Friend or Foe, Who Can Tell

Today I continue a few of my recent explorations, namely, Hawkman and Star Trek. In Hawkman issue 3, we see the Thanagarians are split up and have different problems to deal with, all while trying to help save the museum by finding the Eye of Shiva. In Star Trek, we get to see Sulu without a shirt as the crew comes down with a strange illness.

Teaming With Questionable Characters

Hawkman #3
Lost in the Battlelands
By Geoff Johns and James Robinson

The hunt for the Eye of Shiva has taken Hawkman and Hawkgirl to India, where they are attacked by Tigress, Shadow Thief, and Copperhead. As they were chasing one another, an explosion goes off, and in all the confusion, our heroes are separated. Hawkgirl finds herself captured by some of Roderick’s goons while Hawkman is thrown into the Battlelands.

With blue Makhna and elephantine Komeriah warriors fighting amongst each other, Hawkman sorta teams up with Shadow Thief and Copperhead as they try to figure out this new world. Meanwhile, Hawkgirl and Danny escape from their captors, which allows Kendra the opportunity to start inquiring about her parent’s death.

I think this last is an important part of the story as I think it will play a long term role in the Hawkman series.

Always Wash Your Hands

Star Trek Season 1 Episode 4
The Naked Time
Written by John D. F. Black
Directed by Marc Daniels

This episode is appropriate for the time, considering we are all supposed to be washing our hands and avoiding touching our faces because of COVID.

In The Naked Time, the Enterprise shows up at a planet to study it’s destruction, but when they get there, they learn that all the scientists assigned to the planet had died, and some, in strange ways.

Needless to say, the redshirt – actually he’s a blue shirt in this episode – takes off his protective gloves to scratch his nose and becomes infected with some strange red liquid. Just like COVID, he heads up to the Enterprise and starts spreading the disease.

Fortunately for the crew, Dr. McCoy is able to come up with a solution, but not before we see some classic scenes…Sulu wielding a foil, “Captain,” Riley singing a rendition of “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen,” and Spock fighting with himself over his emotions.

For only the 4th episode of the series, this really has some memorable scenes, and it does a great job of building up the character of the crew.

This was definitely a fun episode.

It’s a Wrap

So in both Hawkman and Star Trek, it’s not clear who is on who’s side. Hawkman is teaming up with the guys who got him into the mess of the Battlelands, and in Star Trek, we’ve got crew members shutting down critical ship systems. Things seem to work out in the end, but it goes to show that not everyone is completely good or bad, and in some situations, you even have to work with those you don’t completely trust to get things done.

Ramble 2020.03.01 | Friend or Foe, Who Can Tell