Star Trek: The Next Generationfailed Wesley Crusher, and things could have been so much different. A fixture ofThe Next Generation’sfirst few seasons,Wesley Crusher, thanks to poor writing, was the object of fan derision, and issue eight of DC’sStar Trek: The Next Generationcomic from 1990 introduced fans to a better written version of the character.
Michael Jan Friedman was also an accomplishedStar Treknovelist.
Star Trek: The Next Generation#8 was written by Michael Jan Friedman and drawn by Gordon Purcell and Pablo Marcos. Data has befriended Randy, a child whose mother serves on theEnterprise.Data is taken over by an evil force in the issue, and his friendship with Randy helps the android override the dark force that has claimed him.
Wesley Crusher,Star Trek: The Next Generation’sChild Prodigy, Explained
Wesley Crusher Was Not Popular WithStar TrekFans
When Gene Roddenberry createdStar Trek: The Next Generation, he laid down rules that would help distinguish the show from its predecessor. These new rules would also show how far humanity has progressed since the days of Kirk and Spock. One of the biggest changes was that Starfleet allowed personnel to bring their families to where they serve.
One of the biggest changes was that Starfleet allowed personnel to bring their families to where they serve.
Doctor Beverly Crusher, theEnterprise’sChief Medical Officer, took advantage of this policy bybringing her son Wesley aboard the ship.Wesley was highly intelligent and very precocious. He also found himself mixed up in the crew’s adventures, despite not being in Starfleet himself. He even saved the ship in a few early episodes ofThe Next Generation.
Wesley Crusher has also appeared inStar Trek: PicardandStar Trek: Prodigy.
And this earned the character a great deal of ire fromStar Trekfans. They felt the idea of a child prodigy saving Starfleet’s flagship every week was preposterous, and they had a point. However, Wesley Crusher wasStar Trek’s first regular child character, meaning the show’s writers were essentially breaking new ground with him.
As a result, Wesley Crusher was not exactly the best written character in those early episodes ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.In time, though, the writers found their verve with Wesley, and he became a more realistic, fully-realized character. The damage was done, however, and Wesley left in the show’s fourth season.
Randy Was A Lot Like Wesley, But Better Written
Randy Helps Data Overcome a Great Evil
Randy, introduced early in DC’sStar Trek: The Next Generationrun,is what Wesley Crusher could have beenwith better writing. Randy sets Data down the path to reasserting himself, but sole credit for the victory does not go to him. Instead, it becomes a team effort, with Randy doing some of the heavy lifting.
Furthermore, Randy is precocious like Wesley, but he is not perfect either. In an earlier issue, Randy sees Data for the first time, but is a little freaked out by him. Data puts the child’s mind at ease, and they become friends. Randy adores Data, and when he learns what has happened to Data, he immediately wants to help.
Unfortunately, Randy Will Never Be Seen onStar TrekAgain
However, Randy Was a Glimpse At What Wesley Crusher Could Have Been onStar Trek: The Next Generation
Interestingly enough, Wesley is present during this entire adventure. The story is set sometime duringThe Next Generation’sthird season, when he was still an Acting Ensign. Wesley watches Randy help save Data, and it is not a stretch that the young Ensign sees something of himself in the child.
Unfortunately, not long after this issue was printed, Paramount tightened up the license, and original characters created for the comics, like Randy, were abandoned.
Unfortunately, not long after this issue was printed, Paramount tightened up the license, and original characters created for the comics, like Randy, were abandoned. This is a shame, as he demonstrates just howStar Trek: The Next Generationfailed Wesley Crusher, through no fault of actor Wil Wheaton. It shows that Wesley would have been more popular with better writing.
