Launch Day, Pt. 1

Launch Day, Pt. 1
Season	2.5
Issue	1
Publication date	September 2, 2020
Writer	David A. Goodman
Artist	David Cabeza
Colorist	Michael Atiyeh
Date	December 2400 July 2421
Production Order
Previous issue	The Word of Avis, Pt. 2
Next issue	Launch Day, Pt. 2
Chronological Order
Previous release	The Road Not Taken
Next release	Launch Day, Pt. 2

Launch Day, Pt. 1 is the premiere issue of Season 2.5 of The Orville. It is the first part of a two-part episode known as Launch Day. The USS Orville intercepts eight Krill ships in Planetary Union space on their way to destroy a "moon-sized construct" discovered above the planet Alibar.

The episode was written by executive producer David A. Goodman, inked by David Cabeza, and colored by Michael Atiyeh. Lettering was done by Richard Starkings and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt.

While Launch Day, Pt. 1 was originally slated to premiere on June 3, 2020, Dark Horse Comics postponed its release to September 2 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Plot

The episode opens in the year 2401 to the USS Bohr in orbit around the planet Alibar. In the Shuttle Bay, two ensigns, Ed Mercer and Gordon Malloy, wrap up maintenance on a shuttle when their captain and Ensign Ycil approach. Ycil is an Alibar who must return to his planet as his government decided to secede from the Planetary Union - no one, not even Ycil, knowing why.

Twenty years later, Ed is now captain of the USS Orville and his crew has just intercepted eight Krill destroyers, led by Captain Kratok, en route to Alibar. Kratok states that the Krill have no quarrel with the Union. In the Briefing Room, Kratok discloses that they were forced to fly through Union space to preemptively strike a possible weapon. Alibar is close to the Krill homeworld, and the Alibar people have hidden their device behind substantial "quantum interference."

Ed holds that a preemptive attack without proving whether the construct is a weapon would be wrong; Kratok disagrees but relays Ed's petition for time to investigate. Later, Admiral Ozawa tells Ed and First Officer Kelly Grayson that they have two days to investigate. If the evidence shows the construct is a weapon, the Orville is to join the Krill in an attack.

On the Bridge, Isaac explains that until 2401, the Alibar were a democratic society on technological par with Earth, but the Alibar mysteriously left the Union and have refused contact with outsiders ever since.

Ed and Kelly don Alibar disguises with a strict warning from Doctor Claire Finn that they won't fool a scanner. Meanwhile, Second Officer Bortus is placed in command. Aboard the Krill vessels, Kratok fashions with the other ships an attack plan on the Orville should they decide to stand in their way.

Gordon and Chief Engineer John LaMarr fly Ed and Kelly to the outskirts of Alibar's capital city. Ed orders John to drop them off and then approach the construct in space.

Bortus dines with his family in their quarters. Topa asks why the Krill ships are near. Bortus explains that the Krill are on a mission to destroy something they consider a threat, but the Orville is trying to divine whether the threat is legitimate. Klyden sharply criticizes the Union as foolish. Were the construct a weapon, the Krill would destroy it for everyone's benefit; were the construct not, "then a planet we know nothing about would be attacked by the Krill."

Ed and Kelly amble down a street, noting the city's quality of life has obviously worsened in the last 20 years. A local officer orders the two to register as visitors with a registration office. Ed and Kelly stop in a restaurant. The manager says that (like all Alibars) she cooks the meals because there are no food synthesizers left. She cryptically adds that "maybe after launch day we'll all get one of those again." Ed and Kelly are forced to dash when they realize they have no money to pay the bill.

John and Gordon monitor the construct. John suspects it is a weapon because their own weapons cannot target it.

Ed and Kelly hide in an alley. Evidently, the Alibar have returned to a currency-based system after a century free from money. They are interrupted by the leader of the planet appear on a television screen, announcing that launch day is at hand. He continues that while "the aliens in the galaxy who had infiltrated our world" are still on Alibar, launch day will make the outsiders no longer a threat. Ed and Kelly deduce that Ycil might be registered with the government, and they can track him down. Gordon calls and says that the construct looks like a giant weapon.

Production

David A. Goodman originally sketched the story around 2015 while writing The Autobiography of James T. Kirk. He liked the idea of a massive, foreboding construct that seemed to pose a danger to others, only to be revealed as something entirely different. He then adapted that plot line to the universe of The Orville.

Launch Day, Pt. 1 was drawn by artist David Cabeza in the fall of 2019. Cabeza completed art for Ed and Kelly's Alibar disguises on September 12, 2019. He gave them "fish fin" ears and "minimalistic" apparel which would be typical of an Alibaran. Both wear a "small pin" on their left sleeves, which is almost certainly a wrist communicator.

In reference to the issue's iconic cover art, Cabeza stated, "I put a lot of effort on some of the faces that still aren’t as good as I desired, but I’m quite satisfied with this cover though." Executive producer David A. Goodman, who wrote Launch Day, said that the two issues were very challenging for Cabeza: "I really abused David Cabeza, he had to do so much. I mean, new aliens, we're on a planet, on a city. I really think I pushed him to his edge, but the work he did is just phenomenal."

At the Mainframe Comic Con on April 26, 2020, Goodman stated that Cabeza had finished his work on the issue.

Trivia

• This story establishes that Ed and Gordon served together as ensigns aboard the Science-class vessel USS Bohr in 2421, and that Ed was in Engineering before ascending to Command.
  • This comports with New Dimensions, where Ed helped upgrade the navigational array, implying that Ed came from Engineering.
  • Years before creating and starring in The Orville, Seth MacFarlane portrayed Ensign Rivers, an engineer in Star Trek: Enterprise.
• Kermit is not on the desk of Ed's office. This was probably intentionally removed; shortly before publication, Goodman had alluded to copyright problems with displaying the doll outside of the television show.
• Artist David Cabeza's last name is in the panel where Ed and Kelly run away from a shopkeeper; it is hidden in a sign above a broken window.
• Bortus and Klyden are likely drinking oppsada with their meal.
• This issue is the only mention of weapons guidance systems.
• Writer David A. Goodman has stated that some characters were based on real actors.
  • Fans believe the Captain of the USS Bohr to be based on William Shatner.
• Launch Day is Goodman's favorite comic-book episode.

Timeline

• The episode opens around December 2400 with Ycil's departure. The rest of the episode takes place in July 2421.
• Admiral Ozawa gives the Orville two days to investigate.
  • The rest of the issue takes place during the first day of investigations.

References

• Captain Kratok recalls pursuing the Orville when it crossed into Krill space in The Word of Avis, Pt. 2.
• Kelly observes that she and Ed forgot to invent names again, alluding to first contact with the Regorians in All the World is Birthday Cake when Ed briefly entertained the idea of adopting fake names.
• The issue thanks Seth MacFarlane, science adviser André Bormanis, executive producers Brannon Braga and Jason Clark, writer Gerry Duggan of Marvel Comics, digital effects supervisor Brandon Fayette, production secretary Rahne Keith, Joy Fehily (who manages MacFarlane and Fuzzy Door Productions), publicist Cassy Brewer (who works with Fehily), Sheri Conn of The Consultancy Project, and executive director Carol Roeder of 20th Century Fox.
• The construct is visually based on the Death Star from Star Wars: A New Hope.

Mistakes

John LaMarr's epaulets are lieutenant rank, but John is a lieutenant commander.

• The last page erroneously depicts Chief Engineer John LaMarr with the shoulder bars of a Lieutenant rather than a Lieutenant Commander. He had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander over a year earlier in New Dimensions.

Cast

Main Cast

• Capt. Ed Mercer
• Cmdr. Kelly Grayson
• Lt. Cmdr. Bortus
• Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr
• Lt. Talla Keyali
• Dr. Claire Finn
• Lt. Gordon Malloy
• Isaac

Special Guest Cast

• Ycil
• Pret

Recurring Cast

• Captain Kratok
• Admiral Ozawa
• Klyden
• Topa

Guest Cast

• Captain of the USS Bohr
• Alibar Officer
• Alibar Restaurant Owner