|
The cover of this issue is an homage
to a scene from the original series
episode "The Trouble With Tribbles",
with Kirk nearly buried in tribbles. |
 |
 |
| Cover of Star
Trek #12 |
From
"The Trouble With Tribbles" |
As in
"The Truth About Tribbles" Part 1,
the tribble homeworld of "Iota Geminorum"
is misspelled "Iota Germinorum" throughout this issue.
On page 1, panel 2, Kirk's dialog seems to have been
mistakenly given to Spock.
This story suggests that when the tribbles find themselves
in a potentially threatening situation, the little furballs
increase their rate of spontaneous asexual reproduction.
The talking Klingon bomb in this story may be a small homage to
the talking bombs seen in the 1974 cult classic sci-fi
comedy film Dark Star.
In his communication with the Enterprise, Admiral
Pike remarks that besides the tribble infestation at the
Academy campus and Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco,
outbreaks have also been reported in the Castro and
Telegraph Hill. The Castro District and Telegraph Hill are both
neighborhoods in San Francisco.
On page 8, Scotty explains that his transwarp beaming
experiment with the tribble (in
"The Truth About
Tribbles" Part 1), was to test his theories on getting
Admiral Archer's prize Beagle back, on the assumption that
the dog's atoms are still floating out in the void.
Scotty first told the story of why he was banished by
Starfleet to Delta Vega for losing the Admiral's Beagle in
the 2009 Star Trek movie (see
"The Vengeance of Nero"). At the
end of the novelization of the Star Trek movie,
the dog rematerializes in the Enterprise's
transporter room, but I suppose we cannot take that as
canon.
Also on page 8, Spock reveals that his older self,
Spock-Prime, has adamantly stated the he cannot interfere in
the events of the current timeline, despite the knowledge of
the future he possesses.
On page 14, Scotty prepares to enter the chilled engineering
room of the Enterprise, commenting on having to
wear mittens. But we see he is actually wearing gloves, as
all four fingers have individual sheaths, as opposed to
mittens, which have only two sheaths, one for the four
fingers and one for the thumb.
Hendorff/Cupcake again appears here (see the study of
"Vulcan's Vengeance"
Part 2).
Scotty refers to the tribbles as fuzzies. "The Fuzzies" was
the original title of the teleplay written by David Gerrold for
the original series, "The Trouble With
Tribbles".
Scotty
appears to have a minor allergy to the amassed tribbles as
evidenced by his sneezing in the tribble-overrun engine
room.
In the background of Engineering on pages 16-17, there
appear to be the water pipes Scotty nearly drowned in after
transwarp beaming to the Enterprise in
"The Vengeance of Nero".
Dr. McCoy learns that tribbles have a very short life cycle
when his research tribble suddenly dies of old age in
sickbay, explaining their accelerated rate of reproduction.
An article at the end of Star Trek #50, "Continuing
Voyages in a Four-Color Frontier", reveals that the dead
tribble that McCoy later resurrects with Khan's blood in
Star Trek nto Darkness is the
same tribble that died of old age here.
This story implies that below-freezing temperatures can
stabilize the bioactivity of tribbles so they don't
reproduce.
The story ends with the tribbles not actually being named as
such by the Federation, though McCoy suggests calling them
"trouble'.
On the last page of the story, Scotty transports Admiral
Archer's prize Beagle back aboard the Enterprise.
Unanswered Questions
Here, Scotty deactivates one of the Klingon bombs previously detected
on the surface of Iota Germinorum in
"The Truth About Tribbles" Part 1.
What about the other bombs detected all over the planet? Did the
Enterprise leave them to go off, significantly reducing the
tribble population on the planet?
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