet uniform, Seven of Nine oversees a peace treaty negotiation for a warring culture. Though the day is nearly won, the conflict escalates as both sides begin fighting over who is more grateful to Seven, Zaka and Zhom both ordering the doomsday weapons to be launched…
…ending the holographic program. Entering, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard advises Seven that there is no prize more elusive than peace itself. For her part, Seven is puzzled by the "less kinetic" changes Picard has made to the Kobayashi Maru scenario. Picard reminds Seven that most of Starfleet's work is less explosive than people like to think. The phaser fights and torpedo battles are the exception, not the rule. And that is Seven's problem. Seven is not cut out for "less kinetic". While there are some problems that only Starfleet can solve, there are just as many that the Fenris Rangers can solve. Knowing that to be her call, Seven takes her leave.
A month later, Laris informs Picard of a message for him. Feeling his age, Picard notes that he cannot be what Starfleet wants him to be. Scoffing, Laris counters with all the nights Picard spends looking at the stars. If he won't go save the galaxy again for Starfleet, then he should keep adventuring for his own sanity.
As usual, Laris was correct and Picard finds himself back on the USS Stargazer, now captained by Captain Mekara on its way to Jenjor VI. Decades ago, Picard charted the system and found it inhabited by a pre-warp society, chasing off Romulans in the process. At the Andorian's questioning, Picard tells his tale.
In 2354, the USS Stargazer was observing Jenjor VI when a Romulan warbird appeared. Though Commander Xenius ordered the Stargazer to withdraw, the Stargazer had already detected the planet's supply of csylium and is ready to fight to defend the natives. But rather than war for a backwater world, Picard points Xenius's warbird in the direction of an asteroid belt rich in csylium.
Finishing his story, Picard isn't sure if he would have actually opened fire, but his bluff worked. Not long after that though, the Romulan Star Empire annexed the sector, a sector that is now free to explore given the Empire's collapse. When the Stargazer arrives however, it detects no life signs, Picard signing himself onto the away team.
Beaming down, the four discover a shattered dead planet. On the surface though, the tricorders are able to pick up movement before a trio of hovercraft crest the horizon and open fire. With comms down, the group is rescued by an alien named Hiro who knows Picard. As he leads them to safety, Seven of Nine makes herself known. This, she notes to Picard, is a problem that Starfleet is not equipped to solve.
References[]
Characters[]
- Idun Asmund • Gilaad Ben Zoma • Chen (Lieutenant) • Hiro • Laris • Mekara • Moshe • Number One (dog) • Jean-Luc Picard • Seven of Nine • Urtern • Xenius • Zaka • Zhom (Prelate) • Stargazer personnel (from both Constellation-class USS Stargazer and Sagan-class USS Stargazer, including unnamed Stargazer personnel: 2354 Stargazer lieutenant, 2401 Stargazer crew) • unnamed holograms (Zaka's attendants, Zhom's attendants) • Jenjor VI attackers)
- Referenced only
- Q
Starships and vehicles[]
- hovercraft • USS Stargazer (Sagan-class starship) • USS Stargazer (Constellation-class exploration cruiser) • Xenius's warbird (Romulan D'Deridex-class warbird)
Locations[]
- Château Picard vineyard (La Barre, France, Europe, Earth, Sol star system, sector 001, treaty boundary Quadrant 0, the galaxy's Alpha Quadrant)
- Jenjor VI (Jenjor star system, the galaxy's Alpha or Beta Quadrant)
- Referenced only
- Balancar (Balancar system, the galaxy's Alpha Quadrant)
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
- Referenced only
- Zaka's Central Command
Science and classification[]
- astronomy • communications • energy • lifeform • matter • measurement • technology • time • universe • weapon
Astronomy[]
- orbit • planet • space • star • star system
Lifeforms[]
Materials and substances[]
Food and drink[]
Measurement[]
Technology and weapons[]
- armor • body armor • cloaking device • combadge • communicator • directed energy weapon • environment suit • helmet • hovercraft • phaser • phaser pistol • photon torpedo • replicator • starship • transporter • type-2 phaser • warp core • warp drive • weapons battery • weapons of mass destruction • viewscreen
Occupations and titles[]
- admiral • away team • captain • cleric • crewman • command division • commander • commanding officer • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2350s-2360s) • Federation Starfleet ranks (2400s) • first officer • flight controller • lieutenant • officer • operations division • pilot • prelate • rank • tactical officer
Other references[]
- bluff • boot • clothing • diplomacy • doomsday launch • government • jumpsuit • Kobayashi Maru scenario • nation-state • pants • Prime Directive • races and cultures • science • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2350s-2366) • Starfleet uniform (2400s) • title • treaty and law • tunic • uniform
Chronology[]
- 2354
- Constellation-class USS Stargazer visits Jenjor VI.
- 2401
-
- Q takes Picard and the Stargazer passengers on a time travel adventure. (Star Trek: Picard season 2)
- Seven of Nine's diplomacy-themed Kobayashi Maru scenario
- Picard accompanies the Sagan-class USS Stargazer on a return to Jenjor.
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- Previous appearances of the Constellation-class USS Stargazer and her crew:
- TNG season 1:
- TNG episode: "The Battle" (first appearance)
- TNG novel: Reunion by Michael Jan Friedman
- TNG novel: The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett
- DC TNG comics
- "Children of Chaos" (art by Deryl Skelton)
- Star Trek: Stargazer novel series
- TNG season 1:
- Previous appearances of the Sagan-class USS Stargazer and her crew:
- First appearance of Hiro:
Background[]
Uniform background[]
- The time period of 2354 in the flashback is one of the earliest uses of the TNG seasons 1-2 uniform. Preceding stories around the same era to show this Starfleet uniform on the same characters are TNG episode: "Violations" (TNG season 5) on Captain Picard in the flashback sequence of the morgue viewing of Jack Crusher, TNG comic: "Children of Chaos" from DC Comics (TNG ongoing series #59). The first use of this uniform was a year earlier on Connor Rossa in the 2353 archive photos seen in TNG episode: "Suddenly Human". The previous maroon uniforms were only seen in use up to the year 2349 when Wesley Crusher's father had recorded a holographic message for his son, and in the cover art for TNG - Double Helix novel: The First Virtue, taking place in 2350.
Stargazer character background[]
- The character of Idun Asmund originated in TNG novel: Reunion by Michael Jan Friedman, as illustrated on the cover by Keith Birdsong, and continued in books related to the Star Trek: Stargazer series. TNG novel: The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett took dialogue from an extra Stargazer crewman who appeared in flashback in TNG episode: "The Battle" and identified that woman as Asmund. Gilaad Ben Zoma also originated in Reunion and was first illustrated in the DC Comics TNG series, by artist Deryl Skelton.
- In one panel, Picard addresses his number one as "Commander Zoma". All previous appearances of the character treated the prefix to his surname "Ben" being part of his normal address, referring to him as "Commander Ben Zoma".
Romulan background[]
- Although the callbacks to continuity are accurate with the above-mentioned Stargazer characters, the dialogue of TNG episode: "The Neutral Zone" would seem to preclude Picard having contact with Romulans before that episode.
- In the episode, Picard asked Deanna Troi to create a psychological profile of the Romulans, as if he had not had any experiences with them in the past. It is possible that Picard wanted Troi to do so for the benefit of his senior staff, and the classified nature of the Jenjor VI mission precluded him from passing his own personal experience to her. Certainly her empathic sense might have even picked up on his withholding of info, and Picard even went so far as to thank her for supplying him with information he hadn't considered about the Romulans' standoffish nature and posturing.
- Also, there seemed to be no knowledge of the D'Deridex-class warbird by the USS Enterprise-D bridge crew in that episode, and it was implied to be a very new design of starship. The ST novel: Vulcan's Heart also details a description of Federation contact with the Romulans and their warbirds during the 24th century when the Romulans had withdrawn from contact, although the conceit of that work is the implication no Starfleet personnel had survived to pass information back to the Federation after the loss of the USS Enterprise-C, and any that might have were also considering the matter classified, and certainly weren't on the Enterprise-D when the D'deridex was revealed.
- In previous IDW Publishing comics, a less-intricate version of the D'deridex warbird had been shown without the lower section to illustrate that it was a predecessor to the later design.
- DC Comics releases also played upon the design lineage of that starship by showing the D'deridex configuration on an earlier warbird vessel, but depicted as being made up of components of older ships, to likewise show that it was a predecessor vessel.
- Star Trek Online has a series of subclasses for the D'deridex that have similar variations in configuration, with some being named with nods to ship types originally derived from the Last Unicorn RPG. The SFC game also has a predecessor to the D'deridex in the form of the Condor-class dreadnought, with a "double pylon" warp nacelle configuration, but the fore section resembling an earlier warbird. An examination of the Atnox Depot ships in TOS - Unlimited comic: "None But the Brave" also shows an even earlier double-pylon Romulan ship in the 2260s decade, in this case a heavy modification of the original bird-of-prey design.
- The Balancar system has been depicted by both ST reference: Star Charts and Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library as being part of Ferengi space in the galaxy's Alpha Quadrant, quite distant from the Romulan Neutral Zone, which both sources place on the other side of the Federation, in Beta Quadrant. However, Romulans having access to the Balancar vicinity could be considered more likely if parts of the Romulan Star Empire crossed into the Alpha Quadrant, and there is at least one source, the Last Unicorn RPG, which has a map that depicts such a segment of the Empire.
Images[]
Cover gallery[]
Other images[]
Connections[]
| Star Trek: Picard (PIC) |  
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| episodes | season 1 | "Remembrance" • "Maps and Legends" • "The End is the Beginning" • "Absolute Candor" • "Stardust City Rag" • "The Impossible Box" • "Nepenthe" • "Broken Pieces" • "Et in Arcadia Ego" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| season 2 | "The Star Gazer" • "Penance" • "Assimilation" • "Watcher" • "Fly Me to the Moon" • "Two of One" • "Monsters" • "Mercy" • "Hide and Seek" • "Farewell" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| season 3 | "The Next Generation" • "Disengage" • "Seventeen Seconds" • "No Win Scenario" • "Imposters" • "The Bounty" • "Dominion" • "Surrender" • "Võx" • "The Last Generation" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| prose (novels) | The Last Best Hope • The Dark Veil • Rogue Elements • Second Self | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| comics | Picard: Countdown ("Issue 1" • "Issue 2" • "Issue 3") • Picard: Stargazer ("Issue 1" • "Issue 2" • "Issue 3") | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| audio originals | No Man's Land | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Timeline[]
| Published Order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous comic: first issue |
Picard: Stargazer | Next comic: Stargazer, Issue 2 |
External links[]
- Stargazer, Issue 1 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
