Treachery (1982) Review

 

Treachery doesn't hold any real surprises, but I like the grimness of it. 

WRITTEN BY

Ken Armstrong, with art from Steve Dillon and assistance from Jerry Paris. The art does look spectacular here.

PLOT

The Scorpio travels to the isolated world of Fangal Minor so that Avon can attend a conference of anti-Federation leaders. Things quickly go awry when one of them, Valkac, sells the group out to Servalan, forcing them to fend for their lives... 

ANALYSIS

It's always interesting to me when the crew(especially Avon's) actively try to influence the intergalactic state of affairs. The stakes are bigger and their ambition greater than usual. There's a feeling that whatever happens may have an impact on billions of people(as opposed to just the nameless troopers of the Federation). 

Which isn't to say that Treachery is a heavily political story or anything, but it's a solid starting point, at least, and got me invested. The second half of it is essentially an extended action sequence where the crew dismiss the alliance as a failure and fight off Servalan's forces. It's a well-drawn and designed space battle that held my attention.

And that's really what this is. It's something that will hold your attention, like keys being jangled in front of a baby's face. All style, no substance. The pure cynicism with which Avon denounces his inept allies is pure Blake's 7 though. 

CHARACTERS

Almost everyone we encounter are functional - as in, their personalities are entirely defined by their part in the story. The naive leaders that Avon seeks to ally with are nothing, but naive. Valkac the traitor is some kind of absurd reptile creature(with a mohawk... perhaps a former member of the Space Rats?). 

Even the crew are subject to this - Tarrant only stands out for his piloting ability. The only ones who display any semblance of layered characterisation are Avon, Vila and Servalan. 

Servalan's "merciful" execution of a severely injured guard is definitely a highlight. I love how ice cold she can be. I am surprised that she didn't take the oppurtunity to try and meet Avon personally, but I suppose that at this point, he's become such a dangerous figure that she's more keen just to be rid of him at last. 

Avon gets to be indulgent again, abandoning his survival insticts to personally duel with Valkac. At this point, the character has completed his journey towards becoming Darrow's western fantasy. As for Vila, he got the chuckleworthy everyman bit. I appreciate that he doesn't fully understand how to operate the Scorpio properly, because I myself can be a slow learner(especially under pressure).

NOTES

*This comic was published in the Blake's 7 Marvel Monthly issue 9.

*The caption "One hour, Earth standard time, from where Servalan and her fleet streaked onwards, the Scorpio crew surveyed with suspicion the surface of Fangal Minor" is some of the most convoluted stage-setting I've ever seen.

*Avon's scheme to form a coalition against the Federation is directly lifted from The Trap(where it took place on the similarly named "Muntal Minor"), which in of itself was pretty much derivative of the TV episode Warlord. 

*Not only does the Scorpio use the incorrect Liberator speed system("Standard By..."), but now so does the Federation!

*I love the cheesy declarations of "Traitor!" "Rebel!" that Valkac and Avon throw at one another.

*Although Avon's willingness to quickly cut his losses is true to form, I'm not 100% clear what inspires it here. He mentions earlier that the Alliance is dependent on Valkac's battle fleet, but surely having some allies is better than none at all. 

*And now that I think about it, if Avon knew Valkac was a traitor from the beginning, why did he even bother going to Fangal anyway? Did he really need that fistfight so badly?

INFORMATION

*Servalan's appearance as Commissioner Sleer sets the story somewhere between Traitor and Warlord. Since Avon only formed an Alliance once in the show, I will assume that these are previous attempts and set just before Warlord.

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"It's back to the law of the jungle... everyone for himself! Farewell."

CONCLUSION

Between all these stories, Avon could have a Pokedex of abandoned allies.