Original Publication Date: 12 Feb 1983
Look-In Volume 13 - Issue 7
Congratulations! Your covert op has been successful and you are now behind the wheel of some top secret technology you stole away with from behind enemy lines! The only trouble is that the autopilot has been engaged against your will and you are now being drawn inextricably back to the bad guys’ base. What do you do?
A) Eject and destroy the stolen vehicle so it won’t fall back into enemy hands.
B) Call upon your training (and the training of those at your base with whom you are in radio contact) to figure out a way to override the auto pilot.
C) Keep your eyes peeled and wait for someone on the other side to quit paying attention and accidentally let you off the hook.
By sheer coincidence, this hypothetical scenario I have dreamed up is not an homage to the Joe 90 episode “The Most Special Agent” but, in fact, the very peril within which Captain Shiro Hagan finds himself in this week’s edition of Look-In! Which option will he choose? Read on to find out!
While Star Fleet, the TV show, presents Shiro as a humble cadet, Star Fleet, the comic strip, has promoted this fresh-faced young man to Captain. Of course, Shiro would eventually take on a leadership role towards the end of the series which makes this strip seem even more out of time and like an alternate universe retelling of the same events. I wonder what chance the good Captain will be taking?
Makara and Orion make the questionable decision to launch an escort for Shiro. Why not just wait for him to arrive with the post?
Shiro empathizes with waterfowl.
Having decided to make a run for it last week, our friends aboard X Bomber now wonder if they should continue running or intervene to rescue Shiro. In the end, they decide nothing. There is a time for democracy and there is a time for decisive leadership and the crew of X Bomber still aren’t sure which is which.
PPA is a bit more on brand this week. He’s toned down his rhetoric to more of a tactical suggestion than a eugenical diatribe against the weakness of squishy humans. Plus, this argument between Lee and his red-eyed self feels lifted straight from the show.
Lamia, too, seems a bit more reasonable. It’s the third time she’s made the case for saving Shiro, but this time it strikes me more as an appeal to their Star Fleet creed and duty. She is unwilling to compromise and sacrifice one single life– even if it means putting the greater good in jeopardy.1
Before PPA has a chance to compute a trolley problem involving Shiro on one track and the entire Solar system on the other, Hercules jumps in to advocate for swift action. He’s not wrong.
But he is mistaken in that he thinks they are in real danger. Allan has opted to end the drama with a bit of unwanted comic relief. And who better to deliver comic relief than Orion? His simpering toady personality makes him the perfect choice to be the baddie who accidentally lets all the goodies escape from the dungeon by pushing the wrong button. But is that the right direction for this story to go?
Not being negative, I just don’t see how you could install flight control override into a fighter plane without also installing a weapons system override. Otherwise, you’re just setting yourself up for a world of hurt.
Let’s chalk it up to an oversight in all the excitement– an oversight which leads to the death of two more hapless termoid pilots. RIP, you red-eyed fellas.
But of all the dumb mistakes, this is the real humdinger. The coup de grâce. The grand finale. This is the goal on your own net. Dropping a bomb on one of your own cities. The disgusting fart in front of your dearest crush. The sort of epic misfire that will keep the perpetrator up at night wondering how such a thing could have ever, ever, EVER happened.
Someone let Shiro go.
Let him go? Really? That’s how he gets out of this deadly peril? THEY JUST LET HIM GO?
I must admit, after imagining Shiro enduring the torture faced stoically by Captain Carter, I feel this is a dramatic cop-out. It’s just too convenient and too much of a coincidence.
With Shiro taking on the role of a group Panadol, Doctor Benn takes a weak stab at ginning up some tension. We all know X Bomber will be able to outrun the bad guys. Besides, this week, the villains are so incompetent that if they had X Bomber in their sights they’d probably just hit themselves.
Oy… Much as I appreciate Mike Noble’s stunning art, I’m really hoping for some better storytelling in future. This whole sequence of events could have been compressed to a single issue. While the heroes are improving in their tone and characterisation, the baddies are so unmenacing as to be laughable. Orion’s indecision makes no sense given how many fighters he has at his disposal. Why didn’t he just open fire and destroy Shiro from his cruiser? And was Homer Simpson in charge of keeping tabs on the prisoner?
I’d like to see improvements. But if I don’t, this could prove to be very funny reading!
More action next week!
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This is one reason I kinda prefer Star Trek III to the better Star Trek II. Highlight to read Trek spoilers below– Spock’s sacrifice to save his crew is admirable. The crew’s willingness to sacrifice everything to save Spock is even more so.