Star Trek: DS9 – Too Long A Sacrifice #1 : A Tribute To Our Past & Future

The past two weeks have been eventful and joyful for DS9 fans. For once we got the release of the documentary What We Left Behind and the Virtual Trek On. We’re also having the fanfic Alone Together read by Alexander Siddig & guests in Sid City Social Club, this last one touching on the bisexuality of both Julian Bashir and Elim Garak, as kind of a love note to what we couldn’t have in the 90s. In fact, “Too Long A Sacrifice” begins with Bashir and Garak having one of their regular dinners, and from the beginning we know two things for sure: this is a dark mystery story and our characters, in comic page, feel real.

The central figure, and narrator of this noir crime story, is, obviously, Odo. From the tense, beautiful and magnetic cover by Ricardo Drumond, to his presence on moving the story, this story a case of Odo’s rationality (that one that relates him to other Trek figures like Data or Seven of Nine) against the too emotional, too vile surroundings that he needs to manage. This comic really feels like a love letter to René Murat Auberjonois, in how it manages to mimic and develop his acting, his poses and the heart of his character.

In fact, what we see when we look at the art is like a window to an unreleased DS9 episode. Greg Scott, who also penciled the last issue of the Deep Space Nine (1996) run more than 20 years ago (a marvelous Garak-centered mystery drama), paints our characters and their reactions and relationships at detail. When there’s an emotional outburst, the art makes it so. When we have a moment of realization, or a moment of stress, or even at the same moment as the attack that surrounds the story, the art feels like that. Felipe Sobreiro’s coloring makes the perfect case for a noir style that yet doesn’t shy away from using bright colors, explosions and bright lights when it’s needed.

The issue is not risky storyline-wise, but the places it goes in so few times with the characters and the art are. Which works perfectly, cause the Tiptons know what they’re writing about. In this sense, if you’re a fan you’re gonna enjoy this story deeply. If you’re not a fan, the precious things that make these characters shine will catch you, and, be aware, you might wanna binge watch the series too.