The first story written by David Gerrold (alá “Tribbles” fame) and drawn by E.J. Su was stupendous. It really captured the essence of Shōgo manga, especially with Wesley’s gender play. The second story, drawn Chrissy Delk, looked wonderful but the story was a rehash. The last two stories were an embarrassment and it was obvious why the first two were just that, first. ( )

Tokyopop is branching out with the fourth volume of its Star Trek manga, the first to tackle a series other than the original. The results prove that Troi was just made for the manga medium; the look just suits her somehow. The best is certainly Diane Duane's "Sensation", a story that lets both Troi and Crusher shine in a way The Next Generation itself rarely did; it also features some fantastic art from Star Trek newcomer Chrissy Delk. David Gerrold's "Changeling", on the other hand, makes absolutely no sense and is annoyingly didactic to boot. Plus Gerrold's Wesley is horrendously out-of-character, though his Worf is hilarious. This is barely saved by the art of E. J. Su, my favorite regular on these books, who can draw a disturbingly hot female Wesley. In the middle quality-wise are "The Picardian Knot" by Christine Boylan and "Loyalty" by F. J. DeSanto. They both follow up classic episodes: the former "Sarek" and the latter "The Best of Both Worlds". "The Picardian Knot" never really comes together; Don Hudson stiff artwork (he's easily my least favorite regular artist on these books) doesn't help either. "Loyalty", on the other hand, is a solid Riker story filling an interesting continuity gap. And it has some good Wesley jokes.