Rendezvous (1982) Review

 

Rendezvous has a few good concepts rattling around in it, but is otherwise forgettable. 

WRITTEN BY

Ken Armstrong, on the toilet probably. 

PLOT

Following a catastrophic mission to the planet Sulan, the Scorpio crew struggle to make it out of Federation territory as Servalan mounts another ambush... 

ANALYSIS

The first issue right off the bat is that several pages are spent detailing a drill where the Federation attack a mockup of the Scorpio. Since we can tell that nothing of true significance is happening, about a third of the story is a waste of time(these comics are usually seven pages long). The only reason it's there is to set up the commander's overconfidence in his attack strategy, a plot point directly lifted from Hostage. Which, as you may recall, did not require setting up with a training exercise in that episode. 

Slave's malfunction is an amusing gag, but it doesn't make much sense. Whilst he does indeed do the opposite of whatever Avon orders, the same is not true for the earlier orders given by Soolin. She asked for a meal - the opposite of a meal is not a burnt meal. And even if you stretched the definition, the opposite of cold drinks is most definitely not to be sprayed in the face. So how Avon arrived at that conclusion, I've no idea. 

I did enjoy the fact that this was a continuation of some unseen adventure. If we'd heard more about that, and the aforementioned problems were fixed, I feel like this could work as a fun make-believe epilogue. But to its credit, I do enjoy the space battle - Avon's solution to escape the trap is neat and it still feels like Series D(which, given my fondness for the era, is an automatic plus), even if it's going through the motions. The artwork is lovely as ever too. 

NOTES

• This comic was originally published in the Blake's 7 Marvel Monthly issue 12. 
• I'm immensely curious to know what an "alpha meal" consists of, and why it's Tarrant's favourite. 
• "Maximum power first wave attack via aim-off procedures" is some advanced level technobabble. 
• I always get a little surprised whenever Avon actually does computer engineering in Series D. He's so dedicated to his new gunslinging career, after all. 

INFORMATION!

• The Scorpio is fleeing after an unspecified exploration mission in the Sulan system resulted in the crew discovering that the Sulans have allied with the Federation. 

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"Slave has been doing the reverse of what was ordered. He's getting more like you every day."

CONCLUSION

Zzz...