As a long time Trekkie, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly’s new Star Trek series at IDW was a must-add for my pull list. The promising return of my favorite Captain, Benjamin Sisko? Check. Data, Tom Paris, and even Scotty? Triple check!
Lanzing and Kelly were clearly allowed to play with whatever toys they wanted as they built a crew out of fan-favorite characters and newcomers. As a fan of Deep Space Nine, it was such a treat to read the long-awaited return of Benjamin Sisko and his emotional reunion with his son Jake. The first storyline of this book presented the crew of the Theseus with their first task: to solve the mystery of who was murdering the godlike figures of the Star Trek universe. This first arc expanded out to include a companion series, The Defiant – which prominently featured Captain Worf and his crew of Ro Laren, B’Lanna Torres, and Spock – and eventually concluded in the first crossover event between the two titles, The Day of Blood. This was soon followed by an encounter with Lore, who had been recently re-activated by Worf in order to combat the threat of The Day of Blood. I highly recommend any potential reader to pick up these earlier issues as they will help to provide greater context to the story taking place in this week’s Star Trek #25.
Issue #25 begins with the Theseus adrift in fluidic space, a dimension most Voyager fans will remember as the home of Species 8472. Newer readers to the series may have found themselves lost here, but Lanzing and Kelly do an admirable job of quickly bringing the reader up to speed through the concerned thoughts of Tom Paris. Here, he reflects on the dangers the Theseus may face, as even the laws of physics seem to be against them. The Theseus, we learn, had been shunted into fluidic space by Captain Sisko in order to escape a weapon created by Lore using an orb of the Prophets. Given the immense power of Lore’s weapon, the crew isn’t even sure there is a universe to return to. The story shifts to the now inevitable encounter with Species 8472, in which Sisko hopes to build on what Captain Janeway had accomplished in Voyager’s last encounter with the life form (where she was able to garner a temporary peace).
As a fan of the series, I really enjoyed this issue. As usual, Lanzing and Kelly really nail the voices of these beloved characters. And even though we are now twenty-five issues in, the thrill of seeing Scotty, Data, and the rest of the crew interact hasn’t lost its charm. Though Lanzing and Kelly allow new readers entry into their series, a Star Trek noobie might feel a bit lost. For the diehard Trekkie, it would still be helpful to have read the earlier issues, but I do believe the storytelling qualities here are such that that reader would feel a strong compulsion to then dive into the back-issue bins to consume those earlier issues.
This is quality Star Trek through and through. The emotion of the story rests on Tom Paris as he grapples with being the only ranking officer in a crisis, taking charge, guiding the crew, and wrestling with the fears he has over his daughter’s safety. We get to really see how much Tom has grown since Voyager’s return to the alpha quadrant. Could we see a Captain Paris comic in the future?
Not to reveal too much, but Data discovers and implements a solution using technology from the recent Paramount+ shows that took the creator of such technology years to formulate and then took a serendipitous encounter to perfect. Here, Scotty and Data implement their plan in minutes. The resolution felt a bit too abrupt in my opinion and solves all of their problems by the end of the story. That being said, I understand the need to move the series into a new story arc and I did like the nod to current Trek.
The art by Liana Kangas is great here. I especially enjoyed their panel placement in the scenes with the crew moving through the bowels of the ship. It felt like the characters were climbing and crawling from page to page, and you could feel the claustrophobia of being forced into those confined spaces. The depiction of fluidic space here also felt appropriately strange and alien, aided by the coloring talents of Lee Loughridge. The bridge scenes could have set the Theseus’ bridge apart from the ships whose adventures we had followed before. It does read correctly but a bit more detail could have made it more memorable.
Overall, I loved this book as both an epilogue for the previous encounter with Lore and for what it promises for the future of the series. Everything a 25th issue anniversary should deliver. And let this be a call to other Trekkies to check out what IDW has been publishing for the last two years now. There has been a lot to enjoy, and the comic future for Star Trek seems bright.
Creative Team: Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (writers), Liana Kangas (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Ramon Rosanas (cover artist)
Publisher: IDW Publishing
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