Considering what some Trek fans think of Berman and Braga, one might question whether or not there's something endemic involving people who have no business making crucial decisions getting their hands on some part of the franchise or other.

>>> As someone else mentioned, the biggest flaw in having Ronin “revealed” to be Echo revolved around the fact that the character is deaf. Unless she’s got “radar-hearing” (like DD’s “radar-vision) then there’s no way she’d ever pass for a non-deaf person, in secret, for very long. Imagine operating in a group of people and only knowing what’s being said if you look directly at the person speaking! How long would it be before the others in the group realizeed that you were deaf? A minute? A couple of minutes? Does anyone belileve they could actually pull it off for even half an hour?

In theory, it would be possible to install some sort of sound-detecting technology in the helmet that could process local sound and display it as a visual read-out, which would not only solve the speech problem, but the "someone is sneaking up behind you" problem. But then again, that isn't the route they took with the character.

>>> I may be way off base here, but couldn’t Echo fight based on any fighting style she saw? She didn’t need all of her peripheral vision just to fight ninjas. She still knew how to fight like Daredevil.

Even Daredevil can't fight what he can't see (or more precisely, hear). All the reflexes and fighting skill in the world doesn't help if you have no idea where your target is in the first place. Even "blind fighting" relies on SOME sensory input (usually sound), so "deaf fighting" would still require sight. A ninja in your blind spot is still going to be able to kill you dead, whether you have the fighting ability of Daredevil or Aunt May.

I remember hearing the story about Peter David slipping in the script under the pseudonym and it flying through. Too bad, his and Mike Barrs stories were probably the best Trek stories I ever read. "Gold Key" indeed...heh.

When I worked on Star Wars stuff in the late 1990s, even Lucas Licensing wasn't that anal or strict.

She was in issue #13, part one of "The Return of the Worthy," co-written by PAD and Bill Mumy. Then, in issue #14, which was the second part (and was delayed an entire month), Blaise was gone without a trace.

I like how Ronin's identity has changed, what, 3 times now?. Ronin means masterless samurai, doesn't it? It's kind of neat that people with various agendas take up the mantle when it's convenient. It's not like it's all complete shite.

Pretty brilliant. He's one of those guys that never stayed in comics very long, which is a shame, because he's great.

So, if it was older, it would be more valid to keep focusing on it?

Sorry, you have not made sense.

When NA #1 went to a third printing, they inked and colored his sketch, and made it a cover. (but forgot to add the logo).

It was just a stupid "reveal" that hopefully no one really bought.

Horse-hockey.

...Considering the damage Richard "Melakon" Arnold caused the Trek franchise during his reign of terror, he *deserves* to have all the skeletons dragged out of his closet and set on parade. PAD wasn't the only writer who got buggered by his power-trip, and as noted it actually took years to get the novels back to at least some semblance of order, while the comic book line has - with the exception of DnA's Untold Voyages line under Marvel - yet to recover to the level of quality PAD took it to. The schmuck truly deserves no respect whatsoever, much less consideration.

[remembers a Creation Con from 1993 where several fans reported being so pissed by Arnold's comments regarding Trek licensing and a "conspiracy of writers and fans" being behind his ouster than there was an active search for tar and feathers]

The shame of it is that there were many talented people at the helms of those comics and novels, and Peter David was high on the list. I loved his work on DC's Star Trek and ate up every issue. When that first series ended, I was very sad to see it go, and though Mr. David made an honest go at it during his second DC run, the series just wasn't the same without Nancy, Bearclaw, Konom and DC's other original characters.

Richard Arnold damaged the Star Trek comics, just as he damaged the novels and every other branch of Trekdom he oversaw. Here's hoping Richard Arnold--the Rob Liefeld of Star Trek--is never let near that or any other franchised universe again.

Not that I feel strongly about this or anything.