Idol Threats
A hotshot young officer goes on an unauthorized mission after being promoted to command by the death of his captain.

Background information 
 This issue has a similar plot to .

Creators 
 Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
 Writer: Mike Carlin
 Artists: 
 Tom Sutton (pencil art)
 Ricardo Villagran (inking)
 Michele Wolfman (color art)
 Helen Vesik (letter art)
 Joe Brozowski (cover pencil art)
 Bob Lewis (cover inking)
 Editor: Robert Greenberger

Characters

Regular and recurring characters 

 James T. Kirk   commanding officer, a Starfleet captain.
 Spock  Vulcan Half-Vulcan Starfleet captain serving as Enterprise-A exec and science officer.
 Pavel Chekov  Enterprise-A security chief, a Starfleet commander. Chekov appears in a few panels in this issue but does not have any dialogue.
Uhura  Enterprise-A communications officer, a Starfleet commander. 
Hikaru Sulu  Enterprise-A helmsman, a Starfleet commander. 
 Arex  Enterprise-A navigator. Kirk orders Arex and Sulu to take the vessel to sector 9.
Ronald R. Penn  Starfleet cadet-commander who receives Captain Fields's order to take command of Cluster and the vessel's trainee crew. Even though the rank insignia drawn on Penn's uniform looks roughly like that of an ensign, he is addressed as both "cadet" and "commander" in dialogue, and apparently was in a position of authority over other lieutenants and lieutenant commanders on the bridge.
Romulan commander  Romulan starship commander who assaults the Cluster landing party, and then the vessel itself, after Penn's counter-attack. The same commander encountered during "The Doomsday Bug" storyline.

 Mentioned 
Tongo Rad  Kirk mentions that he just ditched a Federation "watchdog" assigned to Enterprise-A at their last stop.

 Other characters 
Fields  Captain of the USS Cluster. Fields led an ill-fated landing party that was massacred in a Romulan ambush.
Ventura  Starfleet cadet-lieutenant, a communications trainee assigned to USS Cluster. In some panels, Ventura's rank insignia is roughly drawn as a lieutenant junior grade, but in other clearers shots it is a full lieutenant's bar.
Bigelow  Starfleet lieutenant commander assigned to USS Cluster. Bigelow wore the yellow uniform patches of a pilot, and answered to orders Penn addressed to the helm, but Penn also addressed another female ensign as the "helmsman".
Marciari  Starfleet crewmember lost on the ill-fated USS Cluster landing party. It wasn't clear if the female on page one was named Testa, Marciari or McVey, but she must be one of those three.
McVey  Starfleet crewmember lost on the ill-fated USS Cluster landing party. It wasn't clear if the female on page one was named Testa, Marciari or McVey, but she must be one of those three.
Testa  Starfleet crewmember lost on the ill-fated USS Cluster landing party. It wasn't clear if the female on page one was named Testa, Marciari or McVey, but she must be one of those three.
Keller  Starfleet crewmember lost on the ill-fated USS Cluster landing party.
"Spitz" Spithogiannis  Starfleet crewmember lost on the ill-fated USS Cluster landing party.
Sajak  Romulan subordinate officer.Cluster helmsman : Blonde female ensign, with gray uniform patches, assigned to the helm on USS Cluster. Since she wore gray insignia, it would seem she specialized as a navigator, despite being referred to as "helmsman" -- or she could have been filling both roles. Mr. Bigelow also responded to orders.
Andorian ensign  Andorian Starfleet ensign, with yellow uniform patches, assigned to USS Cluster. His uniform indicates he was probably an engineer, since he was not holding a pilot position -- yellow uniform insignia denote pilots or engineers.

References 
USS Cluster   Federation starship.
Christofi IX  Planet, located of a Federation starbase facility. Kirk orders the surviving crew of USS Cluster to report to this base.
   Federation starship.
Romulan starship  Romulan space vessel. This ship design was taken from the Romulan Ship Recognition Manual from FASA's Sector 9  Location of the battle between the Romulans and the USS Cluster''.

Comics