|
"Too Smart for Your Own Good"
Star Trek #19
IDW
Written by: Mike Johnson
Story Consultant: Roberto Orci
Artist: Claudia Balboni
Cover by
Tim Bradstreet
March 2013 |
Scotty's destined path as an engineer is
revealed as he tells the story of his life.
Didja Know?
This issue does not have an official title.
The title I've used here was inspired by a line of dialog
repeated throughout the story. When this issue was reprinted in
a trade paperback, it was titled simply "Scotty".
Notes from the Star Trek
Chronology
The end of the issue reveals that Scotty is
telling the story of his past to Keenser while they are still
stationed on Delta Vega, so it must take place some time before
he beams himself off the planet with Kirk in
"The Vengeance of Nero".
Didja Notice?
The cover
of this issue features a
mini-schematic of the Enterprise
which labels the main bridge as
being located on top of the saucer
section, though a scene in the movie
(see
"The
Vengeance of Nero") seems to
depict the bridge on the bottom of
the saucer! The schematic also
reveals a battle bridge located on
the central strut; the concept of a
battle bridge on Starfleet vessels
was introduced in Star Trek: The
Next Generation, mainly for use
when the captain deemed it necessary
to separate the saucer section from
the rest of the ship, either due to
damage or to protect the civilian
families aboard during space combat. |
|
The issue opens with Scotty's memories of a story his mother
used to tell him about an ancestor's time aboard the sailing
ship HMS Enterprise in 1787, off the coast of
Gibraltar. Possibly this is the real world ship of the
British Royal Navy, launched in 1774. Gibraltar is an
overseas territory of the United Kingdom on the Iberian
Peninsula, at the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea.
The captain of the HMS Enterprise commands to
"check the bastays" and "watch for the broach".
"Bastays" is a corruption of "backstays", standing
rigging in the rear of a sailing vessel.
"Broach" is a term used in sailing; a sailing
vessel heading into the wind which, if not steered
carefully, can cause the vessel to roll and possibly
capsize, "broaching" the vessel.
On page 2, the captain of the HMS
Enterprise comments that their orders are to push the
French back to Biscay. At this time in history, Great
Britain was in a series of skirmishes with both France and
Spain. Biscay is a province on the northern coast of Spain.
On page 3, Scotty's ancestor and the captain trade
exclamations that are foreshadowings of those shared by Kirk
and Scotty in the 23rd Century:
"I need more from these sails, Mr. Scott!"
"I'm sorry, Captain, but she's givin' us all she's--"
Also on page 3, the captain of the
HMS Enterprise is worried they'll lose the
crossjack in the storm damage. The crossjack is the lowest
yard (spar) on the mizzenmast of a sailing ship.
Scotty grew up in Linlithgow, Scotland.
Linlithgow
is a real town
in northern Scotland.
On page 4, we see that Scotty, as a boy in 2231, has
holographic representations of three vessels projected under
the ceiling of his room. One is a space shuttle (possibly
Enterprise), the second an airplane, and the third a sailing ship (possibly the
HMS Enterprise). There also
appears to be a
Rubik's Cube on his nightstand.
We see that, as a boy, Scotty's mother called him Monty,
short for his first name, Montgomery.
On page 6, we learn that Scotty's full name is Montgomery
Christopher Jorgensen Scott.
On page 7, Scotty's grandfather brags that the Scott
family has produced the greatest engineers in history for
centuries. Whether that is exactly true or exaggeration
due to familial pride is unknown.
This issue reveals that Scotty has a
younger brother called Robbie (presumably, short for
"Robert").
On pages
8-11, young Monty is wearing a
t-shirt with the logo of the
Ramones, a 20th Century punk rock
band. The logo
is similar to the Great Seal of the
United States. The
words appearing in the
ring around the logo are
RAM*NE* HEY H* LET'S GO; the stars
are taking the place of letters that
would properly spell out RAMONES HEY
HO LET'S GO. The words "Hey ho,
let's go" are the opening lyrics of
the Ramones band's first single "Blitzkrieg
Bop". |
|
|
|
|
Robbie is
wearing a t-shirt with the logo of
Video Games Live, a pixelated
digital character inspired by the
classic video game Space
Invaders, wearing headphones.
Video Games Live is the name of
an ongoing series of concerts, since
2005, sponsored by the worldwide
video game industry, in which a
symphony orchestra performs music
from video games. |
On page 13, Scotty applies at the Starfleet recruiting
office in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is the
capital of Scotland.
On page 14, panel 3, notice that the captain of the old
trading freighter has a hula dancer figurine on the
dashboard of the ship.
This issue reveals how Scotty came to use Admiral Archer's
prize beagle in a transporter experiment gone awry, as
originally mentioned in
"The Vengeance of Nero".
According to Scotty on page 18, most believe there is a
hundred-mile beam limit for a transporter, but he plans to
prove them wrong with his experiment.
Scotty plans to beam Archer's beagle from Starfleet Academy
on Earth to Cydonia Station on Mars. The Cydonia region of
Mars is also the site of the so-called Face on Mars and
nearby "City" structures according to some fringe
researchers of
the modern day.
Back to
Star Trek
Episode Studies